The Use of Social Media in City Marketing Communication with Residents and Tourists – User Segmentation

Introduction Transformations in the area of technology and communication allowing easy access to information resulted in Polish cities facing the challenge of changing their promotional activity. This activity has been largely transferred to social media. The article presents the definition of social media, their classification and the activity of large Polish cities in social media. The analysis of the collected material was carried out using classification trees. Material and methods The CAWI method was used to conduct the research in four large cities (Warszawa, Wrocław, Gdańsk and Kraków). It covered 400 residents and 400 tourists. The analysis of the collected material was carried out using classification trees. Results The application of classification trees allowed identifying the main factors influencing the frequency of using city profiles in social media by tourists and residents along with distinguishing three segments of residents and three segments of tourists using social media. The size of these segments was analysed, and thus the purpose of carrying out various activities by large tourist cities in social media. Conclusions The importance of social media in marketing communication is recognized mostly by large cities. As a result, these cities change their marketing communication strategies because there are sufficiently numerous and relatively homogeneous segments of residents and tourists who receive the message addressed to them through social media. These activities are valued by their recipients since they allow them to interact.