New Social Media Marketing Techniques

Social media marketing techniques has become a vital tool for individuals, organizations, public sector to communicate and interact with one another and the general public. Social media marketing has also helped government, private sector and the various public to operate an open system that embraces openness, participation and collaboration. Social media offers opportunities for government to solve its challenges of increasing national transparency and as well as improving citizen engagement (Mahajan-Cusack, 2016). 

Social media has been used as an effective tool in building communities and climes and also encourages citizens and the public’s to pursue civic improvements (Belle, 2013; Clarkin, 2009; Cole, 2009; Haya, 2010; Natatchi & Mergel, 2010; Prall, 2013). Furthermore, social media marketing offers access to government services, in that citizens have access to government’s services (Caylor, 2010; Dowd, 2010; Fleming, 2008; Guha, 2011; Heaton, 2011). Montalbano, 2010; Moody & Carter, 2011. Social media has been proven efficient and effective in government efforts to address public safety problems (Gray, 2010; Taylor, 2010; Chavez et al., 2010; Cumber, 2010, Draper, 2011).

Transparency is the degree to which governments and organizations reveal private and vital information to their existing and potential customers (Granados, Gupta & Kauffman, 2005). They further conceptualized transparency as offering unbiased, complete and accurate information to customers or public. Transparency is seen as improved clarity and understand-ability of information (Flood et al., 1999; McGaughey, 2002; Potosky, 2008) reduced information concealment is conceptualized as transparency (Granados et al., 2010; Larson et al., 1998). Social media marketing is the bedrock of a transparent society (Bowers, 2014). Social media marketing when adopted by government help in public relations and external communications. In other-words Social media marketing enhances transparency which enables government to fulfill its mission and be accountable to its publics (Mahajan-Cusack, 2016).

Zhu, (2004), posits that the inability for customers and the public to access organizations information does not show a full picture of what the organization is doing or saying. Nation building is the ability to achieve sustainable development through employment,the openness of manufacturers, job creation, creating entrepreneurial opportunities, providing good conditions of service and welfare packages for stakeholders and citizens of a nation.

Social media techniques bring about transparency such as an organization or government being visible, trustworthy, open, accessible, and sincere to its customers and citizens. An open government system enhances nation building; a government that its systems and services are accessible and understandable by its publics will lead or improve satisfaction amongst the citizens. Nation building does not happen; it is a product of intentional statecraft and not a coincidence (Grambari, 2008). 

A nation is said to be developed when, there is reduction of information seclusion from its public and one of the major ways to reduce its information seclusion is through the use of social media networks, this is due to the fact that social media platforms improves and enhances information disclosure, clarity and accuracy and when information needed by the public are made available to them via social media platforms, they tend to be happy and satisfied without going through rigorous processes in accessing information about any government or organizational service.

Furthermore, when citizens are satisfied with the services and information exposed to them they tend to be delighted, which in turn enhances nation-building. Previous studies carried out studies on (social media marketing, transparency and Nation- building in isolation and using them differently as either a predictor or criterion variable (Flood et al., 1999; Zhu, 2004; Zhang, 2015; Gbadeyan and Mensah 2016; Alberg, 2010; Schnackenberg, 2014; Potosky, 2008; McGaughey, 2002; Karakiza, 2014; Mahajan-Cusack, 2014), but to the best of the researcher’s knowledge, there seem to be lacking a theoretical study on the contribution of social media marketing techniques on transparency and nation building in Nigeria. In other to bridge the gap, in literature, the study tries to explore the contribution of social medial marketing techniques on transparency and nation building in Nigeria.

Nigerian public and government institutions are expected to provide and increase the hopes of its citizens on social media techniques by offering online opportunities where citizens can freely engage, participate, and interact with its public institutions at any point in time. They are expected to operate an open system where citizens can share information with others in a digital format. The Nigerian government is expected to actively engage in social media platforms where, citizens can access government’s activities.

However, this is not the case in the Nigerian system of government .Citizens’ right to online information is jeopardized. The ubiquitous request and demand for transparency amongst citizens have led to the fraudulent nature of policy makers behaviour in public offices, citizens want to know what is happening within their environment. However, the government and public office holder in Nigeria have not met with this demand and yearning of its citizens and this has resulted to inability of transparency to strive in Nigeria.