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Social media marketing

The growth in popularity of 

social media

 is a major trend in digital business. In particu-

lar 

social network sites (SNS)

 such as Facebook, Google+, Twitter and for business-to- 

business users LinkedIn and 

RSS feeds

. Some niche social media sites are independent 

from the social networks, including 

virtual worlds

 such as Habbo Hotel, and 

blogs

 created 

by many individuals and businesses. Social media marketing also includes 

rich media

 such 

as online video and interactive applications featured on specialist social networks such as 

YouTube or embedded into websites.

It’s important for all businesses to understand the business and revenue models of the 

major social networks and platforms which are today so influential in shaping people’s opin-

ions about brands. Figure 1.3 summarises the main types of social sites that companies need 

to consider.

Since there are so many types of social presence, it is helpful to simplify the options to 

manage them. For this we recommend these six categories based on chapters in Weinberg 

(2010). You can see there’s more to social media than social networks: