PROCEEDINGS OF THE 15 th INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE “Managing People and Organizations in a Global Crisis” 4 th – 5 th November 2021, BUCHAREST, ROMANIA THE IMPACT OF USING SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS IN BUSINESS PROMOTION Oana PRICOPOAIA a* , Irina SUSANU b a Transilvania University of Brașov, Romania b Dunarea de Jos University of Galați, Romania ABSTRACT Social media is not just about socializing or interpersonal communication, it is about the transmission of information in order to influence public opinion and to shape a particular consumption behavior. Social media can be considered media of the future because companies promote Internet activity to attract the attention of the target audience. Social media platforms are an effective, interactive, and fast means of communication for both individuals and the legal persons. For companies present in the online environment, the connection with customers is direct, the campaign promotion can be monitored through special digital tools and the results of the campaign are easy to be quantified. In online promotion it is necessary to know the target audience because the message must be customized according to the requirements, constantly updated because the online customer is always stirred towards novelty and be attractiveness, original and relevant to the promoted object. Content transmitted targets a well-defined audience and influences through objective and valuable information. Social media is a tool for social interaction and a form of two-way communication based on online services. Thus, social media marketing must become a priority for all companies that want a successful business, because they can increase the company's notoriety, customer loyalty, improve relationship with the customers and gaining a favorable image in the market. KEYWORDS: advertising, digital marketing, Internet, media, social media platforms. DOI: 10.24818/IMC/2021/05.10 1. INTRODUCTION Social media allows people to connect to the online environment and develop relations of friendship or business. Social media users can share their experiences online following the use of a product, may ask for opinions about a particular service or interact directly with content. Thus, consumers feel more involved in creating and sharing messages distributed by a company in the online environment. Social media marketing platforms used correctly in online promotion bring a multitude of benefits to companies among which the most significant are: increasing customer satisfaction and improving the image of the market. Companies that choose to integrate social media marketing into their strategy benefit from a form of internet marketing based on web applications and media channels for generating direct interactions with the public. The Internet was the factor that most influenced the cultural, economic, and social changes observed at the beginning of the 21st century. Now, the consumer is the focal point of business and the target of Internet strategies (García et al., 2019). Thus, before launching a promotion campaign, the company must check which of the online platforms is the most suitable for carrying out the advertising of its activity, which are the platforms on which the competitors are successful and which advertising elements work. In order to successfully apply a strategy, the company must know * Corresponding author. E-mail address: oana.pricopoaia@unitbv.ro 930