Abstract
The Role of Social Media in City Branding: An Application in TR33 Region
Cities can be managed like corporate brands with the motivation to attract more visitors and profitable investments, host a more qualified workforce, and protect and develop their values. In the process of becoming a branded city, cities naturally have to increase awareness of their presence. Especially in the tourism sector, the internet, environment, and social media tools are used extensively to reveal the power of cities, and social media accounts representing the cities are beneficial for the promotion of the city and to facilitate tourism movements. The advances in technology, the rapid increase in the internet usage rate, and the interest in the use of online platforms also lead city brands to use social media actively. The aim of this study is to reveal the roles of internet and social media tools in the city branding process in the light of the concepts of brand, branding, internet, and social media. The research findings showed that social media is efficient in the promotion of cities. Investments should support the development of a city brand, and cities should take advantage of social media that is commonly used for today’s marketing and communication.
Keywords
Brand, Social Media, TR33 Region, Content Analysis, City Brand
