Managing social media as a marketing tool in the Greek business environment

The rapid expansion of the global social media sphere has revolutionised the way people communicate, access information and interact. Consumers are no longer passive receivers but actively participate in the marketing and buying process. On the other hand, although companies need to adjust to the new market rules in order to gain competitive advantage, many of them are unable to comprehend social media's broad environment and evaluate its effective use as a marketing tool. This paper aims to conceptualise the integration of social media into the marketing process focusing on the Greek business field, through the conduction of a quantitative online survey research. The main findings indicate that Greek companies acknowledge its importance as a marketing tool while indicating that the main benefits are the increase of exposure and sales' improvement. Among those companies that do not use social media, a significant number show eagerness in incorporating it into their marketing strategies in the near future. Almost half of the respondents seem to follow a certain social media strategy, a significant number use a distinct budget for social media, while only a small number of companies were able to measure its usefulness and return of investment.