Present Practices and Future Challenges in Social MediaUsage for Business: Observations from the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Social Media(SM) has emerged as a powerful and default tool for businesses. Currently businesses connect with their publics using SM. This paper unravels current practices by businesses in five areas -marketing; reputation management; customer management; crowdsourcing; and employee relations in the UAE context. In order to fuel SM strategy, the authors offer an overview of trends for the upcoming decade that may impact SM marketing due to technological advancements, use of big data analysis, and artificial intelligence (AI). The authors also situate the trends in the UAE context by summarizing a study conducted on Emirati entrepreneurs using the qualitative approach. Finally, they offer an overview of challenges and opportunities for brands to approach SM in a dynamic and competitive environment. Moving beyond marketing, authors also explore the ways of creating personalized and engaging content, existing in a regulated industry, and providing outstanding customer service capitalizing on SM.