A

DISSERTATION REPORT

ON

“SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING”

SUBMITTED
BY
MR. AKSHAY PRAKASH DESHMUKH

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

PROF. AMAR NARKHEDE

TO

“SAVITRIBAI PHULE PUNE UNIVERSITY”

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA)

RMD SINHGAD SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES WARJE, PUNE.

2016-2018

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to acknowledge our sincere gratitude to all those people who helped and gave their valuable
suggestion only due to which Interest was able to complete my project. All these have earned our respect and
appreciation.I would like to thankful especially my project guide Prof. Amar Narkhede and Dean Dr. John Peter
of RMD Sinhgad School of Management Studies , Warje , Pune who helped me whenever I asked them for any
information or suggestion. He gave inspiration to me for improving the Project on “Social Media Marketing”.

“Finally I would like to acknowledge to all the hands that helped me directly or indirectly”.

Akshay. P. Deshmukh

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 DECLARATION

I do here declare that this piece of Report entitled “SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING”. For partial fulfilment of
the requirement for the award of degree of “MBA” is a record of Original Work done by me under the
supervision and guidance of Prof. Amar Narkhede RMD Sinhgad School of Management studies, Warje, Pune .
This is my own and has neither been submitted nor published elsewhere.

Place: Pune

Date:

Mr. Akshay Prakash Deshmukh

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 INDEX

Chapter Topics Page no.

1. INTRODUCTION 5-15

2. PROBLEM STATEMENT 16-17

3. OBJECTIVES 18-19

4. LITERATURE REVIEW 20-30

5. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS 31-37

6. RESEACH METHODOLOGY 38-48

7. DISCUSSION / ANALYSIS 49-50

8. FINDINGS 51-52

9. CONCLUSION 53-54

10. BIBLIOGRAPHY 54-55

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INTRODUCTION

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Introduction

Way back in 2010, a Harvard Business Review study found in its survey that the biggest benefit
businesses think they derive from using social media was increased awareness of their brands or products.
While this continues to be a key reason for social media adoption even today, the top-most reason why
organizations are using social media has shifted to building communities. An overwhelming 95.7% of social
media-savvy organizations in India that we surveyed said they use the medium to build communities and
advocates to directly or indirectly help in creating positive word of mouth.

Social media marketing is one of the most effective ways to raise brand awareness and lead people to your
company. Executed well, it can help you create a solid community, grow your business and enjoy success.

Social media is a vital element for the online Business. Social media marketing is the use of social
media platforms and websites to promote a product or service. Although the terms e-marketing and digital
marketing are still dominant in academia, social media marketing is becoming more popular for both
practitioners and researchers. Most social media platforms have built-in data analytics tools, which enable
companies to track the progress, success, and engagement of ad campaigns.
Companies address a range of stakeholders through social media marketing, including current and potential
customers, current and potential employees, journalists, bloggers, and the general public. On a strategic level,
social media marketing includes the management of a marketing campaign, governance, setting the scope (e.g.
more active or passive use) and the establishment of a firm's desired social media "culture" and "tone."
To use social media effectively, firms should learn to allow customers and Internet users to post user-generated
content (e.g., online comments, product reviews, etc.), also known as "earned media," rather than use marketer-
prepared advertising copy.[3][4][5] While often associated with companies, as of 2016, a range of not-for-profit
organizations and government organizations are engaging in social media marketing.
Business in today’s day and age is dominated by customers and their demands. People prefer to see referrals,
reviews over Google search results, or a website before purchasing a product. To stand by the flow, we need to
learn what people say about us. You need to actively participate in relevant communities to interact and
influence masses. You need to engage with social media to manage your online reputation. Social media
marketing is a must to target a wider customer base and expand your business.

Social Media Marketing is the activity of driving website traffic through social media sites.

What is Social Media?

Social Media is a platform that lets us participate in social networking. We can share our posts on various social
media platforms to improve business visibility. Today it is the best source for news updates, marketing,
education, and entertainment.

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History of Social Media Marketing

Social Media seems to be a new trend, but its roots stretch to the beginning of computer era. What we see today
is the result of centuries-old social media development. Usernets, which was launched in 1979, was the first
progenitor of social media, and the journey from Usernets to Facebook is a long one. Usernets allowed users to
post on newsgroups. It was followed by bulletin board systems (BBS) which allowed users to login and interact.
Online services like progidy were the precursors to BBS. After online services, internet relay chat came into
light which gave way to instant messaging.

In the 90s, dating sites and forums were on peak, which led to the development of social networks. But they did
not let users make friend lists. Six degrees launched to overcome this feature. It allowed profile creation and
listing pears. It was purchased and shut down after playing for a decade. Blogging emerged in this phase,
creating a sensation in social media. It is popular even today. Other sites like BlackPlanet (African-American
Social Website) and MiGente (Latino) cropped up having provision to create profiles and add friends.

Modern social networks came into picture post 2000. Apple launched its Friendster in 2002. It has millions of
users. Hi5 and Linkedin were launched in 2003. Linkedin is a ground for professionals to reach out to one
another. MySpace also originated in 2003 and became well known by 2006. Similarly Facebook was launched
in 2004 and surpassed MySpace, Orkut, Multiply, etc., and is still expanding. This decade also conceived media
sharing platforms like photobucket, flickr, youtube, instagram, etc., along with news and bookmarking
platforms like Digg and Delicious.

Since 2000, Social Media has bloomed to horizon and is still expanding limitlessly. Along with media sharing,
many other portals that provide real-time updates were introduced, for example, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. In 2007,
Facebook launched its advertising system.

Importance of Social Media

The importance of social media is undebatable. It is a powerful channel of marketing − a game changer for any
business. It provides us the flexibility to communicate at both personal as well as business levels.

Business owners can improve search rankings, leads, sales, and traffic using search media. This can be done at
reduced marketing expenses. Besides business, it is a cool platform to connect with friends and dear ones.

SMO Strategy for Business

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A wisely implemented Social Media Optimization (SMO) strategy can give a great boost to your business. To
draw maximum benefit out of Social Media, you need to set clear and well-defined business goals and
objectives. The following points are the backbone of any well-laid SMO strategy −

 Set measurable and achievable goals.

 Know you customers.

 Research over market and trends.

 Explore more social networking platforms. Reflect your presence on all.

 Choose core topics related to your business. Use them in content.

 Set Social Engagement parameters.

 Plan your resource use.

 Track your results.

SMO − Key Concepts

 Aim for building reputation by depicting yourself as a trusted source or business.

 Encourage more engagement and sharing.

 Be an authorized name in your industry.

 Gear up originality.

 Keep it social.

 Master over your media platforms.

 Optimize every single point that hinders your efforts.

Business Profile Creation

Create an impactful Business profile. Add a well-defined persona and proficiency statement of your business.

 Study competitors’ business profile, analyze their strong points, and add them to yours.

 Add prominent features of your business that makes it stand out among others.

 Include the milestones achieved by your company.

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  Add address and other details.

 Include data and statistics.

 List your renowned vendors.

 Add some keywords to it to get noticed by the web crawler.

Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is a degree to which your brand name is known. Brand name solidifies customers’ trust. So, it
is important that your brand name overshadows your products. Promoting the brand name helps your business
grow and get over obsolete business state.

Social Media Marketing can help you in branding your business. It helps you increase your public profile as
well. All you need is to

 Choose right Social Media Channel for your business.

 Finalize a social content strategy.

 Make a strong content strategy.

 Participate in good conversation with your customers to let them feel more connected.

 Keep track of all key metrics like potential reach, conversation share, links, etc.

Social Engagement

Social Media Engagement is the process of reaching out to potential customers and interacting with them
through Social Media. It is primarily done in order to draw attention towards a particular product or a
service. It is a two-way channel where a consumer can share a good relationship with the vendors.

To achieve optimum reach, you need to engage with your audience. It can be a relentless task. To grab
more out of less, you need to strategize your social media engagement norms.

• Use 'Social Channels' to reach out fans.

• Use Social Media platforms to announce any event you are organizing.

• Entertain Posts your audience is posting.

• Use Social Media Circles to participate in valuable and educational conversations.

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 • Participate in Social Media groups.

Measure your engagement level to trace your engagement efforts. It is basically a ratio between the
social platforms that you use and the social platforms that you don't use to engage. The higher is the
level, the stronger is your bonding with the audience.

Viral Marketing

Any hot topic that is infectious is Viral Marketing. It is 'exposing an idea' for a cause. It is a message
getting viral by passing it from one to another with an intention of boosting your business.

Social Media Viral Marketing is the use of social media channels to spread any message for creating
brand awareness. Viral marketing rate may differ on each level.

Examples of Viral Marketing

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge − ALS Association received increased media attention by soaking the whole
world. Even celebrities and entrepreneurs participated in it.

Ashton Kutcher hits 1M − Ashton has been a seeding strategist who influenced his fans by an
influencing message that went viral.

Hotmail went viral − Hotmail team placed a link 'Want a free email account? Sign-up for Hotmail today.'
in the footer of any mail sent from a Hotmail account. It was a viral hit.

What is Facebook Marketing?

Success with this form of marketing requires more than a fan page and a few friends. When used effectively,
Facebook marketing can provide a business with exciting benefits and results. Facebook marketing can enable
businessmen to greatly improve their brand awareness and reach out to a wider audience.

Facebook is fast becoming a powerhouse of marketing activity due to the sheer number of engaging
users on the site and the simplicity of connecting with them directly.

Facebook can provide your business with a branding outpost on the web where customers, employees,
and even the media can find information about your company, products, and services. Facebook
connects you and your staff directly to your customers and fans.

Facebook can generate new leads for your business by drawing users’ attention towards what you are
offering. Facebook helps in sharing links, images, and posts on a customizable page to project a better

10
sense of your business. Facebook runs tactics like contests, sweepstakes, etc., that can increase fans and
brand awareness of your business.

What is Twitter Marketing?

Twitter marketing is a powerful tool for companies of every size and structure to reach out to new
customers, promote their brand, and connect with the rest of the companies. Users can find out if
customers are talking about them, and the business can accordingly respond. Tweets create another
instance for the business that shows up in the search engine results. Twitter serves as a solid foundation
for your business to branch out into other social sites.

Twitter is a great platform for projecting what your company is doing and accessing a large audience,
where your Tweets can promote products and events.

LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site launched in 2003. It has 300+ million users across
the world. It is available in 20 languages. It allows users to create and customize profiles and connect
with people having similar interest areas.

Presently, it is the largest platform for social networking, assisting people with job opportunities.
Jobseekers can connect and follow hiring managers and can update their profiles in a defined fashion to
get easily discovered.

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 One can follow a company, get notifications, bookmark jobs, like and comment other’s posts, and invite
others on LinkedIn. The best part of LinkedIn is that you can see your recent visitors and endorse others’
skills.

Google+ is a social networking platform served by Google and relished by millions of users. Besides
being a networking platform, it is a channel to make you known to search engines. Your presence on
Google+ helps in improving your local search visibility. You can follow people in 'Circles' on Google+
for sharing information.

Advantages of Google+

 Branding − Google will fetch data from Google+ for brand-named keywords. Your presence on
Google+ marks up high on SERP.

 Improved Search Rankings − Shares (+1) are like social recommendations that affect your search
rankings.

 Link Building − One link on Google+ acts as one backlink for your website. Your link gets submitted to
Google’s index straightaway.

 Quality Reviews − Google flashes the ratings and the reviews you have received, making your business
more compelling.

 Appear in Local Carousal − You can mark the presence of your business on Google+ to be more
visible.

Use the 'About' section to make up how people see your business page. Add people in circles to get the
communication going.

You are ready with your Google business page. Start sharing contents...!!

+1 & Sharing

Google created '+1' and 'share' buttons for easy and painless content sharing. Earlier, sharing was
capsuled in +1. Users who liked a post were not being able to share it in their circle.

 '+1' is for those users who want to express their preference for the content. "Yes I like it, it was helpful".

 'Share' is for users want to share the content to make it available to others.
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 Integrate Google+ Business Page on Your Blog or Website

There are many ways to do it. You should implement as many as possible.

 +1 Button − Use plugins like WPSocialite to embed Google +1 button on your page to direct traffic
through Google+. It is always a good strategy to broadcast content on Google+. There are many ways
you can implement to get more followers for your Google+ business page.

 Share content from your personal profile − You can make the most of your personal profile by
sharing content among your connections. It can be then accessed by your followers and others who are
connected with them.

 Use Hashtags − When you use hashtags, your post get categorized to a particular stream. Anyone
searching for that particular keyword can easily avail your content.

 Follow what is in trend − Prepare for memes by building an editorial calendar with contents fabricated
with hashtags based on upcoming events.

 Follow ‘hot & recommended’ tab − Share content enough times to trigger the algorithm to notify
Google+ about your content.

 Request people to follow − Include a compelling call-to-action in your post that instructs people
humbly. Give them perks for sharing.

 Segment your followers in circles − Create a new circle category-wise. This will expose your content
to other circles in the same category.

 Add a Google+ Badge − Adding badges make it easy for people to add you in a circle. It even notifies
you when someone follows your page.

 Use +Post Ads − It helps you to display your content to millions who are a part of the Google Display
Network.

Increase Followers on Google+

Promote your business on Google+ to tap the power of networking sites. The objective is to connect as
many people as possible to your business. In order to succeed through Google+, you need to do the
following −

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 Embed Google+ badge on your website to bind users. It allows users to follow you without quitting from
your badge.

 Provide users something meaningful and useful. Keep your posts up to date.

 Express your business with clear and attractive photos.

 Use Google+ as your business page. Use the page when interacting with communities.

 Hold Google+ Hangouts. You can stream videos with participants and users to get your message going.

 Participate in communities related to your business.

Promote Your Business on Google+

Promote your Google+ page. Your business is automatically promoted...

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Pinterest – Interesting Facts

 Pinterest is now the fourth largest driver of website traffic.

 Globally, the site is most popular with women.

 In terms of age distribution, the Pinterest demography closely resembles the U.S. Internet population.

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PROBLEM STATEMENT

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Problem Statement

As social media marketing becomes a focus for brands, the marketers are now realising some key
challenges.There are certain problems that need to be taken into account and obstacles that might depreciate the
achievement of your social media marketing goals. These fall into three main categories and come with very
distinct possible solutions.

1. Failure to Understand Social Media

Marketers often forget the chief purpose of social media, which is to bring Internet users together, thus giving
them the chance to interact, share content and discuss topics that interest them. It is not a way for business
owners to get to the top. Try to understand its use and purpose. Understanding its purpose is the only way to use
it to your advantag

2. Inconsistent Postings to Networks

Marketers are very often not consistent with their participation in social media, which is what’s preventing them
from building a steady fan base. The secret is to successfully post new, engaging and fresh content daily.

If you don’t have the time to share material with your readers on a daily basis, then they will forget all about
you. They will most likely go somewhere else for what they can’t get from you—perhaps your competitors.

3. Faceless Relationships with Consumers

One of the most common social media marketing problems that business owners face has to do with lack of
personalization. Although you may think that speaking on behalf of your team and signing posts collectively
shows good team spirit, the truth is that your customers take it as being faceless.

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OBJECTIVES

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Objectives

Marketing Objectives :-

1. To study the Social Media.

2. To study E-mail marketing.

3. To study SEO.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

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Literature Review

In today’s technology driven world, social networking sites have become an avenue where retailers can extend
their marketing campaigns to a wider range of consumers. Chi (2011, 46) defines social media marketing as a
“connection between brands and consumers, [while] offering a personal channel and currency for user centered
networking and social interaction.” The tools and approaches for communicating with customers have changed
greatly with the emergence of social media; therefore, businesses must learn how to use social media in a way
that is consistent with their business plan (Mangold and Faulds 2099). This is especially true for companies
striving to gain a competitive advantage. This review examines current literature that focuses on a retailer’s
development and use of social media as an extension of their marketing strategy. This phenomenon has only
developed within the last decade, thus social media research has largely focused on (1) defining what it is
through the explanation of new terminology and concepts that makeup its foundations, and (2) exploring the
impact of a company’s integration of social media on consumer behavior. This paper begins with an explanation
of terminology that defines social media marketing, followed by a discussion of the four main themes found
within current research studies: Virtual Brand Communities, Consumers Attitudes and Motives, User Generated
Content, and Viral Advertising.

Although social media marketing is a well-researched topic, it has only been studied through experimental and
theoretical research; studies never precisely describe the benefits retailers gain from this marketing tactic. In
reviewing the rich plethora of multi-disciplinary literature, it is has become clear that studies are focusing on
describing what social media marketing is as well as examining what factors affect consumer behavior relative
to social networking. Despite the initial progress made by researchers, development in this area of study has
been limited. Research needs to expand by providing a deeper understanding of the long- term promotional
gains retailers obtain from social media marketing. More formalized studies are also needed to progress beyond
theorized or predicted outcomes in order to gain knowledge of real life applications. This review of literature
touches upon the gaps that currently exist within social media marketing research and points out the need for
future studies to explore the benefits gained by marketing on social networking sites, especially for small
retailers.

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Defining Social Media

To consider social media as a marketing tool a retailer must understand every aspect of it. Social media cannot
be understood without first defining Web 2.0: a term that describes a new way in which end users use the World
Wide Web, a place where content is continuously altered by all operators in a sharing and collaborative way
(Kaplan and Haenlein 2010). “It is much more to do with what people are doing with the technology than the
technology itself, for rather than merely retrieving information, users are now creating and consuming it, and
hence adding value to the websites that permit them to do so” (Campbell et al. 2011, 87). Web 2.0 has evolved
from simple information retrieval to interactivity, interoperability, and collaboration (Campbell et al. 2011).

Virtual Brand Community

A main topic being studied involving social media as a marketing tool is Virtual Brand Communities (VBC).

“VBC can be described as aggregations of consumers that occur on the internet because of their interest in some

brand or product” (Muniz and O’Guinn as cited in Georgi and Mink 2012, 3). Specifically, a brand community

is a group of people who share the same interest in a particular brand or product (Casaló, Favián and Guinalíu

2008). Overall, VBC’s are “the site[s] of complex brand meaning creation and consumption efforts” (Muñiz and

Jensen Schau, 2007). Casaló, Favián and Guinalíu (2008) found when a member is trusting of the VBC that they

are part of, it increases their amount of participation, and consumers who have a positive participation

experience are more loyal to the brand. Trust is a central aspect to guarantee the VBC’s survival. Cha (2009)

concludes that security is a major factor affecting a consumer’s opinions toward social networking sites and can

ultimately impact trust. Since VBCs depend on individual users’ participation, both group unity and awareness

can strengthen users’ satisfaction with a VBC (Casaló, Favián and Guinalíu 2008). The study done by Casaló,

Favián and Guinalíu (2008) demonstrates the powerful sway VBC and an online interaction between consumers

can have on their buying behavior.

Studies also found that within these VBCs many new forms of social interactions are taking place such as

Electronic Consumer to Consumer Interaction (eCCI), which are interactions between consumers of e-

services (Georgi and Mink 2012). The chance to mingle with other people is a fundamental part of the consumer
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experience and social networking sites have become a way in which consumers can interact with one another

and retailers (Georgi and Mink 2012). Because of eCCI, consumers are playing a more dominant role in

influencing each other with their consumption decisions. Georgi and Mink (2012) came up with the concept of

electronic consumer to consumer interaction quality (eCCIq). They found that seven factors contribute to the

success of eCCIq. These include content, security, hedonic (meaning the emotional aspects of consumers’

interactions with products), quality, atmosphere, convenience, and social. An example of eCCI (which is any

interaction between consumers of e-services) is when a consumer posts a question about the fit or color of a

product displayed online and another consumer answers the question. This eCCI event would presumably be of

high quality if the question is answered by another consumer quickly, correctly, and in a friendly manner. This

example of an interaction between consumers involves some of the factors associated with eCCIq such as social

and convenience, thus making it an eCCIq occurrence. Consumers feel more engaged with products and

companies when they have the option to submit feedback (Mangold and Faulds 2009). Accordingly, it is

important for retailers to be aware of the quality of their social media presence even when consumers are the

creators of their marketing because it is increasingly influencing how consumers shop. Companies need to be

aware of the variety of factors that affect their social media presence such as a consumer’s social identity online.

Some VBC research focused on the concept of social identity and group norms as an aspect that strongly

influences online groups’ buying behavior. The nature and culture of social media groups affect the ways

members of such groups interpret and attach meaning to brands and products (Muñiz and Jensen Schau, 2007).

Group norms represent the set of shared goals, beliefs, and values that the group members follow. Social

identity refers to the values and beliefs that influence group related behavior (Zeng, Huang, and Dou 2009).

Community members within a strong social group were more likely to have group intentions to accept

advertising in online communities (Zeng, Huang, and Dou 2009). For instance, if a Facebook group is centered

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on luxury brands, then ads pertaining to high-end products are more relevant to members of the VBC. Some

members consume ads more easily by accepting the meanings in which they contain, while others interpret the

ads by attaching meaning to the brand represented based on their own experiences (Muñiz and O’Guinn as cited

in Muñiz and Jensen Schau, 2007).

Moreover, VBC members value ads that are relevant to the theme of their community. Muñiz and Jensen Schau

(2007) found advertising and branding produce discouragement of the intended meaning of the ad in order to

serve the meaning of the distinct group, in this circumstance the brand community. A VBC can alter or

manipulate the true meaning of an ad by the way it displays or uses an ad for branding. Many times VBC’s

change the meaning of an ad by the way it is presented on the community forum. A VBC can alter an ad to

conform to the theme of its community, therefore the ads true meaning gets lost. An individual’s identity within

social media combined with the social community’s customs affects the way in which people perceive ads

presented on social media. Community customs can be affected by users’ cultural backgrounds as well.

Pookulangara and Koesler (2011) used the Technology Acceptance Model3 (TAM3) to look at the impact of

culture on social media. TAM3 highlights the role and procedures connected to perceived usefulness and

perceived ease of technology. TAM3 suggests that the factors that determine perceived usefulness will not

influence perceived ease of use and the factors that influence perceived ease of use will not influence perceived

usefulness (Pookulangara and Koesler 2011). The researchers used TAM3 to find out if an individual’s cultural

background affects perceived ease and perceived usefulness in order to discern users’ behavioral intention

towards social media. More specifically, the researchers used TAM3 to determine if an individual’s cultural

background influences how they will interpret a message, event, or idea presented to them through a social

networking site. This was done through a conceptual framework in which the researchers created a research

model using TAM3. Based on the research model, Pookulangara and Koesler (2011) conclude that culture does

24
in fact influence how individuals act and perceive an event on technology based applications, such as social

media. This means that an individual’s cultural or ethnic background will influence how they will interpret

social media and its content. “Social networking has allowed the evolution of new culture where it is no longer

shaped by just individual values and ideologies, but also by new rituals and communication tools in the social

space of Web 2.0” (Pookulangara and Koesler 2011, 352). Retailers need to be conscious of the importance of

culture when utilizing social media, since social networks are a merging of different cultures and the creation of

new online cultures (Pookulangara and Koesler 2011). In addition, cultural backgrounds and traditions may

factor into the formulation of a consumer’s opinion and attitude towards a brand or product.

Consumer Attitudes/Motives

It is vital for retailers and marketers to be aware of the factors that affect consumer attitudes and motives

because consumers are increasingly creating content about brands, something previously controlled solely by

companies (Heinonen 2011). As a result, current research has examined what aspects of social media sites affect

consumer attitudes and motives. Chu (2011) examined the link between Facebook brand related group

participation, advertising responses, and the psychological factors of self-disclosure and attitudes among

members and nonmembers of Facebook groups. The study determined that users who are members of groups on

Facebook are more likely to disclose their personal data than nonmembers are. Chu (2011) explains group

participation and engagement with online ads requires a higher level of personal information because users

openly reveal their connections with Facebook groups and promote brands or products when they pass on ads to

their friends. “Facebook groups provide channels that consumers deem useful when seeking self-status in a

product category, as does passing on viral content about brands to their social contacts” (Chu 2011, 40).

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Chu (2011) also found that users who are Facebook group members maintain a more favorable attitude toward

social media and advertising. Users who have more positive attitudes toward advertising are more likely to join

a brand or a retailer’s Facebook group to receive promotional messages. Based on this result, Chu (2011)

suggests that a link exists between consumers’ use of and engagement in group applications on a social media

sites. The relationship between consumers’ use of and engagement with group applications influences the rate

and effectiveness of advertising on social media, particularly Facebook. Generally, as Chu (2011) notes,

Facebook’s college-aged users have the most favorable attitudes toward social media advertising and are the

largest growing demographic, which suggests that social media sites are a potentially rich platform for online

advertising campaigns, especially for companies with a younger target market.

Cox (2010) also investigated the correlation between age and attitude and found that social network user attitude

toward online advertising formats (i.e. blogs, video, and brand channel or page) differed to some extent across

age groups. She explains that users who fall in the 18-28 age brackets had strong positive attitudes towards

blogs, video, and brand channel ad formats. This was because users’ found these ad formats to be eye catching,

informative, and amusing. The 35-54 age groups preferred ad formats on video and brand channels because they

found them to be more eye catching, informative, and had better placement within the online page layout.

Overall, online advertising formats with positive attributes are welcomed by users; however, ads that are

intrusive or interfere with online social networking activities, such as pop up, expandable, or floating formatted

ads were disliked by network users (Cox 2010).

According to Chi (2011) users perceive advertising differently depending on the social network, which suggests

user motivations for online social networking may play a vital role in defining consumer’s responses to social

media marketing. As mentioned previously in the explanation of Pookulangara and Koesler’s (2011) study, the

technology acceptance model (TAM) was also used by Harris and Dennis (2011). Harris and Dennis (2011),

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however, used TAM as a loose framework that combined trust and the factors associated with TAM (i.e.

perceived enjoyment, ease of use, and usefulness). The TAM determined that consumers, specifically students,

hold a hierarchy of trust when using social media such as Facebook. Student’s trust ‘real’ friends, then

Facebook friends, followed by expert blogs and independent review sites and lastly celebrities and e-

retailer sites (Harris and Dennis 2011).

Di Pietro and Pantano (2012) conducted further research using the TAM to discern that enjoyment is the major

factor that influences consumers to use social networks as a platform for assisting in their buying decisions.

They found that the fun provided by Facebook, as well as the opportunity it provides users to ask for

suggestions in an easy and entertaining way, motivates individuals to pay more attention to the products

promoted on Facebook. “Facebook promotes a consumer to consumer approach, exploited by consumers to

share experiences and create a common knowledge on products and services; on the other, it provides managers

a direct channel for communicating with clients through a business to consumer approach” ( Di Pietro and

Pantano 2012, 20). Retailers can improve their Facebook page appeal by adding games, contests, and interactive

applications, which can attract more users (Di Pietro and Pantano 2012).

However, retailers also need to be educated on consumer’s attitudes when it comes to social media marketing. A

deeper understanding of how consumers perceive social marketing will help ensure marketing strategies are

effective.

Consumer activities of consumption, participation, and production are not related to just one motivation

according to Heinonen (2011), who concluded that consumer activities are a combination of a variety of

motivations. The classic notion of individuals as mere consumers is outdated; consumers can now be seen as

active producers of business value because user generated content is reducing the influence of traditional

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marketing tactics (Heinonen 2011). Awareness of consumer’s motives is important because it provides a deeper

understanding of what influences users to create content about a brand or store.

User Generated Content

“While social media provides never ending avenues for communicating, it is the individuals who serve as the

influencers not the technology” (Gonzalez 2010, 23). User generated content produces social currency for

marketers because it helps define a brand. User generated content describes “the sum of all ways in which

people make use of social media, usually applied to describe the various forms of media content that are

publicly available and created by end users” (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010, 61). Therefore, social currency is

when individuals share a brand or information about a brand (Zinnbauer and Honer 2011). Social currency

greatly affects brand performance and is a concept that can be linked to Bourdieu’s (1977) and Coleman’s

(1988) idea of social capital. Social capital is shaped on a personal level and occurs in the relationships among

individuals (Zinnbauer and Honer 2011).

Furthermore, the amount of an individual’s social capital depends on the size of the network of connections that

the user can successfully mobilize (Bourdieu as cited in Zinnbauer and Honer 2011). An individual’s

connections can potentially aid in developing brands into an essential part of customers’ social interactions via

social networking. “Translating [Bourdieu’s] theory into today’s world of exponentially increasingly social

interactions on the internet, social currency can also be understood as the entirety of actual and potential

resources available to a brand from its presence in social networks and communities” (Zinnbauer and Honer

2011, 51). There are six components of social currency: affiliation, conversation, utility, advocacy, information,

and indemnity (Zinnbauer and Honer 2011). Social currencies come from interactions between consumers and

are usually beyond the direct control of a firm (Zinnbauer and Honer 2011). Through their empirical study,

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Zinnbauer and Honer (2011) establish that although social currency consists of six different components, brands

do not rely on all of them to facilitate brand loyalty among users. It was discovered however, that what made a

brand successful was being an essential part of people’s daily lives. When a brand becomes integrated into a

consumer’s daily life, it enables consumers to connect, interact, and benefit from likeminded brand users, and

thus, the likelihood of consumer generated advertising for a brand increases (Zinnbauer and Honer 2011).

Consumer Generated Advertising (CGA) is a form of user-generated content, which refers to specific instances

where consumers create the brand, focused messages with the purpose of informing, persuading, or reminding

others (Campbell et al. 2011). Muñiz and Jensen Schau (2007) and Pehlivan, Sarican, and Berthon (2011) use

the term vigilante marketing to describe CGA. Vigilante marketing is defined as “unpaid advertising and

marketing efforts, including one to one, one to many, and many to many commercially oriented

communications, undertaken by brand loyalists on behalf of the brand” (Muñiz and Jensen Schau 2007, 35).

Campbell et al. (2011) state that today, traditional marketing is coexisting with CGA. Retailers need to be aware

of this because CGA can positively support traditional marketing or it can negatively impact and undermine it.

Cheong and Morrison’s (2010) research supports the previous statement by explaining how the lack of research

on the credibility of both positive and negative user generated content (UGC) highlights the need for retailers to

be conscious and study UGC to completely understand its influence. Consumers are taking part in a diverse

array of activities such as consuming content, participating in discussions, and sharing knowledge with other

consumers, to contributing to other consumers’ activities (Heinonen 2011).

Pehlivan, Sarican, and Berthon (2011) chose a grounded theory approach to compare CGA with Firm Generated

Advertising (FGA), specifically for the large well-known Apple Corporation. They found that CGA differs from

FGA because each type of ad (CGA or FGA) elicits different discussion content surrounding the ad. Consumers

express appreciation for FGA, but found CGA to be more entertaining causing consumers to talk about the ad

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more (Pehlivan, Sarican, and Berthon 2011). Cheong and Morrison’s 2008 study was similar; they examined the

difference between UGC and producer generated content (PGC), which refers to content created by marketers of

products, by interviewing college students. Overall, the study found that consumers hold more trust in product

information created by other consumers than information generated from manufactures. Consumers’ read other

consumers’ opinions to decrease their risks and obtain pre-purchase information; therefore, other consumers’

information emerges as more important than advertising, thus, individuals who post UGC become opinion

leaders (Cheong and Morrison 2008). Another study that centered on CGA was conducted by Taylor, Strutton,

and Thompson (2012); like the fore mention studies, their research indicates that consumers trust CGA over ads

produced by companies and the more entertaining the ad the more it will be passed on.

Taylor, Strutton, and Thompson (2012), found however, that social media users’ message sharing behaviors are
also attributed to the need for self-enhancement. When consumers perceive an online advertisement to be
consistent with their identity, they are more likely to share the message with others because it is representative
of who they are and what they like. Thus, “advertisers should consider the symbolic and self-
expression properties of their online ads and match them to targeted consumers’ self-concepts” (Taylor,
Strutton, and Thompson 2012, 13). In other words, the marketing of a company needs to share similar
characteristics with its target market’s interest. All of the findings from these studies show the significance of
CGA and its impact on online marketing.

Muñiz and Jensen Schau (2007) note that a lot of CGA is created quickly and spreads via e-mail without

revealing who made it or if it is official corporate content. Therefore, brand managers now have to consider how

to react when their brand is talked about by consumers (Campbell et al. 2011). Muñiz and Jensen Schau (2007)

argue CGA is relevant to companies because it provides proof of consumer perceptions of brands and their

feelings towards the brand. They also argue that CGA is important because they are prime examples of

persuasive marketing messages from brand loyalists. Moreover, CGA is only going to increase in frequency.

Marketers have underestimated the possible consequences of interactive marketing on the Internet by not

considering the influence consumers gain from CGA (Deighton and Kornfeld as cited in Pehlivan, Sarican, and

Berthon 2011).

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INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

31
Industry Analysis

What are the primary objectives for being present on Social Media?

The top-3 objectives to be present on social media were

1. Building Brand Awareness/Highlight Brand News
2. Building a Community
3. Customer Engagement
However, Reputation Management, Thought Leadership and Recruitment also showed up as new objectives for
brands in their social media strategy. Surprisingly, Customer Engagement was not a key focus area, as brands
were more focused on building their communities. Keeping their communities of brand loyalists and advocates
active and engaged has become an area of focus for brands. Additionally, for brands, engaging with customers
on social media, and responding in near real-time, will help create a culture of innovation and transform
customer communication and experience. Year on Year Increase percentage has been displayed below:-
Source- E&Y Survey

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

33
Research Methodology

I have tried to use various Research methods which are used to determine, discover, interpret, and
formulate facts. The concept of research represents a thorough investigation through information. The main
sources of information used throughout this project are issued from Internet articles and online blogs on Social
Media Marketing, in order to always read up-to-dated information.
On the whole, the methodological approach chosen for this project was aiming at providing study results
for academic perspective.
In this following methodology section, we will be looking at the research process of the report based on
secondary data obtained from various Social Media sites, presenting the three stages of my research.

Exploratory research stage is really important to research methods because it structures and identifies new
problems. This exploratory research corresponds to the Problem Formulation & Statement section, where issues
are high lightened in the company, in order to emphasize on a specific subject that can then be studied
throughout the report. This research has required the analysis of the notion of Social Media, its relation with
Marketing and with the purchase funnel, thanks to the Social Feedback Cycle theory. Through that exploratory
research, the understanding of the business benefits of Social Media Marketing and the available Social Media
channels to achieve these benefits were underlined as the main issues to be examined in the report.

Constructive research stage is looking at developing solutions to the problem, while focussing on the theories
that could be the most appropriated to the issue and that would need to be studied in order to understand the
benefits of Social Media Marketing. This research will be presented in the section on theoretical considerations,
where seven main marketing concepts have been chosen to be explored as answers to the questionings high
lightened in the exploratory research. This problem statement, looking at the business benefits of Social Media
Marketing, will find its available theories in the concepts of brand exposure, targeted traffic, leads generation,
market research, customer interaction, marketing effectiveness, public relations and human resources.

Analytical research stage will explain the tools available to achieve these benefits developed in the
constructive research, using a detailed analysis of the types of Social Media channels. The theories will
encourage observations and analysis based upon reality. Throughout this empirical approach, the Social Media
channels which will be analysed are Social Networks, Blogs and Microblogs, Social Media Sharing sites, Wikis,
Social Bookmarking sites, Forums, and Social Events sites.

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 Research philosophy is the decision of which method is best suitable to gather, analyze and use data on a
particular concept. The two main research traditions are Positivism and Interpretivism.
Positivism, also known as scientific research, looks at society under scientific laws and analysis the facts,
believing that reality is generally stable, observable and can be described from an objective point of view. This
form of research favours quantitative methods to measure phenomenon, also isolating individual factors and
manipulating reality to identify dependent and independent variables.
An Example of Positive Research is as below:-

Interpretivistic research methods where social phenomenon are looked at on an individual micro scale,
exploring the meanings and motives behind people’s behaviors and interactions. Due to the lack of quantitative
figures relative to our subject, and the inherent biases and errors associated with questionnaires and interviews,
interpretive methods were chosen.
An example of Interpretivistic Research is as below:-

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In this report, the interpretive use of Social Media Marketing theories for research has been used.
These facts and figures are used to formulate the current marketing state of the various Social Media channels:-

36
Limitations
Limitations of my research include the low academic resources on Social Media Marketing as it is a relatively
new domain of marketing and it is still evolving continuously. Interviews and questionnaires on the business
benefits of Social Media Marketing are also very limited in response and valuable knowledge as most
companies implementing Social Media Marketing strategy have not been able to measure their complete success
yet.
Besides, most books relating to Social Media Marketing have chosen between two aspects of studies. Most of
them have been written as manuals or guides for marketers to create their Social Media sites, explaining what to
do and how to do it, but not really analyzing the consequences, whether they are positive or negative to the
business. In contrast, the few books found as valuable tools for the study of Social Media Marketing business
benefits were usually lacking an academic structure of thoughts.

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DISCUSSION / ANALYSIS

38
Discussion / Analysis

Social Media Marketing offers businesses, a large variety of resources in terms of Social Media channels
available, and a large variety of benefits, such as brand exposure, targeted traffic and leads generation.
However, Social Media Marketing for businesses also demands efforts and hard work, and has its own
limitations and risks before achieving notable success.
Indeed, Social Media Marketing is not always easy, quick or cheap. In some cases, depending on the
business type, size and age, hard efforts need to be made in various areas. First, companies need to commit
human and time resources to managing their Social Media presence. An employee, and sometimes even a
complete Social Media team, needs to be able to respond to customers’ feedbacks and complaints at least every
day.
The Social Media staff needs to be extremely trained and qualified in order to have answers to every
questions and to be able to react when negative comments are made before they get too viral and uncontrollable.
Also, this team has to produce new content regularly in order to posts at least a few times a week for small
businesses, and at least once a day for big multinationals. It is extremely important to always stay active on the
Social Media sites in order to create a continuous conversation with the audience, encourage their engagement
and foster long-term relationships.
Besides, the results of the Social Media Marketing strategy need to be controlled and measured regularly
in order to understand what is working and what is not. Some Social Media channels might be more efficient
than others for a business, and some might too time-consuming comparing to its benefits. Specific campaigns
need to be measure as well, and the impacts of each post need to be analyzed. However, it is usually quite
difficult to measure the return on investment, or should we say the return on conversation, of such a strategy.
Measuring social media return on investment is not impossible, but it can be very complex because
many of the pieces that need to be evaluated are difficult to track. Having specific goals and concrete baselines
is crucial to calculating the business’ return on investment. Therefore, companies must have defined clear goals
and evaluated the baselines before measuring the results. Then only, metrics tools can be considered.
I have seen that, while implementing their Social Media Marketing strategy, businesses might encounter
marketing limitations affecting the final success of their strategy. One of the main risks for businesses using
Social Media Marketing will be to damage their reputation by using their Social Media sites ineffectively. Too
much advertising, presenting products and services in a commercial way and pushing for sales without really
engaging with the audience are often very badly seen by the audience, which might decide to turn their back on
the business and its Social Media presence. Moreover, employees can harm a company’s image really quickly
and easily, by showing bad behaviours on Social Media channels or posting embarrassing information.

39
 Secondly, Social Media makes a whole new world of privacy, security, intellectual property,
employment practices, and other legal risks possible. The Social Media team needs to understand information
technology law before creating a social media legal strategy. Monitoring future or existing employees using
Social Media sites has legal dangers.
Therefore, it is definitely very important for every business to understand the downside that exits of
using Social Media for a variety of business aims.

Recommendations in regards to these risks are listed as below:-

1. a broad assessment of general social media activities needs to be conducted;

2. key players responsible for developing, executing and monitoring the social media strategy needs to be
defined;

3. a social media policy or set of guidelines needs to be drafted;

4. the risks of social media participation needs to be shared with the employees; and

5. a social media agreement that employees can review and sign annually needs to created.

On the whole, Social Media Marketing is an extremely powerful marketing tool that not every business knows
how to use properly yet. It is still very new and it needs to be implemented through a real and concretely defined
strategy. The few limitations and risks related to Social Media Marketing can seem scary and challenging, but
they are only precautions to be taken on time in order to achieve complete notable success in the Social Media
strategy.

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Facebook is undoubtedly the most popular social media platform available with many advantages associated
with it. It is primarily a social networking site, however it can be used as a handy tool for promoting and
advertising a business. We can use Facebook to promote a brand, market a company, or create awareness about
a service or a product.

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Latest Facebook Trends

The nature of social media marketing is ever-changing, so it is important to constantly stay updated with what
the current market trends are. The latest Facebook trends that a business should be aware of are − using the
cover photo for marketing, different types of Facebook posts, more pictures, etc. Facebook looks completely
different from how it was a year ago, so it should not be surprising that marketing on the social network has also
changed a great deal.

Twitter is another social networking platform that allows registered users to read and write 140-character
messages called 'tweets'. It is available across all devices such as cell phones, desktops, laptops, and tablets.

On March 21, 2006, Jack Dorsey sent the first ever tweet − "just setting up my twttr".

Creating a Business Page on Google+

Create a Google+ account. Visit Google+ Look for 'create Google+ page' options. Follow Up! Choose from the
displayed options. You will come across −

 Local Business or Place

 Product or Brand

 Company, Institution, or Organization

 Arts, Entertainment, or Sports

 Other
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Upon selecting the main category, you will be shown sub-categories to showcase your business with more
details. Select your sub-categories and move to next.

Add some basic information describing your business, provide your website link (optional), and select a
category your content is appropriate for.

Check "I agree to the Pages Terms....." and Continue....

Page Customization

Add a cover photo and a profile picture. You can either select them from your device or can import from Picasa
(if you are an active user).

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Under Story, add a tagline and a storyline. Fill your contact information. Click the 'finish' button.

Google+ can be a source that can draw immense traffic to your website. To promote your business using
Google+, try to use all its available features. Google+ helps your website stand out among millions. It gives
your website a measurable momentum and continuous growth. You can easily integrate other services
(YouTube, Hangout, etc.) to avail maximum benefit. It helps you build credibility.

Pinterest is a dynamic social media platform for sharing favorite images, videos, fun media, etc. It can be
termed as a visual bookmarking tool.

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Using Pinterest, you can connect with other like-minded people by sharing your hobbies and interests through
online bulletin boards.

Pinterest taps into a very fundamental human behavior – the desire to collect things (even if they may n Ben
Silbermann is an American Internet entrepreneur who co-founded Pinterest. He is also the CEO of Pinterest.

Silbermann says that the genesis of Pinterest really came from his love of collecting as a kid. “Collecting tells a
lot about who you are,” he said, and when they looked at the web, “there wasn’t a place to share that side of
who you were.”

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46
The Social Media Marketing SWOT Analysis:-

The Social

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Media Marketing PEST Analysis:-

48
FINDINGS

49
Findings

The Social Media channels and their business characteristics:-

Types of Social
Principle Examples Strengths Weaknesses
Media Channels
- Interaction - Somewhat
platform Facebook, LinkedIn, personal - Risks related to the
Social Networks
- Social online Google+… - Advertiser’s content of the posts
presence dream
- Personal
- Time-consuming
Blogs & - Corporate WordPress, Blogger, - Interactive &
- Possible bad
Microblogs blogging TypePad… multimedia
comments to handle
- Easy to use
- “Better than
words”
- Copyright issues
- Common - Easy to share &
Flickr, Pinterest, - Production costs
Media Sharing interest Viral
YouTube, Vimeo, - Young audience
Sites - Products & - Relatively young
SlideShare… mainly
services’ use audience
- Oversaturation
- Creativity &
control
- Crowdsourcing &
- Vigorous controls
- Collaborative transparency
Wikis Wikipedia needed
development - Teamwork
- Time-consuming
Synergy
- Event
- Real-time
organization Upcoming, Eventful,
Social Events organization - Possible failure
- Event Meetup…
- Reduced costs
promotion

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CONCLUSION

51
Conclusion

Through this report, I have been closely analyzing the Social Media Marketing domain, detailing the
main business benefits and defining the different types of Social Media channels and their role.
However, the main benefits encountered usually are increased brand exposure and reputation
management, increased targeted traffic and Search Engine Optimization, word-of-mouth and leads generation,
market insights related to target audience and competition, public relations facilities and recruiting. In addition,
while Social Media Marketing is also an extremely cost-effective solution and is significantly beneficial for
businesses in their own way.
Regarding the eventual possibility of outsourcing a Social Media Marketing team, it is strongly believed
that a small-scale internal social presence is much more profitable than a large-scale outsourced one. Also,
Social media return on investment is definitely about experience and insights, rather than about fans number.
Most businesses have already started using Social Media Marketing, testing various strategies and
measuring results, but their Social Media presence is usually just starting to mature. While 2015 was about
building fans database and networks, 2018 is certainly aiming more at customer engagement, building customer
relationships and encouraging customer loyally. Success of Social Media strategies cannot really be concluded
yet.
Time is bringing new opportunities every day in the Social Media universe. Each channel is evolving
regularly, offering more and more valuable marketing features for businesses. Also, new Social Media channels
are being launched every month, offering new business possibilities and new areas of marketing research.
Also, now that internet is available on all the smartphones, people can access their emails anytime,
anywhere. And that is the reason why people actually get to open more of their emails than before. Indeed,
during the second half of 2017, 37% of emails were opened on a mobile device. Therefore, email marketing will
get a second birth thanks to the mobile networks.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

53
Bibliography

1] Literature review from

Mangold and Faulds 2099

Kaplan and Haenlein 2010

Gonzalez 2010, 23

Georgi and Mink 2012

Harris and Dennis 2011

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