Enhancing Promotional Strategies Within Social Marketing Programs: Use of Web 2.0 Social Media

TLDR

Web 2.0, with user‑controlled communication and collaborative content sharing, promises to boost promotional efforts in social marketing by engaging consumers directly and accelerating viral reach, though its novelty may tempt premature adoption. The study examines how strategic considerations—audience preferences, application selection, tracking, evaluation, and costs—will guide Web 2.0’s expansion to give health promotion practitioners more direct consumer access with less reliance on traditional channels.

Abstract

The second generation of Internet-based applications (i.e., Web 2.0), in which users control communication, holds promise to significantly enhance promotional efforts within social marketing campaigns. Web 2.0 applications can directly engage consumers in the creative process by both producing and distributing information through collaborative writing, content sharing, social networking, social bookmarking, and syndication. Web 2.0 can also enhance the power of viral marketing by increasing the speed at which consumers share experiences and opinions with progressively larger audiences. Because of the novelty and potential effectiveness of Web 2.0, social marketers may be enticed to prematurely incorporate related applications into promotional plans. However, as strategic issues such as priority audience preferences, selection of appropriate applications, tracking and evaluation, and related costs are carefully considered, Web 2.0 will expand to allow health promotion practitioners more direct access to consumers with less dependency on traditional communication channels.