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Club 2.0: Investigating the Social Media
Marketing Strategies of Nightclubs in the
Midlands and West of Ireland
FRIEDA NEVIN* AND ANN M. TORRES*
ABSTRACT
Social media is already an established feature in the marketing strategies of large global brands. This study explores how the social media success stories of large global brands
may be emulated on a smaller scale by nightclubs in the midlands and west of Ireland.
The topic is explored from both consumer and organisation perspectives. Focus groups
were conducted with target consumers and in-depth interviews were carried out with
nightclub marketing personnel. The fi ndings indicate nightclubs are highly compatible
with social media, but nightclubs are not using social media to their full potential; instead
they are adopting an unstructured, outdated approach. This study adds to the debate on
the role of relationships and promotion in social media marketing by presenting a cross-
sectional account of the current use of social media marketing. The resulting framework is
designed for nightclub marketing managers as a tool to enhance their social media market-
ing strategies.
Key Words: Social media marketing; web 2.0 marketing; online marketing; service market-
ing; hospitality marketing; nightclub marketing
INTRODUCTION
Since the inception of the internet forty years ago many new applications have been created.
One of the most recent innovations to emerge is web 2.0, ‘a collection of web services which
facilitate certain behaviours online, such as community participation and user-generated
content’ (Chaffey and Smith, 2008: 499). Examples include the micro-blogging site Twitter,
the social networking site Facebook, and the video-sharing site YouTube. Circle (2009) lists
these particular web 2.0 applications among the top future marketing trends. The addition
* J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics, National University of Ireland, Galway
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78 Club 2.0
of a Masters degree in social networking at Birmingham City University further illustrates
this growing trend of using social media for communications and marketing purposes
(Birmingham City University, 2009). Many organisations have begun to realise the power
and potential of these new communication channels. Social media is already successful
as a marketing channel for many large global brands. One need only look at Dell’s micro-
blogging on Twitter or Ikea’s innovative use of photo tagging on Facebook for proof of
this success (Circle, 2009; Warren, 2009). However, the most recent social media marketing
industry report indicates social media marketing is still in the preliminary stages of devel-
opment. ‘A signifi cant 88% of marketers surveyed are using social media to market their
business, but 72% have only been doing so for a few months or less’ (Stelzner, 2009: 5).
As an entertainment industry, the Irish nightclub industry has been one of the major
casualties of the recent economic recession. The number of organisations operating in the
industry is declining steadily, in line with the decrease in the discretionary income levels of
consumers (Vintners’ Federation of Ireland, 2009). An emerging trend within the industry
is the use of social media as a marketing solution to overcome the effects of the downturn;
however, the levels of success appear to vary greatly among organisations.
The likelihood of compatibility between nightclubs and social media marketing is high.
As small and medium enterprises (SMEs), most Irish nightclubs have a lower percentage
of their budgets available to spend on marketing compared to large global companies.
These budget constraints, coupled with the low costs generally associated with social
media marketing, suggest a substantial opportunity for SMEs to increase their marketing
activity, relatively inexpensively, through social media marketing. However, the use of
social media within the Irish nightclub industry is an unexplored topic and, while many
organisations within the industry are engaging in social media marketing, detailed infor-
mation on best practice is not currently available within the literature.
LITERATURE REVIEW
‘Social media’ is the broad term used to describe web 2.0 tools and applications built specif-
ically for the purpose of allowing users to interact and socialise with others on the internet,
including applications such as message boards, blogs, wikis, podcasts, instant messaging,
social networking, email, and photo and video sharing (Preziosi, 2007; Miletsky, 2010).
Much of the literature suggests marketers should use social media simultaneously to
complement their other online marketing strategies. Antion (2005) and Pattison (2009)
also advocate using an independent website with its own domain name to reach potential
customers who are not active on social media websites. The general consensus in the litera-
ture regarding the use of social media websites, as opposed to using independent websites,
is encapsulated effectively by Kirby (2010), who concludes that a company-specifi c website
should be complemented by social media tools to drive traffi c to the company-controlled
portal (Kirby, 2010).
The number of Facebook users reached a milestone 500 million in July 2010 (Wortham,
2010). Giles (2010) likens this to the populations of the world’s largest nations, highlighting
the current popularity of the world’s biggest social networking website.
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IRISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT 79
However, critics such as Raskin (2006) believe the popularity of Facebook may actu-
ally lead to its ultimate demise, as it becomes oversaturated with marketers’ messages.
Morrissey (2010) reinforces this crowded image of Facebook and suggests the micro-
blogging site Twitter as a less cluttered and more unique alternative for marketers who
wish to engage in social media marketing. Research conducted by Jansen et al. (2009)
indicates 19 per cent of micro-blogging sites contain mentions of brands, indicating micro-
blogging is a feasible and practical channel for SMEs in terms of implementing marketing
campaigns and nurturing customer relationships. While recognising the widespread use
of Twitter among companies of all sizes, Klara (2010) believes it is the smaller companies,
such as nightclubs, which have the most success when using Twitter.
According to a study conducted by Forrester Research, younger generations are frequent
viewers of online videos (Haven et al., 2006). The young demographic of this audience
suggested by the Forrester report indicates YouTube may be an effective means of targeting
young nightclub patrons. However, Haven et al. (2006) caution about the resource require-
ments of incorporating YouTube into a social media marketing strategy. Although little
monetary resources are presently required to implement a YouTube campaign, substan-
tial effort and high-quality, creative video content is essential in order for an online video
marketing campaign to be effective (Haven et al., 2006).
Authors writing on the topic of social media marketing, such as Preziosi (2007) and
Greenberg (2009), readily accept the inclusion of short message service (SMS) marketing
into the social media category, in its broadest sense. Chaffey et al. (2009) also recognise text
messaging as a commonly used channel for communicating with consumers, yet they are
sceptical of its effectiveness in comparison with other social media channels. According
to Chaffey et al. (2009: 554), the ‘level of activity in e-mail marketing is much higher than
mobile text messaging’ and they suggest the reason for this relatively low usage of text
message marketing is largely due to the intrusive nature of text messages compared to
permission-based email marketing. Although these channels are currently the most
popular social media channels among nightclub consumers, it is not known how long this
popularity will persist. Andersen (2008: 2) believes the speed at which social media tools
develop may make social media websites dangerous territory for marketers and he cautions
marketers against investing and committing substantial amounts of resources to social
media marketing, referring to social media websites as ‘potentially fl eeting properties’.
Strong ties with consumers are essential for social media marketing to be effective.
Brown et al. (2007) believe the marketing potential of word-of-mouth activities associated
with social media and the level of impact word of mouth has on the consumer decision-
making process and attitude formation are limited by a number of key factors, including
tie strength. They explain tie strength as the closeness of the bond between the information
hunter and the source – the stronger the tie the more effective the marketing activity will
be, thus highlighting the importance of relationships.
Cram (1994) and Skinner et al. (2005) counsel against over-reliance on price-based
competitive techniques such as drinks promotions in nightclubs as they may result in
negative outcomes by provoking a price war, damaging the company image and diverting
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80 Club 2.0
attention from customer needs. However, the possible short-term benefi ts associated with
price competition may make it diffi cult to resist. Furthermore, Chaston and Mangles (2002)
explain it is more tempting for service companies, such as nightclubs, to engage in online
price-based competition because prices are more visible to consumers online and therefore
they are easier to compare. In the offl ine environment, price information is not as readily
available or as easily compared due to consumers’ time constraints, which prevent them
from seeking out competing prices.
Kunur (2010) recommends staff outside of the marketing department should also be
involved in the organisation’s social media activity as it can be employed at every stage of
the selling cycle. He suggests adopting a model that incorporates a combination of central-
ised and distributed responsibility. However, Gay et al. (2007) believe getting buy-in from
other areas of the business, particularly from management, may be a challenge for some
organisations. This diffi culty emphasises the need for top managers to be committed to the
concept of e-marketing and to share their enthusiasm as internal champions.
The literature on social media marketing, while not extensive, deals predominantly
with strategies, tools and online consumer behaviour; less attention has been focused
on the area of measurement. The reason for this lack of attention to measures of social
media marketing campaigns may be partially attributed to the diffi culty of measuring
such campaigns. It appears the most effective social media tactics are often not as meas-
urable as their less effective counterparts. Maddox (2009), one of the few authors to touch
on the subject, highlights the shortage of concrete measures available to organisations to
accurately determine social media’s actual contribution to revenue growth. However,
Kirby (2010: 40) underplays the signifi cance of fi nancial measures by suggesting ‘return
on investment is only one way to gauge the success of a campaign’, and advises comple-
menting return on investment with other measures such as return on engagement.
RESEARCH DESIGN
This research project takes a cross-sectional view of the current status of social media usage
among nightclubs in the midlands and west of Ireland, using a mixed method approach.
The primary data collection process was carried out in two phases: 1) consumer focus
groups and 2) organisational interviews. A self-selection sampling technique was used to
determine the focus group sample. In total, ten nightclubs (fi ve rural and fi ve urban) and
twenty-eight consumers (fi fteen females and thirteen males aged between 18 and 30) took
part in the study, and the responses were analysed using the qualitative analysis technique
known as template analysis.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Several key fi ndings emerged from the research analysis in areas such as social media
experience, social media relationships, social media trends, and the management, imple-
mentation and measurement of social media marketing campaigns. The fi ndings from both
data collection processes are discussed simultaneously.
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IRISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT 81
Social Media Experience
All ten nightclubs studied have an active presence on the internet and in the social media
world. However, variations exist between the levels of activity and depth of experience
they have regarding the use of online tools such social media; these variations are summa-
rised in Table 1.
Table 1: Online Marketing Experience of Nightclubs
Nightclub Independent
Website
Year Joined
Social Media
Hours per Week Spent on
Social Media Marketing
Urban 1 Yes 2005 3
Urban 2 Yes 2005 3
Urban 3 Yes 2008 3
Urban 4 Yes 2008 2–3
Urban 5 Yes 2007 5–8
Rural 1 Yes, shared 2009 3
Rural 2 Yes, shared 2007 2–3
Rural 3 Yes 2009 5
Rural 4 Yes 2009 2
Rural 5 Yes 2008 2
Although differences exist between rural and urban nightclubs in terms of their social media
experience, both groups demonstrate a level of experience over and above the average
experience levels suggested by current research, indicating social media marketing may be
at a more advanced stage of development than presented in the literature.
All of the urban nightclubs studied have active independent websites which they
update regularly and which are linked to their social media pages, while the independent
websites of rural nightclubs are relatively inactive and not linked to their social media. In
this respect, the activity of the urban nightclubs is refl ective of the current marketing litera-
ture, which highlights the importance of maintaining an active online presence outside of
social media through an independent website. Rural nightclubs, however, do not appear
to be using their independent websites to their full potential.
Social Media Trends
Facebook
All of the nightclubs studied have active Facebook accounts and share a positive opinion
of Facebook as the most popular and most effective social media website for marketing
purposes. This fi nding confi rms the popularity of Facebook as a marketing tool that is
suggested in the literature (Pattison, 2009; Miletsky, 2010). All of the consumers who
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82 Club 2.0
participated in the study are also active Facebook users with the majority of them describing
Facebook as the hub of their social media activity.
Twitter
Six out of the ten nightclubs that took part in the research have a presence on Twitter
– all fi ve urban nightclubs and one rural nightclub. This fi nding challenges the popu-
larity of Twitter suggested in the literature by authors such as Morrissey (2010). While
the majority of nightclubs have a Twitter presence, their presence on Twitter is relatively
low-key in comparison to their Facebook activity. A similar fi nding was drawn from the
focus groups. Only fi ve consumers said they have set up an account on Twitter and subse-
quently admitted to highly sporadic usage patterns, thus indicating Twitter may not yet
be a viable social media channel for nightclubs in the midlands and west of Ireland as
usage among consumers appears to be relatively low. Of those consumers who are not
active on Twitter, many regarded the website as predominantly an American site. These
statements resonate strongly with early attitudes of Irish consumers towards Facebook,
which in its infancy was viewed by Irish consumers as an American social network. This
fi nding implies the potential of Twitter as a marketing tool may increase in the near future,
as patterns observed from the literature suggest Irish consumers’ internet usage tends to
closely follow the usage patterns of American consumers (Singh et al., 2010).
YouTube
The potential of YouTube suggested in the literature is reinforced by the favourable atti-
tude of consumers towards YouTube uncovered during the focus group interviews.
Consumers regard YouTube as ‘amusing’, ‘entertaining’ and ‘addictive’. However, none
of the nightclubs involved in the study have used YouTube as part of their marketing
activities. Many of them were aware of the website’s existence and were familiar with the
website’s features, but had not considered the idea of using it for marketing their nightclub
until the topic was raised during the interviews.
SMS Marketing
The intrusiveness of text message marketing was discussed during focus groups and
organisational interviews. Consumers relayed stories of negative experiences with
invasive mobile marketing from nightclubs and some nightclubs admitted to sending
marketing messages via SMS to consumers who had not given their explicit permission.
The overall fi ndings from both the organisational interviews and the consumer focus
groups present text message marketing as an effective channel for communicating with
nightclub consumers provided the nightclub obtains explicit consent from consumers and
establishes a straightforward process whereby consumers can easily unsubscribe from the
text alerts service.
Bebo
Although little attention was given to Bebo in the literature, both nightclubs and consumers
have previously used the website. All of the rural nightclubs and one urban nightclub have
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IRISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT 83
used Bebo in the past for marketing their nightclubs and over half of the focus group
participants admitted to having used Bebo before, many identifying it as their fi rst social
media experience. However, the popularity of the website is in decline. Bebo’s decline in
popularity is refl ective of the rapidly evolving status given to social media in the litera-
ture. The current image of Bebo among consumers as a social networking site for children
suggests Irish nightclubs should be wary of using Bebo for their marketing purposes,
primarily because it is potentially a waste of resources as the target audience no longer uses
the website. Furthermore, and more ominously, using Bebo to promote nightclubs may
raise serious legal and moral issues regarding the advertising of alcohol-related events to
minors. Many of the nightclubs have already identifi ed these pitfalls and have followed in
the footsteps of their customers, moving from Bebo to Facebook, yet some nightclubs are
continuing to use Bebo to promote their nightclub and alcohol-related events. However,
many nightclubs in both rural and urban areas also hold underage, non-alcoholic events on
their premises, thus maintaining a presence on Bebo could prove benefi cial for these night-
clubs when promoting such events to underage consumers.
Social Media Relationships
The suggestion in the literature that strong ties with consumers are essential in order for
social media marketing to be effective (Brown et al., 2007) is challenged by the results
obtained during the focus groups. The majority of consumer responses gathered for this
study were relatively homogeneous; however, the discussion on social media relation-
ships with nightclubs raised much debate. Many consumers said they would only look
at a nightclub’s social media page if they were going somewhere for a vacation or if
they were going to a nightclub they are not familiar with, insisting they are less likely to
check the social media page of the nightclubs they most frequent, because they are going
to attend those nightclubs regardless of what promotion is on. This consumer opinion
suggests social media marketing does not require strong consumer ties in order to be
effective and it may also be effective with consumers who have weak or no ties with the
nightclub.
On the other hand, some consumers demonstrate much stronger social media ties with
their most frequented nightclubs, describing the social media presence of their local night-
club or nightclubs as online membership schemes. The fi ndings from the organisational
interviews reinforce this description: four of the nightclubs have membership schemes in
place which are linked to their social media activity. In general, focus group participants
were largely in favour of nightclub membership schemes. The majority of participants
hold in their possession at least one nightclub membership card; in fact, many of the partic-
ipants are involved in multiple nightclub membership schemes. Low levels of consumer
loyalty towards nightclubs are also evident on social media: all of the focus group partici-
pants are linked to multiple nightclubs through social media and describe the strength of
these links as considerably strong. Consumers are linked to multiple nightclubs on social
media in that they are fans or friends of their local nightclub’s page, but they have little or
no interaction with these nightclubs’ pages. They do not view the pages on a regular basis.
They are more likely to visit the page of a nightclub that is unfamiliar to them to see what it
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84 Club 2.0
is like than to visit the page of a nightclub they know, even though they may be friends or
fans of the local nightclub on social media. Thus, strong ties with consumers can be poten-
tially advantageous for nightclubs engaging in social media marketing; however they do
not guarantee consumer loyalty.
With regards to establishing social media relationships, the potential legal issue of
adding underage friends and/or fans arises. Many nightclub representatives said they
deliberately avoid Bebo because of its underage user demographic. In spite of the strong
awareness of this sensitive issue demonstrated during the Bebo discussion, only four out
of the ten nightclubs impose a strict over 18s policy when adding or accepting friends on
social media websites. Three more nightclubs adopt a markedly more relaxed approach.
They ‘try to maintain an over 18s only friend list, when possible’, but have no formal proce-
dures or guidelines in place for standardising the process of adding or accepting online
friends. The remaining three nightclubs admit to having no age restrictions at all in place
on their social media friends lists. This fi nding suggests the majority of nightclubs demon-
strate a preference for quantity over quality when it comes to establishing social media
relationships, in an attempt to appear more popular than competitors.
Social Media Activity
Promotional
Advertising the nightclub and promoting events is the primary social media activity iden-
tifi ed among the nightclubs studied. However, these activities are often done to excess, at
the expense of other important activities. Nightclubs which focus their social media efforts
solely on promotions are not viewed favourably by consumers. When discussing their
social media usage patterns, focus group participants placed great importance on interac-
tion, reinforcing the fi ndings of previous studies published on the topic of social media
consumers (Gibson and Jagger, 2009). The level of attention given to promotional activi-
ties by the nightclubs studied indicates they are underperforming in terms of meeting the
needs and expectations of their consumers on social media. Many participants relayed
anecdotes of negative past experiences where they had contacted nightclubs via social
media websites to enquiry about upcoming events, reservations or general queries and
experienced negative emotions when they were subsequently ignored by nightclubs which
failed to reply to their enquiries.
The danger of price-based promotions was highlighted in the literature by authors such
as Cram (1994). Evidence of price wars instigated through social media promotions was
obtained during the organisational interviews and the level of promotional activity among
nightclubs on social media websites, and Facebook in particular, appears to be danger-
ously high. One particular rural nightclub posted an advertisement on its Facebook page
offering drinks for €2 all weekend. The following week, its closest competitors copied the
strategy. For three consecutive weeks, both nightclubs advertised the promotion aggres-
sively on Facebook. After three weeks one of the nightclubs withdrew the offer, but the
withdrawal was only temporary. Pressure from angry consumers, who expressed their
dissatisfaction on the nightclub’s Facebook page, led to the offer being reintroduced. At the
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IRISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT 85
time the interviews for this study were conducted, both nightclubs were still advertising
the offer through social media.
Timing is a crucial yet often overlooked factor of social media promotions. The literature
review highlighted the importance of content and frequency when delivering marketing
messages (Cram, 1994); however, the timing of message delivery is not given adequate
attention in the literature. Regardless of what promotional activity is being carried out, the
fi ndings from the consumer focus groups suggest nightclubs should give strong consid-
eration to the timing of their messages. Both male and female consumers largely agree;
evening is the time of day when they are most likely to be online. Focus group participants
indicate they only occasionally look at the social media pages of nightclubs by searching
for the nightclub’s page unprompted; typically consumers arrive on nightclub pages by
clicking on links in comments posted by nightclubs, which appear on the stream on their
homepage, thus identifying the timing of messages as an crucial factor, as the stream is in
real time and therefore constantly changing. Although promotion was identifi ed as the
main social media activity of nightclubs, in some cases non-promotional activities were also
identifi ed, such as uploading photographs, dealing with booking enquires and conducting
informal competitor and customer research.
Non-Promotional
The associated co-creation and the interactive nature of social media marketing highlighted
in the literature suggest there is substantial potential for nightclubs to use social media
channels for other non-promotional purposes such as consumer research. However, none
of the nightclubs are currently engaging in formal or informal consumer research through
social media. The reason cited by most nightclubs is because it had never occurred to them
to do so, while some of the nightclubs have deliberately avoided engaging in consumer
research through social media as they refute the credibility of social media as a formal
consumer research channel.
Some nightclubs admitted to using social media channels to engage in competitor anal-
ysis, albeit in an informal manner, what one nightclub described as ‘keeping an eye on
what they’re doing down the road’. The potential of social media as a means of conducting
competitor analysis was not previously identifi ed in the literature, thus this interesting
fi nding enhances the literature on social media marketing by identifying a new, non-
promotional business activity for which social media can be used. One nightclub described
how it had previously used its Facebook page to advertise vacancies within the organisa-
tion, by inviting interested parties to send their CV to the company through their Facebook
mail, to which it received an overwhelming response. One urban male consumer also
raised the issue of recruitment during the focus group, explaining how he used Facebook
to obtain the contact details of nightclubs and pubs when he was searching for employ-
ment. LinkedIn, a business-oriented social media website, is regularly used for recruitment
and head hunting; however the literature did not recognise the potential to conduct recruit-
ment activities on social media websites such as Facebook, which are widely regarded as
personal networks rather than professional networks.
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86 Club 2.0
Managing and Implementing Social Media Marketing Strategies
In general, the discussion of the research fi ndings so far has presented urban nightclubs
as slightly more advanced social media users than their rural counterparts. However,
unexpectedly, it is the rural nightclub category which excels in terms of the effective
management of social media marketing strategies. Three nightclubs, two rural and
one urban, acknowledged the management and implementation of their social media
marketing strategy as a team effort, with involvement from personnel from all areas
of the organisation. The remaining eight nightclubs relied exclusively on one person to
design, manage and implement all of their social media marketing strategies. In some
cases, this responsibility was carried out by a designated marketing manager; however,
in most cases no designated marketing manager role exists and the responsibility of social
media management was left to the general manger of the nightclub. Perhaps it is unfea-
sible in rural nightclubs to employ designated marketing personnel due to budgetary and
resource constraints. In such situations, it may be benefi cial to involve staff members from
other areas of the business instead of placing the responsibility on the general manager,
who is often preoccupied with other non-marketing-related issues. The rural nightclubs
that took part in the study and have already employed such an approach have experi-
enced more successful social media strategies as a result. With regards to employing a
dedicated marketing manager, while this strategy is considerably more benefi cial than
relying solely on the general manager, it still appears to be benefi cial to encourage input
from other organisational departments, outside of the marketing department, to obtain a
fuller picture and maintain a fresh perspective.
Measuring Social Media Marketing Strategies
The diffi culty in measuring social media marketing campaigns highlighted in the litera-
ture (Maddox, 2009) is echoed in the responses from nightclubs. None of the nightclubs
involved in this research have established a formal, quantitative measure for evaluating
the return on their social media marketing efforts. Some nightclubs measure their social
media success by monitoring the level of activity on their social media webpages, while
others list informal feedback from customers who attend their events as a key performance
indicator. Some nightclubs, particularly the urban clubs, have previously attempted to
quantify the effectiveness of their social media activity by measuring attendance of events
promoted exclusively through social media and comparing these results to attendance
fi gures for events not advertised through social media, some noting an increase as high as
50 per cent for events marketed through social media. Thus, while some nightclubs have
been relatively successful at measuring the effectiveness of promoting once-off events on
social media, none of them have yet established a method for measuring the long-term
effectiveness of their ongoing social media activity.
While all of the nightclubs acknowledged the diffi culty of measuring their social
media campaigns, none of them expressed a major concern regarding the immeasur-
ability of social media. The general consensus among nightclub representatives is that
it costs nothing to implement a social media marketing strategy so they have nothing
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IRISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT 87
to lose. However, the potential for negative word-of-mouth suggests nightclubs should
maintain some measure of social media success, whether informal or formal, in order to
avoid a negative return on investment. The term ‘return on investment’ is appropriately
used here as all the nightclubs have invested time, usually three hours per week, into
their social media strategy. However, none of the nightclubs recognise the time spent
on their social media strategies as an investment. All of them declare they have made no
investment in social media because they have not spent any money on it. This attitude
suggests they do not take social media too seriously and are not considering the long-
term, strategic impact of their social media use.
CONCLUSION
The compatibility between nightclubs and social media is considerably high owing to
two key factors: 1) shared goals and consumer base, and 2) fl exibility. Nightclubs and
social media are inherently suppliers of entertainment with remarkably similar target
consumers. Furthermore, the level of experience nightclub marketers have with social
media is increasing. In terms of fl exibility, both consumers and nightclub representatives
change their social media consumption habits regularly. This evolving nature of social
media usage patterns is well documented in the literature (Andersen, 2008). The fl exibility
demonstrated by the nightclubs which moved from Bebo to Facebook suggests nightclubs
are to some extent meeting the current needs and expectations of consumers and suggests
they have the capacity to adapt to meet consumer needs. The combination of these factors
indicates a potential strategic fi t between nightclubs and social media.
The use of social media among most nightclubs studied can be described as mundane
and uninspiring. The lack of creativity is particularly notable in two key areas: choice of
social media channels and social media activities.
Choice of Channel
Facebook and SMS messages are the channels used most frequently by nightclubs engaging
in social media. While these channels are successful at reaching their target customers, both
channels are saturated with messages from nightclubs and other organisations. In order
for nightclubs to increase the effectiveness of their social media marketing and obtain a
competitive advantage they need to expand their portfolio of social media channels by
establishing an active presence on more innovative social media channels such as Twitter
and YouTube, which are rising in popularity among marketers and consumers.
Social Media Activity
Most of the nightclubs have adopted a relatively narrow approach to social media marketing.
Social media by its nature is an interactive channel, readily facilitating direct marketing
and dialogue between multiple parties. It appears many nightclubs in the midlands and
west of Ireland have not yet grasped the concept of marketing ‘with’ consumers rather
than ‘at’ them. They use their social media presence mainly to promote their nightclub and
their events. They do not actively encourage feedback from consumers and when feedback
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88 Club 2.0
or other unsolicited communications, such as enquiries, are received from consumers via
social media they are often ignored or overlooked by nightclubs.
The current literature on social media marketing also places considerable emphasis on
promotions; however, the approach to social media promotions suggested in the literature
is a more personal and informal approach than that taken by the nightclubs (Gibson and
Jagger, 2009). In this respect, the traditional approach taken by nightclubs is not refl ective
of social media marketing literature and is more reminiscent of dated, mass marketing
literature. Essentially, nightclubs are trying to use modern marketing tools, such as
social media, in the same way as they would use traditional marketing channels, such
as radio or local press. By adopting this obsolete approach they are limiting their ability
to meet the needs of their consumers within their social media networks, as they are not
providing consumers with entertainment or the opportunity to interact. Nightclubs are
lazily approaching social media as primarily an advertising tool and not realising the full
potential of it as a creative, interactive channel.
Most of the nightclubs are underperforming in terms their level of forward planning
and their attention to detail. The majority of nightclubs appear to devote less attention to
their social media strategies compared to their other marketing strategies. A small number
of nightclubs have correctly identifi ed social media marketing as requiring a team effort
and have been successful at obtaining buy-in from management and staff at various levels
from within the organisation. In this respect, these nightclubs refl ect the best practice tech-
niques suggested in the literature. The remaining nightclubs have achieved buy-in from
management, but have not delegated any social media related tasks to non-management
members of the organisation, resulting in their social media strategies being narrow-
minded and minimal in terms of planning and implementation. Those nightclubs which
involve members from throughout their organisation in their social media marketing
activity have better planned strategies which are generally more creative. For this reason,
these nightclubs tend to perform better in terms of meeting customer expectations than
those where one person is solely responsible for the design and implementation of their
social media marketing activity. This fi nding suggests preparation is a pre-requisite for
effective social media marketing.
The fi ndings on age restrictions strengthen the argument for the need for prior plan-
ning. Many of the nightclubs do not impose strict age restrictions on their social media
pages, risking the possibility of legal issues arising. One of the factors contributing to the
laidback approach of most nightclubs towards social media may be the lack of fi nancial
investment required. There appears to be a misguided attitude among nightclub repre-
sentatives suggesting social media is an informal channel and, thus, it is acceptable to
adopt an informal approach. A clear line needs to be drawn between being open and
informal, and acting in a socially unacceptable manner. Companies need to engage in
prior planning in order to ensure they strike a balance between being socially oriented
and maintaining integrity and professionalism.
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IRISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT 89
Theoretical Implications
The fi ndings of this study add to the debate on the importance of relationships and tie
strength in social media marketing literature, by strengthening the argument which
suggests close relationships are not always a requirement, and social media marketing
can also be effective in situations where weak ties or no ties exist. This research also
helps to move current literature past focusing predominantly on promotional activity, by
presenting consumer research, competitor research and recruitment as business activities
which may be potentially carried out through social media. The overall conclusion of this
research reinforces the argument in current literature which insists innovative tools such
as social media require innovative attitudes, and in order for social media marketing to be
effective marketers must enter the social media world with an open mind.
Limitations and Implications for Future Research
This study presents a cross-sectional account of the current use of social media marketing
by nightclubs in the midlands and west of Ireland by interviewing nightclub marketing
personnel and nightclub patrons from within the region. Future investigations in this area
may involve the use of deeper qualitative data collection methods such as participant
observation to investigate whether the responses provided during the interview accurately
represent the actual behaviour of nightclubs and consumers. The focus group section of
this research was also limited to consumers who have an established, active presence on
social media. Further nightclub marketing research may also include participants who do
not have a presence on social media. Other research may build on this work by taking a
longitudinal approach, repeating this study and examining the extent to which the use of
social media among nightclubs and consumers has changed over time.
Practical Implications
The implications of this research from a managerial perspective are presented in the form
of a conceptual framework, which was created based on the main fi ndings emerging from
the research (see Figure 1).
Planning Recommendations
Nightclubs should create a formal, written plan for their social media marketing strategy,
which should start by identifying their objective. It is recommended that nightclubs avoid
objectives based solely on cost reductions or promotions. In order to be effective, the objec-
tives should be compatible with the social aspect of social media, for example a desire to
engage with customers or to better understand their customers’ needs. In order to identify
suitable social media objectives it is also necessary to understand the social media motives
of their target audience, such as entertainment. If no suitable objectives can be identifi ed,
it may indicate social media may not be an appropriate marketing channel for meeting the
nightclub’s objectives.
IJM.indb 89IJM.indb 89 20/09/2012 15:11:3320/09/2012 15:11:33
90 Club 2.0
A social media marketing team should subsequently be appointed with representatives
from various levels and departments within the organisation. Once organisational objec-
tives and consumer motives have been identifi ed, the elected social media marketing team
will be able to make an informed decision about the most suitable social media channels.
Decisions should be based on the social media usage of the nightclub’s target audience
and the ability of the channels to meet its objectives. Although this study focused on the
fi ve most relevant social media methods at the time of study, the choice of social media
channel should not be limited to these channels as trends in social media are constantly
evolving and new social media channels are continually emerging. Nightclubs should aim
to include as many social media channels as they can feasibly manage and maintain within
their resources.
Implementation Recommendations
When the most appropriate social media channels have been identifi ed, nightclubs should
begin to build their networks. Formal guidelines should be established, outlining how the
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework for Social Media Marketing in Nightclub
Organisations
Phase 1
Planning
Identify motives
and objectives
Nominate a social
media team
Select appropriate
channels
Build a meaningful
network
Engage in relevant
activities
Measure and
review
Phase 2
Implementation
Phase 3
Control
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IRISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT 91
network is to be built and details of any restrictions should be clearly communicated to
all members of the social media team to maintain consistency. Given the nature of the
industry, it is recommended that nightclubs impose strict age restrictions on any social
media channels used to avoid any legal issues arising. Nightclubs should maintain an
active presence on all their social media channels and establish links between their social
media and all other channels of communication. For example, hyperlinks should be used
to direct consumers from the company website to the social media pages and the URLs of
their social media pages should feature prominently in any offl ine communications.
A subtle, informal approach should be adapted when engaging in promotional
activity on social media, paying careful attention to the wording of communications. Post-
ings resembling advertisements should be used sparingly. Nightclubs should also aim
to increase the effectiveness of their social media marketing campaigns by engaging in
non-promotional activities, such as consumer and competitor research and recruitment.
Interaction and dialogue should be key components of any social media activity and
communications received from customers via social media should be handled in a profes-
sional, timely manner.
Recommendations for Control
Nightclubs should establish a formal strategy for measuring the success of their social
media marketing. As quantifying social media marketing success is extremely diffi cult,
the formal measurement strategy may be based on qualitative measures such as customer
feedback. The choice of measurement method should be based on the type of activity and
thus will vary greatly from nightclub to nightclub. A more important factor than the type
of measure used is the frequency of measurements. Regardless of which methods are used,
the measurement should be carried out on a regular basis. The dynamic nature of social
media means the social media strategies of nightclubs will require constant review and
reinvention, thus the six-step process outlined in Figure 1 is a cyclical process that night-
club marketers need to repeat continually.
Adapting a formal strategy, such as the one suggested in the above model, will allow
nightclubs to create effective and innovative social media marketing strategies which allow
them to meet their consumers’ need for social interaction, information and entertainment
while keeping marketing costs to a minimum and ensuring the professional image of the
nightclub remains intact.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank everyone who took part in the research and made this study possible.
I also wish to express my gratitude to my colleague Dr Ann Torres for her support and
guidance and to John for his continued patience and encouragement.
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