ABSTRACT. The objective of this paper is to emphasize the increasing importance of social media and social marketing on the Web, measuring and optimizing marketing investment in social media, and viral marketing communication. Weber observes that marketing’s role has changed, and the social web is promoting that change. Vollmer and Precourt contend that the emergence of new media, models, and metrics creates challenges and opportunities for more effective marketing and advertising. Woerndl et al. assert that information dissemination and sharing among individuals is rapid when word-of-mouth occurs. Lindgreen et al. posit that viral marketing can hugely lower the cost of promotion and boost the speed of adoption. (pp. 276–281) JEL: L82, M31

Keywords: social, media, marketing, viral, communication, web