In this research presentation the results from a scientific paper are aggregated. The research focussed on social media marketing activities of social media accounts from German business and were analysed for the social networks Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Xing and LinkedIn. As research objects were the context of the interaction, the used and targeted social network functionalities and the behaviour of the companies selected. The selection of social media accounts for the research included companies which are currently member from the stock market indices DAX and MDAX, additional online and offline retail business, successful German sport clubs, celebrities and others businesses. In addition and to be sure to evaluate high class social media marketing, the German social media award winners from 2015-2017 were analysed. Out of the results of those two analyses the main results were derivate. The results displays different usage approaches between the researched networks and the different business fields. As final result of the research, several context approaches for social media posts could be defined. The results contain suggestions for the standardisation of those contexts and the different approaches how functions from social networks can be used for user interactions. That includes the approaches of targeted reactions and standardized reactions of user interactions.

1. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
AUTHOR’S NAME
DATE: 22.08.2017
B-2-C Social Media
Communication in Germany
VENUE : UNIVERSITY OF TWENTE
Knut Linke, Torben Friedrich

2. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Questions
(1) Can similarities in the usage of social media accounts be identified for the
different research business areas?
a) Differences between social networks?
b) Differences between business areas?
(2) What kinds of functions in social networks are useful for business
transactions?
a) Which functions of social networks are used?
b) Which functions of social networks are used for response?
(3) Which interaction contexts can be abstracted and defined for social media
marketing interactions?

3. Research Design: two parts
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
(1) The analysis of social media award winners in Germany
The 14 golden, silver or bronze awards winners from the German Digital
Award Events 2015-2017 (BVDW, 2017) were analysed. The content was
analysed regarding approach, target, used social media channels, strategic
approach and context of the campaign or social media offer.
(2) The analysis of online and offline B-2-C social media actions
The selected actors were research regarding their use of main social media
channels, context, distributions, cross postings and specialized streams. The
qualitative description were analyzed afterwards regarding similarities and
defined into categories.

4. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Retail Offline Aldi Nord
Edeka
Lidl
Retail Online Alternate
Conrad
Electronics
Tchibo
Others Adidas
Deutsche Lufthansa
ProSiebenSat.1 Media
RWE
Finance Allianz
Commerzbank
Deutsche Bank
Automotive BMW
Continental
Volkswagen
Digital Business Check 24
MyMuesli
Xing
Sports clubs Adler Mannheim
Borussia Dortmund
FC Bayern München
Ratiopharm Ulm
Celebrities Bibi Heinicke
Thomas Gottschalk
Tilman Schweiger
Online and Offline Actors

5. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
User Centred
„Extern“ notification
Contest
Current Emotion
Experience
Extern interaction
Historical
Motivational
Special Day
Tips & Tricks
Trend follower
Product Oriented
Discount Offer
Event
Product
Test Results
Company Related
„Private” information
General Information
Public Relation Issue
Recruiting
Social Support
Identified Interaction Contexts
Detailed description of each interaction context can be found in the publication.

6. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Social Media Artefact Dependencies
Media type
Application
Emotion
Fixed Media
Legal restriction
Live Media
Reference
Text
Function
Feeling
Hashtag
Location
Sharing
Tagging
Voting
Targeted Reaction
Chat
Comment
Creation
Emotion
Location
Sharing
Tagging
Reaction on Reaction
Tagging
Sharing
Chat
Comment
Media
Social Media Channel
Reaction from outside of the
used Social Media Channel
Restricts

7. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
(1) Social media artefacts can have different kind of standardized
contexts, media types and reactions.
(2) Social media channels influence the interaction possibilities for a
social media post.
The reaction of a user is limited due to technical restrictions.
Business should avoid to do not interact with users.
Reaction should be planned and can be part of the branding.
(3) Social Media must not include a communication from users; the
identification can also exist through fitting content which
convinces the followers or only via an emotional reaction.
(4) For social media marketing in the field of B-2-C it might be
important to establish emotion with the social media posts.
(5) The emotional binding might be related to the target group.
Standardized lifeworlds seem to be a fitting approach to
determine what can release emotions.
The including of common lifeworlds and the release of
emotions provides identification to the users.
Summary

8. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
The research of the propositions should be combined with previous
research results to extend the research for a more quality ensured
business transaction process in social media marketing. The
following research questions will be analyzed in the next research
steps:
(1) Who can the different identified social media contexts are used
to support business transactions?
(2) Does a measureable connection between Internet preferences
and lifeworlds of users exist?
(3) Does a measurable connection between interaction functions
and life worlds of users exist?
(4) How can emotion in the interaction with social networks and
brands be measured?
Future Research

9. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
References and recommended further work:
Alexander, C. (1977). A Pattern Language. Oxford : Oxford University Press.
Bonsón, E., & Flores, F. (2010). Social media and corporate dialogue: the response of global
financial institutions. Huelva : University of Huelva
Core, T. (2017). Digitale Transformation. Munich : Vahlen.
Deutscher Digital Award. (2017). Retrieved from http://deutscherdigitalaward.de/
Gaikhorst, V., Drake, M., & de Vries, S. (2013). Social Media News Patterns. Stenden University of
Applied Sciences : Leeuwarden.
Gillin, P. (2009). Secrets of Social Media Marketing. Fresno, California : Quill Driver Books.
Neudecker, N., Barczewski, J., & Schuster H. (2015). How Social Media Transforms Brand
Management. Marketing Review St. Gallen, 32(1), 70-78.
Tidwell, J. (2010). Designing Interfaces. Cambridge : O’Reilly.