The Role of Social Media in Marketing Communication: A Survey on University Students

Internet and social media has almost become part of our daily lives. Social media tools like Social Media was originally designed for people to share their thoughts and views about different topics with other members, and also share content, links, photos and videos etc. Social media also influences people's buying behaviours. People are apt to share their shopping experiences with others through social media tools, particularly if they are not satisfied with the product. Most consumers trust the opinion of friends and strangers more than official advertising. So marketing strategies has started to look for ways to encourage positive news to spread about a brand online. The concept of Social Media is top of the agenda for many business executives today. Businesses are realizing that social media sites are invaluable for serving current customers and attracting new ones. Our study consists of two main parts: In the first part, in the light of literature, The concept, social media tools, properties, development, and sharing of social media are examined. In the sencond part of the study, a survey is realised among Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University students, and it is tried to determine their usage habits of internet and social media, and perceptions about social media share. Face to face interview method was used in this study. In general, the reliability of the questionnaire was analyzed. In the statistical evaluation of the results of the survey, frequency distribution was utilized, in the Likert-scale questions, significant differences between means were analyzed by independent-samples t-tests, chi-square tests, and One- way ANOVA tests. In the final part of the study, research findings were introduced, interpreted and recommendations were developed.