The emergence of online social networking has made it possible for one person to communicate with hundreds or even thousands of other people about the products and the companies that provide them. Thus, the impact on the consumer-to-consumer relationship was significantly increased in the market. The paper argues that social media is a hybrid element of promotion mix, because in the traditional sense, it allows the company to talk to their customers, while in the non-traditional sense, it allows clients to communicate directly with each other. Content, timing and frequency of social media-based conversations occurring between consumers are outside the direct control of managers. This means, in contrast to traditional integrated marketing communications paradigm that degree of control is present. Thus, managers must learn to shape consumer discussions in a way that is consistent with the mission of the organization and performance goals. The methods by which this can be outlined here. These include providing consumers with networked platforms, and with the help of blogs, social media and promotional tools to attract customers. "Hide
by W. Glynn Mangold, David J. Faulds Source: Business Horizons 9 pages. Publication Date: July 15, 2009. Prod. #: BH338-PDF-ENG
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