APPLICATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA AS A MARKETING

STRATEGY IN BUSINESS

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL
PRESENTED TO SIR SAMUEL ROSAL

PRESENTED BY ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

STUDENTS
GROUP 5

REVILLA, ALESSANDRA
LUNA, JEANNY JEAN
RUIZ, CARYN
MONTERO, DARRAH
MASUKOL, JAIRAH
POBLACION, SHERLIETH ZETH
TANQUERIDO, SOPHIA BLESSEL
MAGSIGAY, AVEGAIL
MANANSALA, SOPHIE COLINE
PARADELA, APRIL ROSE

MAY 2022
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION
 Background of the study
 Statement of the problem
 Objectives of the study
 Significance of the study
 Scope and delimitations
 Definition of terms

CHAPTER II - REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND CONCEPTUAL

FRAMEWORK

CHAPTER III – RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

 Research design
 Locale of the study
 Respondents of the study
 Sampling technique
 Research instrument
 Data Gathering Procedures
 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Social media are interactive technologies and digital channels that facilitate the

creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression

through virtual communities and networks (Kietzmann, Jan H.; Kristopher Hermkens,

2011). Users usually access social media services through web-based apps on desktops or

download services that offer social media functionality to their mobile devices (e.g.,

smartphones and tablets). As users engage with these electronic services, they create

highly interactive platforms which individuals, communities, and organizations can share,

co-create, discuss, participate, and modify user-generated or self-curated content posted

online (Schivinski, Bruno; Brzozowska-Woś, Magdalena; Stansbury, Ellena; Satel,

Jason; Montag, Christian; Pontes, Halley M., 2020).

The social media era was started around ten years ago. It began with LinkedIn,

which was launched in 2003, followed by both MySpace and Facebook in 2004,

YouTube in 2005, and Twitter in 2006. In less than a decade, its population has grown

rapidly, and it has reached billions of people worldwide. Facebook has more than 500

million users worldwide; Twitter has approximately 175 million users; LinkedIn has

more than 90 million users; and MySpace has 57 million users (Curtis, 2011). The

popularity of social media sites has also spread to companies and firms as part of their

strategies.
 A study by public relation firm Burson-Marsteller shows that 86% of 100 largest

companies on the Fortune 500 list use at least one of the social media sites such as

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or blogs, and 28% of them use all four platforms. The study

also shows that 65% of these companies use Twitter, which makes it as the most popular

social media site among business firms (Burson-Marsteller, 2010). According to Social

Media Marketing Industry Report, 64% of marketers spend five hours or more per week

on social media and 39% of them spend ten hours or more weekly (Stelzner, 2009). These

findings show that more and more companies are becoming actively involved in social

media, which also shows the emerging of social media sites as the new

marketing/promotion platform that is also known as social media marketing.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study aims to provide information regarding how social media marketing

help the growth of businesses around the country.

Specifically it seeks to answer the following questions:

1. How will social media stregthen the marketing strategies of a company;

2. Does social media marketing better than other mediums of marketing; and

3. How will social media helps in reducing marketing costs.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This proposal aims to accomplish the following objectives:

1. To provide precise information about the benefits and drawbacks of using

social media marketing;

2. To investigate which marketing strategies work best in each business, and;

3. To serve as a guide for future entrepreneurs seeking effective marketing

strategies.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Businesses needs a social media presence. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small local

shop or a big national company. Social media is more than just a trend. It is an essential

piece of your business marketing strategy.

This study gives great importance to the following beneficiaries:

To small business owners who can use this study to help them make better

decisions, improve their marketing strategy, and gain a significant competitive advantage

over their competitors.

This research is also important for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to build and

market their proposed product. This may serve as a guide for them, providing them with

insights into the challenges and allowing them to cope more easily.

To the consumers who enjoy making online purchases, be aware of the potential

risks of the social media market and provide them with insights whenever they want to
start their own business. They will be given a variety of options for where to buy or sell,

as well as how these options will help them achieve their desired outcome.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

For many businesses, social media has become a lifeline to customers during

COVID-19 pandemic. Through online purchasing, customers acquire their wants by

clicking on sites and apps.This study will focus on the small businesses who use social

media as a marketing tool and how this strategy help to the growth of their enterprise.

Also, this study will tackle the different views of companies regarding their preferences

in terms of promoting their products.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Social Media. Are interactive digital channels that facilitate the creation and

sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through

virtual communities and networks.

Marketing. Is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating,

communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for

customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

Marketing Strategy. Refers to a business's overall game plan for reaching

prospective consumers and turning them into customers of their products or

services.
Application. The action of putting something into operation.

Business. Defined as an organization or enterprising entity engaged in

commercial, industrial, or professional activities.

Entrepreneur. An individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the

risks and enjoying most of the rewards.

 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

A review of literature is a written summary of major works and other sources on a

specific topic. This article provides a critical review of various studies, researches, books,

scholarly articles, blogs, and other sources pertaining to social media marketing

strategies.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The new “internet sensation” social media marketing has considerably influenced

the world of marketing. Introduction of various new tools and the tremendous increase of

the internet user base in the last decade along with easier internet access gave the big

push. It has brought information on the fingertips of people ranging from news to

promotional videos. This has made the world to be smaller beyond landscapes with swift

contact and updates via web and mobile. These unique features of the marketing tool

have gained the attention of various academicians and researchers.

Concept of Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing consists of an attempt to use social media to persuade

consumers that one's company, products and/or services are worthwhile. It is marketing

using online communities, social networks, blog marketing and more. Social Media

Marketing is the process of reaching prospects and customers, and acquiring traffic and
visibility through social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many

others. Social media networks were relatively unheard of, businesses still preferred to

market their goods through physical media such as billboards, pamphlets and direct mail.

With past decade, social media has taken the world by storm, online marketing replaced

physical traditional marketing mediums, and is now replaced by Twitter, Facebook,

Pinterest and other social networks. Social media marketing is not merely about hitting

the front page of Digg or any other social news website. It is a strategic and methodical

process to establish the company’s influence, reputation and brand within communities of

potential customers, readers or supporters.

Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining website traffic or attention

through social media sites. Social media marketing programs usually center on efforts to

create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it with their social

networks. The resulting electronic word of mouth (eWoM) refers to any statement

consumers share via the Internet (e.g., web sites, social networks, instant messages, news

feeds) about an event, product, service, brand or company. When the underlying message

spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it appears to come from a

trusted, third-party source, as opposed to the brand or company itself, this form of

marketing results in earned media rather than paid media.

A basic definition of social media marketing is “using social media channels to

promote your company and its products” (Barefoot & Szabo, 2010, p. 13). An expanded

definition is “a process that empowers individuals to promote their websites, products, or

services through online social channels and to communicate with and tap into a much
larger community that may not have been available via traditional advertising channels”

(Weinberg, 2009, p. 3).

Lazer and Kelly‟s (1973) define social marketing as "concerned with the

application of marketing knowledge, concepts, and techniques to enhance social as well

as economic ends. It is also concerned with the analysis of the social consequences of

marketing policies, decisions and activities."

Social media marketing (SMM) is defined as “a form of Internet marketing that

utilizes social networking websites as a marketing tool. The goal of SMM is to produce

content that users will share with their social network to help a company increase brand

exposure and broaden customer reach,” according to Tech Target.

Techopedia explains Social Media Marketing (SMM) Social media presence is a

necessity for many customer-driven enterprises as it gives the impression of a more

immediate connection between the customer and the seller. Moreover, campaigns spread

through social media are believed to have more resonance because they are usually

discovered through links shared by trusted sources.

The rich data available through social media can allow advertisers to target their

message to very specific audiences, providing the potential for better results. Thus, Social

media marketing (SMM) refers to techniques that target social networks and applications

to spread brand awareness or promote particular products.

Social media marketing campaigns usually center around:

 Establishing a social media presence on major platforms

 Creating shareable content and advertorials

  Cultivating customer feedback throughout the campaign through surveys

and contests

RELATED STUDIES

Brendan James Keegan and Jennifer Rowley (2017) contributes to knowledge

regarding social media marketing strategy by developing a stage model of SMM

evaluation and uncovering the challenges in this process. The research paper has

developed a Social Media Marketing Evaluation framework. This framework has the

following six stages: setting evaluation objectives, identifying key performance indicators

(KPIs), identifying metrics, data collection and analysis, report generation and

management decision m aking. Moreover, the paper also identifies and discusses

challenges associated with each stage of the framework with a view to better

understanding decision making associated with social media strategies. Two key

challenges depicted by the study are the agenc y-client relationship and the available

social analytics tools.

Rodney Graeme Duffett (2017) examines the influence of interactive social

media marketing communications on teenagers‟ cognitive, affective and behavioral

attitude components in South Africa. The paper also studies the impact of a number of

additional factors such as usage (access, length of usage, log-on frequency, log-on

duration and profile update incidence) and demographic (gender, age and population

group) variables on young consumers‟ attitudes toward social media marketing

communications. The study ascertained that social media marketing communications had
a positive influence on each attitude component among adolescents, but on a declini ng

scale, which correlates to the purchase funnel model. Thus this investigation also makes

an important contribution to attitudinal research in developing countries, where there is a

lack of research in social media marketing communications. The practical implicatio n of

the study is that the companies and their brands should consider using and/or adapting

their strategies based on the declining impact of social media marketing communications

on the hierarchical attitude stages among young consumers and the divergent influence o

n usage and demographic variables when targeting the lucrative and technologically

advanced, but capricious, Generation Z consumers.

Priyanka P.V and Padma Srinivasan (2015) in her research study identified

various factors that determine the purchase of a product using social media from a

customer's point of view. A model from the retailer's perspective has been developed that

explains how social media can be used for increasing customer loyalty. The study

concludes that continuous customer support services will result in improvement of

customer retention. New applications and social platforms will flourish and allow even

greater personalization and real-time, location-based engagements in media.

In a recent case study by Christopher Ratcliff (2014) on a global organization

that appears to have mastered its social media strategy, Ford. In his blog, he explains how

Ford has included the key success elements in its strategy including customized posts,

user connectivity through tone of voice and perhaps most importantly, a social media

team that reads and responds to every single comment made by followers. However, it is

worth noting that Ford has worked out what works for its own business, and this exact

strategy may not necessarily drive the same achievement for different organizations.
 Ates Bayazıt Hayta (2013) in their research paper “A study on the of effects of

social media on young consumers' buying behaviors” determines the effects of social

media networks on purchasing behaviors of young consumers. The study results indicate

that social media tools directly effects the purchasing behaviors of consumer, depending

upon their age group and educational status.

Benjamin Ach (2013) in their bachelor thesis highlighted the evolution of the

marketing strategies of businesses and more specifically of their communication

strategies, with the important rise of social media influence, which is changing the way

people get informed as well as their purchasing decision process. This research

underlined the fact that businesses, small or big sized, have to get online and to use social

media and to adapt their business models if they want to stay on top of the competition on

their markets. The research is supported by a case study of an Australian internet

marketing company, in order to get valuable insights from internet marketing experts.

CONCLUSION

The literature review above demonstrates how social media is gradually becoming

an important marketing tool, allowing various organizations to engage with their markets

and learn about their customers' needs, important segments, and profiles. However, the

implications are that this is an uncontrolled environment, which necessitates a robust

social media strategy that also manages consumer comments, whether positive or

negative. As these social networking sites can both threaten and benefit businesses by

rapidly spreading the opinions of dissatisfied customers.

Because of the viral nature of the peer group online social network effect, various

research papers discussed above suggest that it can potentially influence purchase

decisions. As a result, for an effective social media strategy, it is important to balance it

with other traditional media channels such as radio, newspaper, or television. The review

also highlights how social media has evolved into an important tool for marketing and

brand awareness. Indeed, a paradigm shift from traditional advertising to social media

platforms is expected in the near future.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

This research was conducted under this framework. Figure 1 depicts the research

paradigm for the study, which includes the independent and dependent variables.

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE DEPENDENT VARIABLE

 MARKETING STRATEGY  APPLICATION OF

OF A BUSINESS SOCIAL MEDIA

INTERVENING VARIABLE
a) BUSINESS MARKETING
b) ENTREPRENEURSHIP
 CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION
This chapter concentrates on the discussion of the research methods and procedures
adhere to by the researcher in order to answer systematically the specific problem posed
for the investigation. Specifically, the research method, research design, respondents of
the study, sampling technique, research instrument and data gathering procedure were
explained on this chapter.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This study will used the qualitative research method. It is a type of social science
research that collects and works with a non-numerical data and that seeks to interpret
meaning from these data that help understand social life through the study targeted
populations or places (Ashley Crossman 2020). This research method focuses on the
“why” and “how” research questions rather than the “what” of social phenomena
(Jennifer Anne Cleland). According to Creswell (1994), he defines qualitative research as
an inquiry process of understanding a social problem based on building a complex,
holistic pictures, formed with words, reporting detailed views of information, and
conducted in natural setting. In this modern digitalized world, almost everyone is
attached with internet. So there is an opportunity for the entrepreneurs to market their
business product in much effective way by the use of different social media
platforms.This could help to increase their sales because of broadcast advertisement.
Researcher wants to convey how effective the social media used as a tool for business
strategy by utilizing this research method.
RESEARCH DESIGN
The proposal used the qualitative case study as the research design. It is a research
approach that is used to generate an in-depth,multi-faceted understanding of a study.An
establishement research design that is used in extensively in a wide variety of
deisciplines,particularly in the business field. According to (Baxter and jack 2008)
qualitative case study is a research methodology that helps in exploration of a
phenomenon within some particular context through various data sources,and it
undertakes the exploration through variety of lenses in order to reveal multiple facets of
the phenomenon It is a descriptive form of research that is used to look at subjects,a small
group,or a group as a whole. Case study is more flexible research design to used in this
kind of proposal because it allows to retain a holistic characteristics of a real-life events.
Collects a data to be used as multiple sources of evidences to prove that our study is
successful and gives such importances in our subjects. We can gathered information to all
entrepreneurs who uses social media as one of their marketing strategy to make their
business successful. Using this particular design we would be able to achieve the result
that we are aiming in our study.

LOCALE OF THE STUDY

The research will be carried out at one of the researchers' homes in Barangay
Lagao, General Santos City, provided with the equipment required for the study's
creation. The space is well-ventilated, clean, and has enough chairs for every member of
the research team. Other parts of the study will also be conducted on the researchers’
respective homes considering there is a limit in people’s gathering due to pandemic. The
study's scope is limited to General Santos City only.

RESPONDENTS OF THE STUDY

The research setting of the study is conducted through online since there is a
protocol due to COVID-19 pandemic. By a public posting in facebook, we group people
who are interested to participate in our conduct study.Many people responds, some of
them are our family, relatives, classmates and friends. Out of 50% in the population who
reacts and commented in the post,we choose 50% of the population. We choose our
respondents by having a 3 categories which have an exact 10 person per group. We
categorized them based on their stages and status in life. First category represent
mellennials, ages 15-20 years old who don't have q business. Second category represent
teenagers, ages 15-20 years old who running a business. Lastly, a group represents adults,
ages 21 years old and above. We personally askes permission in our participants to be
parts of this research.All of the respondents of this study agreed and informed to the
consent of participation. This study has 30 respondents who will be part of the source of
informations upon proving our study. The importance, uses and imapcts of different
social media platforms to develop growth of a business.

SAMPLING PROCEDURE
This study utilizing purposive sampling procedure also known as selective
sampling technique. It is a form of non-probability sampling use to recruit participants
who can provide in-depth and detailed information about the phenomenon under
investigation. Patton (1990) invented this sampling procedure which helps researchers
make the most out of a small population of interest and arrive at valuable research
outcomes. According to Cresswell (2012) purposive sampling procedure means that to
learn or understand the essential phenomenon and which researchers rely on their own
judgement when choosing members of the population to participates in the survey. We
apply purposive sampling technique in this study because it can gives a better insights
and more precise research results. We have the choice upon choosing participants since it
is known as participant bias which gives us advantages. We enables us to squeeze a lot of
information out of a data that have collected and this could help our study to be
acceptable.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

The instrument used in this study is online interview and survey. Online interview
is an interview conducted through an online chat, video, or audio platform. While online
survey is a structured questionnaire that our targeted audience filling out a form. Since
we are in the middle of crisis there is a limitation of the situation during the pandemic
which not allow face to face interaction so we opted to choose online interview and
survey. We prepared questions for the interview. Our interview conducts through
messenger by voice call and chats dependends on the competency of our respondents. For
the survey we prepare online questionnaire asking if social media helps the entrepreneurs
to grow their businesses.

VALIDATION
The researcher of this study asked for the help and assistance of their adviser to
check the appropriateness and coherence of the questions used for the online interview as
well as the questionnaires used for the online survey. The said questions are presented
and approved by our adviser Ma’am Emeliza A. Jose.
DATA GATHERING PROCEDURES
The researchers had dedicated a significant amount of time, effort, and
collaboration to construct their questionnaires in order to serve the targeted respondents.
The survey was made up of appropriate questions adapted from similar researchers and
questions produced by the researchers themselves. The survey had three primary
elements, each of which was broken into different subparts, all of which were relevant to
the participants' perceptions of the research's conclusion. A likert scale was employed in
the survey to evaluate if the respondent agreed or disagreed with a statement. The
questionnaire was distributed to the 30 respondents in the survey after the our adviser
authorized it. The researchers gave the participants time to respond before collecting the
survey surveys the next day.
The data collected from this research instrument was tallied and processed for
interpretation based on the frequency with which the participants checked the items. In
addition to primary data, the researcher used secondary resources such as published
papers and literature to back up the survey findings.
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