“THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING FOR BUILDING CONSUMERS' BRAND AWARENESS IN ETHIOPIA”

Abstract

The use of social media marketing nowadays is becoming very popular worldwide and it has changed the relationship between customers and business and this effect will gradually continue to evolve in Ethiopia as new media infuses the culture and society. The purpose of this research was to investigate the role of social media marketing for building brand awareness in Ethiopia. This study is descriptive in nature whose primary objective is to provide insight into a new marketing phenomenon while investigating one or more variables. A quantitative method is used. It has been possible to withdraw necessary primary and secondary data by distributing questionnaire and by referring related literatures respectively. A questionnaire was distributed to collect the required information and gather data to attain best possible outcome of the research’s effort. The size of the population for this study is unknown as social media networking sites are dynamic and complex and they are impossible to count given that the number of members increases on a daily basis. Therefore, the researcher gathered data from 100 respondents. The finding of the study indicates that most consumers pay attention to advertisements recommended and shared by friends and contacts on social media networks rather than the direct information provided or advertisement campaign made by companies. Therefore, this research suggested that local companies should use social media network to present their brands with enormous reach, endless communication possibilities and with a very limited promotion cost and grab, the possible opportunities of exploiting the brand building potential through the richest and fastest communication form available. However, Social Media as a form of marketing will present a completely new phase challenges. Therefore, companies need to develop their marketing strategy with special care in order to minimize the risk and challenges of online branding