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Top1. Introduction
Through creating virtual communities and networks, social media are interactive computer technology that allows the flow of thoughts, opinions, and knowledge. Today's popular social media platforms are Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, etc. (Cinelli et al., 2021). In today’s world, social media is used irrespective of age group (Appel et al., 2020). Social media spread misinformation (Shekhar & Jose, 2021b, 2021a) as well as positive news (Kandoth & Shekhar, 2022; Shekhar, 2021b). Social media has even guided policymakers to strategize their decisions for the larger benefit of society (Mohanan & Shekhar, 2022). With mobile networks connecting people, mobile social media is a fast-growing technology in today’s environment (Humphreys, 2013). Because the production, distribution, and dissemination of user-generated material can assist business interests with market analysis, communication, and relationship management, mobile social media are important uses of mobile advertising and marketing (Kaplan, 2012).
The use of social media websites and platforms to market a service or product while simultaneously establishing a relationship with the clients is known as social media marketing(Li et al., 2021). Due to the heavy usage of social media by people across the globe, social media marketing has gained momentum on social media platforms (Felix et al., 2017). Studies have even shown that companies have made use of social media during the pandemic to build substantial brand equity (Dubbelink et al., 2021; Salam et al., 2021; Syaifullah et al., 2021). Social media has a huge impact on consumer decision-making (Mason, Narcum, et al., 2021). The authors mentioned that to favorably influence purchasing behaviors, social media graphics, information, promotional events, and opinion leadership behavior should be used logically. As COVID-19 is anticipated to continue soon, consumers engaging in online shopping are expected to grow, and the significance of social media is also expected to increase (Taha et al., 2021). As more and more people are shifting to use online ads, reacting favorably to social media influencers, shop online, social media marketers would have a good business in the post-pandemic world if they rightly invest in mobile and sponsored ads, partner with social media endorsers, create video-centric advertisements and posts (Winarko et al., 2020).
Owing to the growing importance of social media marketing amidst COVID-19 (Mason, Narcum, et al., 2021), it becomes imperative to study the available literature on this theme. The study uses a bibliometric analysis to examine the literature on COVID-19 and associated social media marketing strategies. The output of the study will help the researchers and marketers understand the trending areas in social media marketing during COVID-19. Examining the literature will help guide the direction for future research to best leverage social media platforms in a post-pandemic world. Scrutinizing the top research journals, writers and their documents, various institutions, and countries working on COVID -19 induced social media marketing will help the stakeholders better channelize the social media strategies and collaborations in the coming years.