Kurt Komaromi, M.S.'03, assistant professor of marketing, is conducting research on how companies use social media to influence purchase decisions and brand loyalty. He shares some of his insights about the marketing industry below.

Q: How did you become interested in social media?
A: I first became interested when I saw early adopters achieving millions of ad viewings on their YouTube channels. Marketers measure ad reach in terms of cost per thousand impressions. Social media blew up this metric by offering access to huge potential audiences with no distribution cost. I also got excited about the potential to have a conversation with my audience rather than delivering a monologue.

Q: What’s something interesting you’ve discovered in your research?
A: It’s really difficult to build and maintain an audience. There’s so much content online, and it’s growing exponentially. This is why companies who build a following are valued so highly. Case in point, Facebook paid $1 billion to acquire Instagram even though it had no revenue. What it did have was 35 million users. [Citigroup valued Instagram at $35 billion in December, based on a forecast of 420 million active users by the end of this year.]

Q: What is one important lesson you hope your students gain?
A: The business world is competitive, and you cannot afford to give anything less than your best effort on a consistent basis. Even that will not be enough at times. To succeed, you have to be self-motivated and results oriented.