Marketing in the social networks: current trends and prospects

The article deals with the current directions of marketing development in the social networks: the integration of online and offline structures, situational SMM and promotion of the importance of involvement. We have identified a growing interest in user-generated video content, which proves the viable prospects of carrying out viral video marketing.  An analysis of the structure and composition of social network users by demographic (gender, age, geography) and quantitative traits (monthly audience, active users) allowed to identify target groups. Nine popular social networks (Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki, My world, Facebook, LiveJournal, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, Myspace) have been described. We have  determined what groups of goods are sold in each of the studied social networks. The TOP 5 popular products sold on the networks were: clothing and footwear (41 %), perfumes and cosmetics (28 %), consumer electronics (25 %), delivery of cooked meals (24 %), goods for children (20 %). The study showed an increase in consumer loyalty to online shopping. There is a projected increase in the proportion of the «clothes and shoes» and «baby products» segments, car products appearing in the TOP 5, as well as a significant increase in all other commodity groups.