The Role of Social Media-Advertising in the Development of Georgian Companies

Guliko Katamadze E-mail: qatamadze.guliko@bsu.edu.ge Associated Professor, Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University Batumi, Georgia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5198-3890 Abstract . The use of social media advertising as a means of marketing communication is gaining strategic importance for companies operating in Georgia. Social media-advertising research is all the more relevant for those firms that are trying to deliver a marketing "message" to a wide audience with minimal costs and brand positioning in the market. The relevance of the problem is determined by the fact that the influence of social media advertising on the development of Georgian companies, their branding process and the effectiveness of the returns received from the investment of their marketing activities has not been properly studied. The purpose of the research is to develop the best mechanism for using social media advertising for companies operating in Georgia, to determine the most favorable form for use as a marketing communication tool based on user behavior. Methods of data collection and observation were used to develop the paper. We used the collection method to assess the possibility of using social media advertising by companies operating in Georgia, and the observation method - to determine the potential of their social media space, based on which the possibilities of increasing the effectiveness of companies through social media advertising were identified. As a result of the research, it is clear that Georgian companies use social media advertising to improve their brand, to attract a new target audience. Social media advertising has a strategic importance in increasing the effectiveness of companies operating in Georgia at all stages of their operation. Accordingly, we can refer to the complex combination of traditional and electronic businesses as a result of using social media advertising, which will help to increase the marketing efforts of companies operating in Georgia and, as a result, their competitiveness and operational efficiency. Keywords: Social media-advertising, marketing effectiveness, social media-space, business. JEL classification: M31, M37