The Effectiveness of Social Media as a

Marketing Tool

Members:
Ealdama, Melle Louise Margarette
Ecunar, Samantha E.
Egbalic, Julia Marie M.
Elayda, Rechelle E.
Orene, Dhanica Kaye E.
Pama, Szachia Marie A.

Ms. Rosalinda Picazo Ph.D.

Teacher
Research Questions:
1. What are the effect of social media as a marketing tool?
2. What are the importance of social marketing?
3. How social media an effective marketing tool
RELEVANT RELATED LITERATURE
Social Media Marketing in a Small Business
According to Cox, Sarah (2012), it was essential that small businesses understand today’s
social media driven environment. They should also know the strategies behind using social
media such as Facebook and Twitter for growing their business and to stay competitive and
reach their target markets. However, many small businesses did not have a strategy when
they began using social media.
The research was conducted to acquire an initial understanding on how small businesses
were recognized for using social media to grow their business, and increased their
customers.
The respondent of this study was Bandee, an Internet-based accessory retailer and
wholesaler established in 2009. The results showed that with the help of social media,
Bandee doubled the number of their clientele who were aware about their products and
services. With that, they also considered social media important for communicating with
their customers and creating relationships. It also enabled Bandee to develop many
relationships with other businesses and clients that would not have normally developed.
The study also concluded that social media marketing increases brand exposure, sales and
business profit.
Social Media and the Impact on Marketing Communication
Social media became a communication tool that helped many companies find new
possibilities to promote their products and services for the past few years. The purpose of the
research was to study how social media influence the marketing communication of
companies (Frey B. and Rudloff S., 2010). Two manufacturing companies, one social
network platform and one marketing agency were interviewed for the completion of the
research. Data collection was also conducted and a qualitative research approach was used
combining different case studies in the research strategy.
The overall result showed that the communication via social media was still in the early
stages of its development by that time though companies agreed that social media was an
effective tool to exceed and support marketing communication. Other findings showed that
social media still had huge growth potentials regarding the differentiation and specification
of different platforms, because not all of them were suitable for every company.
Study of the Effectiveness of Online Marketing on Integrated Marketing
Communication
According to Pawar, AV. (2014), Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is a
marketing concept that ensures all forms of communication and messages are carefully
linked together, integrating all the promotional tools, so that they work together in harmony.
It is also a concept that makes all the marketing tools work together as a unified force rather
than work in isolation. It makes the use of entire marketing efforts in the form of advertising,
public relation, personal selling, sales promotion, internet marketing , direct marketing in
order to generate maximum impact on the target audience at the minimum cost.
The study was conducted to understand the importance of Integrated Marketing
Communication., online advertising in changing market scenario and understand the reasons
for growing popularity of online marketing. It also focused on analyzing the effectiveness of
online marketing as compared to traditional marketing tools and identify the limitations of
online marketing as IMC tool.
To attain the objectives of the study, the researcher used a descriptive research design where
data was collected from secondary as well as primary sources. Data collected was then
analyzed with the help of statistical software SPSS 17.0 and Ms-Excel Add-In Data
Analysis. Statistical tools used for the analysis were Mean, Median & mode, Standard
deviation, Skewness & Kurtosis.
The study showed that respondents relied upon more than one medium in order to enhance
their brand related knowledge. They used the combination of various sources for making
final purchase decision and heavily rely on modern marketing tool i.e. online advertising. It
was also revealed that the main reason for the growth of online marketing was the increasing
literacy of people about internet. Internet was identified as truly advantageous and can serve
various purposes mainly for social networking, online shopping & media sharing (photo,
music, and video).
Effectiveness of Social Media as a Marketing Tool
Social Media Marketing is about understanding how technology is making it easier for
people to connect socially with their social networks and how your business can profit from
that understanding (Bashar, A, 2012). The study was based on descriptive research design
and questionnaires were provided to know the point of view of respondents regarding the
extent of social media that helps consumers in buying decision making.
The effect of social media as new market
Due to the impact of social media, the relationship between brands and consumers have
changed a lot. Nowadays, companies create strategies after they analyze and understand the
target consumer’s demands, likes and dislikes through Social Media. Social media has had a
major effect on the world and business. Starting from an MNC or a small startup, everyone
is adopting Social Media Marketing to make their brand or services visible.
Earlier traditional marketing mediums such as radio, TV commercials and print ads were
very costly mediums. But now, through Social media marketing, companies or brands can
connect with their target customers for free, the only cost is time. Using social media
platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc., you can lower your marketing costs.
Social Media Marketing is having a tremendous impact on business and market as business
growth and performance are taking place at an astronomical rate. Social media helps in
developing business tactics. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc.,
show an opportunity for businesses to grab the attention of the customers while
simultaneously building a brand image. These social networks allow businesses to use tactics
to build and create brand profiles like fan pages, contests etc. Through Social media
marketing, one can figure out the likes and preferences of customers as well as the latest
trends adopted by the public. Social media marketing helps a brand/company to build a
strong online presence by innovative social media marketing techniques and customer
satisfaction.
Social media platforms
There are several social media platforms. The time spent on a certain social media platform
depends on the demographic group. Ebrand (2015) reported that the most popular social
media platforms among young people are YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.
Comparing the most popular social media sites of the
13 to 17 and 18 to 29 year old people, it can be noticed that at the moment younger people
prefer various messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Messenger, Kik messenger and
Snapchat over Pinterst, Twitter or LinkedIn. However, there was not that big differences on
the time spent on social media between these age groups. (Ebrand 2015; Goldman 2013, 45)
In the following chapter the most relevant social media platforms will be reviewed and
examined. In addition, for some of the platforms the best time to post figures will be
revealed. As it will be noticed, companies can get more out of the posts if they release them
during a certain time. Knowing the best times to post a message will increase reachability
and efficiency.
Facebook
Facebook is the most popular social networking site with over 1, 4 billion registered
accounts and over 936 million active users worldwide at the moment. Facebook was founded
in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hugher and Eduardo Saverin. In only
two years Facebook grew from college’s networking site to a worldwide platform where
users can communicate with each other.
(Facebook 2015) For companies Facebook provides a platform where to target new and
existing customers, and to create a two-way conversation with them. Facebook provides the
best tools to target the right customer segment. Through Facebook companies can increase
brand awareness by advertising or creating their own profile where information can be
shared. (Castronovo and Huang 2012, 123; Someworks) It has been studied that 86% of the
posts are made during the work week and the best days to do it are Thursday and Friday. The
most shares will be gained at 1 pm and most clicks around 3pm. (Patel 2015).
Instagram
Instagram is an online social networking site where users can share photos and videos with
each other. Compared to Facebook, Instagram has been designed as a mobile app and
therefore adding pictures from the computer is not possible. Instagram was founded in 2010
by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. However, it was acquired by Facebook in 2012. With
over 300 million users Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms. (About
Instagram 2015) Instagram is a free application for both consumers and companies. Through
Instagram companies can advertise products for free, share an insight look on what is
happening in the company and increase brand equity. According to a case study, Mercedes-
Benz was able to increase the number of site visits by 580% by using advertisements in
Instagram and Facebook. Instagram has taken a new advertising service to use, which
enables marketers to buy advertisement space. However, this scene is not yet available in the
Nordic countries. (Business Instagram 2015; Kokalitcheva 2015) In Instagram the best day
to post a picture or video is Monday. To receive the most likes the picture should be posted
between 3 to 4 pm local time. (Patel 2015)
Twitter
With over 316 million monthly active users and over 500 million tweets send by day Twitter
is one of the most known social media sites. Twitter is a free micro-blogging site, where the
users can send and read short messages also known as tweets. It was founded in 2006 by
Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Evan Williams and Biz Stone. The difference to other social
networking sites is that the messages are limited to 140 characters. Users can participate to
the conversation through re-tweeting and using certain hashtags. (About Twitter 2015)
According to Castronovo and Huang (2012), Twitter is a great place to build relationships
with customers and key stakeholders. Companies can either buy advertisement space or
create their Twitter account where they can share information and express their opinions.
Advertising on Twitter is efficient when a company wants to, for example, get more traffic
on their website. (Castronovo and Huang 2012, 124; Someworks)
Importance of Social Marketing
Social marketing is objective to influence the social behaviours but not to benefit the
marketer, but to benefit the target market and the society (Weinreich, 2006). While
demarketing is an efforts aimed at discouraging the consumer to demand the product which a
firm cannot produce in available product, or does not want to provide in a certain places
where the cost of distribution is high and allow only a too little profit (Business
dictionary.com, 2014). Therefore, in the following section, it will discuss the importance of
social marketing and demarketing to tis current environment.
Therefore, the first importance of the social marketing to its current environment is health
care. This is due to the public health is going to globalization as a popular issues to the
whole world as long as not only concern to local communities. For example, “36 million
deaths each year are caused by non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular disease,
cancer, diabetes and chronic lung diseases and 6.7 million people of infectious diseases
alone, far more than the number killed in the natural or man-made catastrophes that make
headlines in 2008 ” (Shah, 2014).. Therefore, it is importance to the social marketing to
solve the problem of health care to influence consumers toward health behaviour. This is
because of the strengths of social marketing for health are aimed to achieving and
maintaining behavioural objectives, by understanding consumers and implement more
simple way to ensure them to adopt the behaviour that the life are improving (Griffiths,
Stevens &Thorpe et al, 2008). Hence, the strategies of the social marketers to influence the
health behaviour can through the social media, mediated through a health care consultant
and other ways of communication (Evans, 2006). Firstly, social marketers use the
communication channels to influence the health behaviour by giving the information of
health through the one-way distribution of information. It has given way to a multimodal
transactional model of communication. It is the most effective way to reach people about
health issues by sending the messages to peoples. This group of people usually based on
social demographic, cultural and behaviour characteristics that may be combined with the
behaviour change. For example, the National Cancer Institute’s “five a day for better health”
campaign developed a specific messages aimed at Hispanic people, due to national report
that they consume less fruit and vegetables and may have cultural reasons that discourage
them from eating locally available produce (Evans, 2006). Next, the second strategy of the
social marketing uses to influence the health behaviour by health promotion. It will increase
the community commitment to develop social wealth through a successful health promotion
programmes to encourage the communities to develop stronger networks and long-term
creativities that are self-supporting to have a long term effect (Griffiths, Stevens &Thorpe et
al, 2008). Besides that, health promotion is concerned on health and wellbeing outcomes,
which improved society health and reducing the inequalities of health and social. It aims to
allow people and communities to maintain their own health and wellbeing by attainment
control over the underlying factors that influence health and well-being (Griffiths, Stevens
&Thorpe et al, 2008). In conclusion, as concluded different authors based on above
statement, it shows that the effectiveness of social marketing on the health issues and the
importance of social marketing to raise the awareness of health behaviour to reduce the
amount of people death on health problem.
Furthermore, the next importance of social marketing to its current environment is
environmental protection. This is due to the individual behaviour is the cause of a major
number of environmental problems, lack of control of individual behaviour from
environmental legislation, which normally focus on industrial sources of environmental
harm. Besides that, it shows also people contributed around 32% of the United States
‘’annual greenhouse gas emissions, totalling approximately 8% of global greenhouse gas
emissions’’ (Kennedy, 2010). After that, the overuse of agrochemical and pesticides and
improper farming are one of the main cause to the pollution and degradation to several land
zones national. In addition, there is the problem of some land areas polluted with Agent
Orange or dioxin as war consequences (Hanoi, 2003). Hence, to reduce the gas emissions,
some strategies are used it, such as incentives. It are a useful tool to encourage individual
behaviour change, obviously shown on increasing in recycling, with the group provided with
incentives increasing its recycling by 54% (Kennedy, 2010). Moreover, implementation a
new Environmental Protection Act in 2004 which aimed to control and reduce of
environmental emission also is one of the strategies use to protect the environment (Republic
of Slovenia, 2010). In other sides, the social marketing activities designed to address for
those specific recycling opportunities with the State Solid Waste Management Plan provides
a point of reference, such as selecting target group and objective. As a result, the “Ohio
Department of Natural Resources, Division of Recycling & Litter Prevention has adopted
social marketing methods to assist SWMDs and local governments meet and exceed the
State Plan recycling goals”, for example, a research show how the overall moving and local
communities successful achieved the meeting goal in the 2004 Progress Report of the State
Plan, non-subscription curb side recycling programs reported by SWMDs had increased
from 233 to 352 (Landis, 2005). In conclusion, it also shows how the effectiveness the social
marketing toward to the environment as the global warming is increased by year to year. In
conclusion, it shows the importance of social marketing toward to the environment and
aimed by different strategies.
Moreover, the demarketing also is an importance tool that use to discourage people purchase
from certain product, such as alcohol and cigarette. Therefore, the importance of
demarketing to its current environment is tobacco consumption. This is due to the tobacco
would kill one person in every ten second and continue increasing to 3 seconds over the next
40 years ( Udupa, 2007). Therefore, it is necessary to implement the demarketing strategies
to solve the problem. The strategies of demarketing implement to the tobacco consumption
is raised cigarette taxes, restricted smoking in the public area, offered smoking cessation
services diversity to smokers and conducted an aggressive paid advertising campaign on the
dangers of ETS and second-hand smoking (Gupta, 2014). The purposes of government of
raise up the tax on cigarette to force the company to increase the price which discourage the
consumer buy the cigarette. Tobacco taxation which passed on to consumers in the higher
cigarette prices has been recognized as one of the most effective strategies for decreasing
smoking and its opposed health consequences (Bader, Boisclair, &Ferrence, 2011). For
example, in Texas and Iowa, which each increased their cigarette taxes by $1.00 in 2007 and
shown the effect of smoker quit from it has improved compared to the 2006. It is also
showing that these efforts to reduce the smokers after tax increases have significantly
improvement (Boonn, 2012). In addition, warning labels also one of the strategies that
discouraging the people to smoke. This is due to the warning labels is aimed to inform
smokers about the health hazards of smoking, encourage smokers to quit, and prevent non-
smokers to smoke. Furthermore, warning labels on tobacco products are a way of
communicating with smokers. As a result, a 2007 study in Nicotine & Tobacco Research
found that most of smokers in the United States strongly supported, a detailed warning labels
similar to those used in Canada, and appreciated the information they provide. Therefore, it
shows in the 2009 New York State Adult Tobacco Survey most 80% of non-smokers and
58% of smokers in New York support the strategy of warning label with full information on
cigarette packs and the of New Yorkers has increased significantly over time( Campaign for
tobacco free kid). For example, one of the demarketing efforts for tobacco control in India
was implemented regulation in 2001 which included the outlawing smoking in public places,
forbidding sale of tobacco to minor, more prominent health warning labels and ban
advertising at sport and culture events. Besides that, Indian parliament introduced Tobacco
Control Bill 2001 which prohibition of advertisement and regulation of trade and business,
production, supply (Cumminge, 2002). In conclusion, it shows the importance of
demarketing to discourage the people from buying the cigarette by imposed the legislation.
In addition, the next importance of the demarketing to its current environment is limited the
use of car. This is due to as a rapid growth of the population, the number of using cars is
increasing and caused to traffic congestion. For example, as Liu (2014) stated that around
185,000 vehicles drive through to the city of London in Britain every day and traffic was
worse as the average speed just 15 kph in 1999. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the use
of car to overcome the traffic congestion. Hence, there are strategies of demarketing to
reduce the use of car, such as congestion charge. It is an economic way of regulating traffic
by imposing fees on vehicle users that drive through a city’s more crowded roads. After
proposed this strategy, the responded of the congestion charge has helped solving the traffic
problem, increase the capital to build public transport and protect environment by reducing
emissions (Liu, 2014). Next, the strategy of demarketing that use to limit the use of car is
auto-free zones. It is designed to any area where traffic is prohibited in some area, which
complete closure of streets, such as pedestrian malls, parking controls, neighbourhood
parking permits. These are implemented in downtown areas or centre city areas from a
complete ban of transportation from an area, to the restriction of movements of certain types
of vehicles within an area. Next, parking controls refer to the exclusion of parking from
streets in the area. The purpose of parking restrictions is to discourage people from driving
to the area in private vehicles, and to enable movement throughout the area by removing on-
street parking. Besides that, auto restricted zones most regularly implemented in downtown
areas which needed renewal and effective in reduce congestion on the freeways. These
strategies also would result in increased traffic capability on the highways, resulted from
reduced in delays due to accidents. (Vehicle Use Limitations / Restrictions). In conclusion,
as there were occurred the problem of traffic congestion, the limiting use of cars should
implement and reduce the car use to overcome the problem that occur by several strategies
of demarketing.
As a conclusion, since there often different problem that might need some strategies used to
solute the problem toward to the society, social marketing and demarketing are the most
effective tool in solving the problem. Although the social marketing is used to influence the
behaviour change with benefit to the society, while demarketing is used to reduce the
demand of the product, but, both of this two are bring out the benefit to the society.
Social Media as an effective Marketing Tool
Most small businesses are careful about what type of marketing strategies they invest in.
When you have a limited marketing budget, it’s important that you spend it wisely to get the
most for your money. Marketing through social media is one of the most versatile and cost-
effective strategies that small businesses can use to reach their target audience and boost
sales over time.
Your customers are on social media.
One of the best reasons for your small business to be marketing through social media is that
your customers are spending time on these channels. According to Statista, 70% of the U.S.
population has at least one social media profile. And by 2021, the number of worldwide
social media users is expected to reach about 3.1 billion people. With so many consumers
using social media every day, this presents a great opportunity for small businesses who
want to reach their online audience. Connecting with your target audience can be easy if you
are active on the channels that they use most often. In other words, don’t make your
audience come to you – go to your audience! If you aren’t already on social media, you
could be missing out on an important chance to connect with your customers and engage
new leads.
Consumers will be more receptive to your messages when marketing through social
media.
Users are active on social media platforms because these channels offer a fun and easy way
to network, keep in touch with friends and family, and stay connected with what’s going on
in the world. Typically, users are not on these channels with the expectation that they are
going to be marketed to. But this does not mean that social media users aren’t following and
interacting with their favourite brands.
In fact, according to Marketing Sherpa, 95% of online adults ages 18 to 34 are likely to
follow a brand on social media. However, when users follow brands and engage with their
social media profiles, it is because they find the content and information in these social
media campaigns valuable.
Whether they are looking for deals, enjoy entertaining content, or just want to learn more
about the brand, social media users are open to engaging with brands on social media
channels.
The reason why consumers may be more receptive to your brand message on social media is
because social media allows you to be more conversational and show a different side of your
brand. The content that you publish on these channels contribute to your brand personality
and help you demonstrate your brand voice. On social media, you are able to make authentic
connections with your leads and customers, rather than just delivering direct marketing
messages. This is something that consumers are generally more responsive to.
It’s probably not new to you to find customers and companies discussing an issue/ concern
about their brand on Twitter. Or maybe you have stumbled upon some brands’ Q & As on
Instagram Stories. Most marketers see these social media channels as a way to get to know
their audience better in a more personal way. So you should too.
Marketing through social media can help increase brand recognition.
Another benefit of marketing through social media is that it helps you improve visibility, and
thus increase recognition for your brand. Your business social media profiles present new
opportunities to share your content and really present your brand’s voice and personality. By
posting compelling content that adds value for your target audience, you are making your
brand both more accessible and familiar for new leads and current customers.
For example, let’s say that a new lead stumbles upon your brand on social media. They may
not have heard of your company before, but through your social media content, they are able
to learn more about your brand and the value that you provide. This same situation can apply
to your current customers. After seeing your social media content on multiple networks,
existing customers are able to become better acquainted with your business, which may
increase their interest in a repeat purchase.
Marketing through social media increases your inbound traffic.
Your social media profiles provide yet another way to get more inbound traffic to your
website. This makes marketing through social media an excellent strategy to complement
your search engine optimization efforts. Each piece of content that you post to your social
media profiles is another opportunity to bring new visitors to your site. Once the visitor gets
to your site, you will have the opportunity to convert.
In order to get the most inbound traffic possible, it’s important that you consistently publish
content that is engaging and adds value for your target audience. The more quality content
that you post on your social media channels, the more opportunities you have to engage new
leads and direct them back to your website. If your website is optimized for conversions than
it will only be a matter of time before these new leads convert into customers.
Different social media channels help you reach specific audiences.
Another benefit of social media marketing is that you are able to strategically target different
audiences based on the channels that your brand is active on. Rather than just putting your
marketing message out there for everyone to see, you can reach your target market and work
to drive more qualified leads back to your site.
Create a clear list of your audience demographic values – the more detailed it is, the better.
This list can include their gender, age, location, interests, the brands they follow, hobbies,
etc. Knowing these values will give you more idea on which social media channel you
should use to reach them. Also, this will help you in creating content that will engage your
audience thus increasing your chances for conversions. The more relevant this traffic is, the
more likely you will be to boost conversion rates.
The key to getting the most out of your social media marketing is to strategically choose
which channels you plan to invest your time, money, and effort in. Not sure which social
media channels are right for you? Check out our post on the best social media platforms for
your business to find out more about each channel and how it can benefit you based on your
target audience and goals.
Social media advertising allows you to target and retarget ideal consumers.
Though social media advertising does require a bit of an up-front investment, social ads can
do a lot to complement the organic campaigns that you are running on your social media
channels. With sophisticated targeting capabilities, social media platforms like Facebook
help you target your ideal buyers, which allows you to drive more relevant traffic to your
site. This is the best way to get the most out of your marketing spend.
With Facebook ads, you can identify new potential leads by defining your ideal customer
through the ads platform. Then, Facebook allows you to serve your ad content to those who
exhibit the same types of behaviours that your target audience does. As you drive more
relevant traffic to your brand site, you can improve outcomes, no matter what your ad goals
may be.
Marketing through social media is cost effective.
One of the greatest benefits of marketing through social media is that it helps you cut
marketing costs without sacrificing results. Most of your social media results will come from
investing time in creating and publishing content as well as having conversations with your
fans and followers. The good news is that even just a few hours a week can have significant
results. In fact, HubSpot reports that 84% of marketers were able to generate increased
traffic with as little as six hours of effort spent on social media per week.
Even if you decide to make social media advertising a significant part of your social media
strategy, you will still find that social media marketing is cost effective. Depending on your
goals and the scope of your campaign, it is relatively inexpensive to run paid ads on social
media channels like Facebook and Twitter. No matter how small your budget is, you are still
able to make an impact on these channels to reach and convert new leads.
Social media marketing may help improve your search engine rankings.
There’s a good chance that you’re already focused on improving your search engine
optimization. But did you know that search engines may be using your social media presence
as a factor in their rankings? Successful brands tend to have a healthy social media presence,
so a strong social media presence may act as a signal to search engines that your brand is
valuable, credible, and trustworthy. Though the ranking factors are always changing, it’s a
safe bet that active social media channels will end up helping you in the end.
Not only could your social media presence impact your search engine rankings, but it’s
important to note that your social media profiles will most likely show up on the first page of
Google when consumers are looking for your brand. If the consumer clicks on your social
profiles and finds that they are outdated or unengaging, they may decide to take their
business elsewhere. That’s why it’s important to not only consistently publish compelling
content on your social media channels, but also check your profile information periodically
and make changes and updates as needed.
Consumers are looking for recommendations on social media.
Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most powerful tools that any company has in their
marketing toolbox. Not only is it free, but it goes a long way in helping you build trust with
new leads. In many ways, social media has become the new outlet for word-of-mouth
marketing. Now more than ever, brands are encouraging their customers to leave reviews on
their social media profiles, recommend their brand to friends and family on social, or
provide testimonials.
And for good reason! Consumers are more likely to buy from brands that have been
recommended. These recommendations don’t necessarily have to come from a friend, family
member, or co-worker. As you can see by the statistics below, consumers are just as likely to
trust online reviews as they are to trust personal recommendations.
These statistics also suggest that consumers are actively seeking recommendations on social
media and that these recommendations do impact their buying behaviour. For this reason,
it’s important that you actively encourage your happy customers to leave your brand a
review on social media and recommend your products and services to others. This is a great
way to generate some of that valuable word-of-mouth magic that helps sales soar.
Social media helps connect your brand with customers you didn’t know existed.
Most brands rely on search engine optimization and PPC ad traffic to find and engage new
leads. However, marketing through social media can be an excellent outlet for bringing in
new consumers. As we discussed above, recommendations or reviews on social media can
go a long way in helping your brand connect with customers that you didn’t know existed.
But there are other ways that your company can use social media to tap into new markets.
One way that you can find new customers and market opportunities on your social channels
is through social listening. By following certain keywords and checking out trending topics
in your industry, you can see who is taking part in the conversation. This can provide your
business with a wealth of new lead opportunities while also introducing you to industry
influencers who you may be able to partner with to boost visibility.
Marketing through social media can help you improve brand authority.
Marketing through social media helps you build authority for your brand. This is an
important part of effectively positioning your business as a leader in the marketplace. The
more valuable content you are sharing on social media, the more you opportunities you have
to demonstrate your expertise to leads and customers.
When others share your content with their fans and followers or mention your brand in their
posts, this helps build your brand authority even further. The more that social media users
talk about your brand, the more valuable your brand will seem to others. This will inspire
new audience members to see what your business is all about and even follow your company
for your updates and insights.
Social media marketing gives you the opportunity to gain new customer insights.
And last but not least… social media marketing gives you the valuable opportunity to gain
new insights into your customers. By interacting with leads and current customers on social
media, you are able to see what your customers are interested in and what drives them
If you periodically take a look at what your customers are talking about on social media, you
can have a better understanding of what they care about most. For instance, through social
listening, you can find out what your customers greatest challenges and concerns are and
then work to create more content around these topics. You can also use social listening to see
what customers are saying about your brand specifically, and then use this information to
make changes to improve customer satisfaction.
Social media also allows you to better understand what your customers’ online behaviours
look like. For example, you might use the analytics platform on Facebook to see which types
of content are most popular within your target market. You can also measure your
conversions for posts and ads across channels to see which campaigns are working well and
which need a little more work.
Are you not getting the results you had hoped for with your social media marketing? Let the
experts at social media marketing company help you with marketing through social media.
Our team knows just what it takes to build and maintain a thriving social media audience for
small businesses. For more information, check out our social media management services or
contact us to schedule a call to discuss our services.
Result and Discussion
This study aimed to know the effectiveness of social media as a marketing tool to the online
sellers. The following questions are answered: 1.What are the effect of social media as a
marketing tool? 2. What are the importance of social marketing? 3. How social media an
effective marketing tool?
Table 1.1 Frequently Visited Website
Website No. of Response Percentage
Twitter 6 2%
Instagram 6 2%
Facebook 18 36%

The most frequently visited in website is Facebook that are chosen by 18 respondents out of
the total 30 respondents which presents 36%. The frequently visited in Twitter and
Instagram that are chosen by 6 respondents out of the total 30 respondents which presents
2%.
Table 1.2. The Effect of Social Media as a Marketing Tool
Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly Weighted Ranking
Agree Disagree Mean
1. Social media has
had a major effect
on the world and 13 16 1 0 3.4 2
business
2. Visiting frequent
social media sites
make positive 8 20 1 1 3.1 3.5
effect on your
business.
3. Social media adds
a new dimension
to your Omni 7 18 0 5 2.9 5
channel
costumers.
4. Social media
helps to reach to a 10 16 2 2 3.1 3.5
bigger audience.

5. Social media
allows collecting 5 21 2 2 4.3 1
first hand
customer
feedback.
Scale: SA- 3.45-4 A-2.45-3.44 D-1.45-2.44 SD-0-1.44
Table 1.2 presents the effect of social media as a marketing tool. The first question is the
social media has had a major effect on the world and business, out of 30 respondents, 13 of
them answered strongly agree, 16 agreed, 1 disagree,0 strongly disagree with the weighted
mean of 3.4 that was ranked 2nd. The second question is the visiting frequent social media
sites make positive effect on your business, 8 answered strongly agree, 20 agreed, 1
disagree, 1 strongly disagree with the weighted mean of 3.1 that was ranked 3.5. The third
question is social media adds a new dimension to your Omni channel costumers, 7 answered
strongly agree, 18 agreed, 0 disagree, 5 strongly disagree with the weighted mean of 2.9 that
was ranked 5th. The fourth question is social media helps to reach to a bigger audience, 10
answered strongly agree, 16 agreed, 2 disagree, 2 strongly disagree with the weighted mean
of 3.1 that was ranked 3.5. The fifth question is social media allows collecting first hand
customer feedback, 5 answered strongly agree, 21 agreed, 2 disagree, 2 strongly disagree
with the weighted mean of 4.3 that was ranked 1st.

Table 2. The Importance of Social Marketing

Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly Weighted Ranking
Agree Disagree Mean
1. Social media
marketing primarily
covers activities
involving social
sharing of content, 11 15 0 4 3.1 1.5
videos, and images
for marketing
purposes, as well as
paid social media
advertising
2. Social media
marketing provides 6 13 5 6 2.6 5
support for good
reputation.
3. Social media
marketing is great
for capturing 9 16 1 4 3 3
targeted leads for
your business
4. Social media
marketing helps to
validate your brand 5 17 2 6 2.7 4
and it’s no longer
optional
5. Social media
marketing can 13 11 2 4 3.1 1.5
improve your
business.
Scale: SA- 3.45-4 A-2.45-3.44 D-1.45-2.44 SD-0-1.44
Table 2 presents the importance of social marketing. The first question is Social media
marketing primarily covers activities involving social sharing of content, videos, and images
for marketing purposes, as well as paid social media advertising, out of 30 respondents, 11
of them answered strongly agree, 15 agreed, 0 disagree, 4 strongly disagree with the
weighted mean of 3.1 that was ranked 1.5. The second question is social media marketing
provides support for good reputation 6 answered strongly agree, 13 agreed, 5 disagree, 6
strongly disagree with the weighted mean of 2.6 that was ranked 5th. The third question is
social media marketing is great for capturing targeted leads for your business, 9 answered
strongly agree, 16 agreed, 1 disagree, 4 strongly disagree with the weighted mean of 3 that
was ranked 3rd. The fourth question is social media marketing helps to validate your brand
and it’s no longer optional,5 answered strongly agree, 17 agreed, 2 disagree, 6 strongly
disagree with the weighted mean of 2.7 that was ranked 4th. The fifth question is social
media marketing can improve your business, 13 answered strongly agree, 11 agreed. 2
disagree, 4 strongly disagreed with the weighted mean of 3.1 that was ranked 1.5.

Table 3. Social Media an Effective Marketing Tool

Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly Weighted Ranking
Agree Disagree Mean
1. Marketing through
social media 10 15 2 3 3.06 1.5
increases your
inbound traffic.
2. Marketing through
social media is cost 9 17 1 3 3.06 1.5
effective.
3. Social media
marketing may help
improve your 8 15 1 6 2.8 5
search engine
rankings.
4. Social media
marketing gives you
the opportunity to 8 21 0 1 3.2 4
gain new customer
insights.
5. Social media
marketing helps 9 15 4 2 3.03 3
improve brand
loyalty.

Scale: SA- 3.45-4 A-2.45-3.44 D-1.45-2.44 SD-0-1.44

Table 3 presents the social media an effective marketing tool. The first question is marketing
through social media increases your inbound traffic, out of 30 respondents, 10 of them
answered strongly agree, 15 agreed, 2 disagree, 3 strongly agree with the weighted mean of
3.06 that was ranked 1.5. The second question is marketing through social media is cost
effective, 9 answered strongly agree, 17 agreed, 1 disagree, 3 strongly disagree with the
weighted mean of 3.06 that was ranked 1.5. The third question is social media marketing
may help improve your search engine rankings,8 answered strongly agree, 15 agreed, 1
disagree, 6 strongly disagree with the weighted mean of 2.8 that was ranked 5th. The fourth
question is social media marketing gives you the opportunity to gain new customer insights,
8 answered strongly agree, 21 agreed, 0 disagree, 1 strongly disagree with the weighted
mean of 3.2 that was ranked 4th. The fifth question is social media marketing helps improve
brand loyalty, 9 answered strongly agree, 15 agreed, 4 disagree, 2 strongly disagree with the
weighted mean of 3.03 that was ranked 3rd.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
https://www.academia.edu/31783531/THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING TO BUSINESS OWNERS

https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/the-difference-between-facebook-twitter-linkedin-google-
youtube-pinterest

https://www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/best-social-media-platforms/

http://www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/marketing-throughpsocialp-media/

https://www.marketinginsidergroup.com/content-marketing/why-social-media-is-important-
for-business-marketing/

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Frequently Visited:
Answer the following questions:
Table 1.The effect of social media as a marketing tool.

Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree

Agree Disagre
e
1. Social media has had a major effect on the
world and business
2. Visiting frequent social media sites make
positive effect on your business.
3. Social media adds a new dimension to your
Omni channel costumers.
4. Social media helps to reach to a bigger
audience.
5. Social media allows collecting first hand
customer feedback.

Table 2. The importance of social marketing.

Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree

Agree Disagree
1. Social media marketing primarily covers
activities involving social sharing of
content, videos, and images for marketing
purposes, as well as paid social media
advertising.
2. Social media marketing provides support
for good reputation.
3. Social media marketing is great for
capturing targeted leads for your business.
4. Social media marketing helps to validate
your brand and it’s no longer optional.
5. Social media marketing can improve your
business.
Table 3.Social media an effective marketing tool.
 Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree
Agree Disagree
1. Marketing through social media increases
your inbound traffic.

2. Marketing through social media is cost

effective.

3. Social media marketing may help improve

your search engine rankings.

4. Social media marketing gives you the

opportunity to gain new customer insights.

5. Social media marketing helps improve

brand loyalty.