The Use of Social Media Marketing in Higher Education Institutions in Zambia-A Literature Review

Abstract

Social Media Marketing is the use of internet technologies based on Web 2.0 to create relationships between businesses and customers. In the education sector in Zambia higher education institutions have adopted Social Media as part of their integrated marketing strategies. Research findings indicate that most literature in Zambia on Social Media has focused on the use of Social Media as a teaching aid and not necessarily as a marketing tool. In countries such as the USA and Australia Social Media has increased revenue for educational institutions and enhanced marketing performance for those institutions. The question of how effective Social Media Marketing is for marketing higher education institutions in Zambia is an interesting area of research. This research is a literature review that gathers facts from literature findings of scientific publications and from existing data on Social Media analytical platforms. The findings show that higher education institutions in Zambia need to develop a model for Social Media Marketing for them to enhance their marketing performance.