The identification of criteria for the optimal use of Facebook pages for marketing purposes: a South African perspective

The development of non-traditional communication channels in recent years has progressively created a world more digital, networked and interlaced by a myriad of communication tools than ever before. With Facebook being the most prevalent social network, this study aims to guide local South African organisations to use Facebook optimally to engage and communicate with their customers. The study strives to incorporate the latest ideas about social media marketing in the relevant literature with the opinions of local social media marketing experts. The generally ineffective use of Facebook as a communication channel by small, inexperienced organisations is seen as a justification for identifying a set of criteria to guide organisations in using Facebook pages as a driver of communication. The empirical phase of the research adopted a cluster analysis methodology and sampled 34 local social media experts. The empirical research produced a list of seven criteria (clusters) each focused on an aspect of the optimal use of Facebook pages for marketing purposes. These criteria should assist South African companies in developing more successful social media marketing strategies using Facebook.