Marketing and Branding Research

Abstract

This study is an attempt to use a viral marketing at universities in Slovak and Czech Republics. Social networks have become an everyday part of life. Permanent communication takes place on social networks and it can be used by private companies as well as other organizations. The social network can serve any organization to provide up-to-date information, respond to customer inquiries, and get quick feedback from them, which is a huge asset. Social networks are becoming a means for companies to find their customers opinions about products. This helps to improve products and adapt to current market needs. The aim of this study was to compare the use of social networks by universities as a modern marketing communications tool and to identify the success of social networking. The basic methods were analysis, comparison and evaluation with the Social Scorecard. The final findings suggested the use of viral marketing by universities and the improvement of viral marketing in the area of education.  A marketing strategy that is appropriately chosen and implemented on social networks can be much more successful and more effective than the use of traditional marketing communication tools.