Literature Review on Social Media Marketing

The social media marketing is vital to enhance the traffic of website, gain goals of conversions, business leads and user engagements. This is also useful to raise brand awareness, the growth of business and quickly create community goals. Social media marketing is also vital to receive regular customers and clients over the business website. In the following study addresses the role of social media marketing for evaluating business performance.

Here, different prior reviewed literature are conducted. Then a detailed presentation is made on how the project is carried out. Next, the secondary data analysis findings are demonstrated. Further, the results are discussed in light of the prior literature review.

The project aims in understanding how social media marketing has been changing fast as per the demand and preference of various social media users has been changing very fast. This is a bright idea for keeping oneself upgraded within new features. Further, the study also intends to assure how strategies of social media are compatible with various devices and can provide the hassle-free experience of customers. The investigation also determined how social media sites have also been gaining significance steadily and are crucial for any size of business to promote the brand.

The questions are highlighted below.

RQ1: What is the role of social media marketing?

RQ2: How is social media marketing conducted?

RQ3: How this affects business performance?

The emergence of the latest communication and information technologies, especially social networks and the Internet has changed the dynamic of the market. This has threatened the competitive positions of the business and rise in power of clients. This present day innovative online-based social media is found to be altering the various habits of consumer consumption. This is by providing innovative manners to look form, analyze, choose and buy services and goods. The developments have influenced the way in which the markets have been operating and putting the impact of marketing practices. This is regarding tactics and strategy by presenting marketers with difficult choices and challenges. Godey et al. (2016) helps in understanding social media has included various technological applications that are Internet-based as per the principle of Web 2.0. Moreover, it has delivered the development and exchange of many contents that are user-generated. It is done by facilitating the collaboration and interaction between different participants. The application has also involved microblogs and blogs like Twitter, sites of social networking like Facebook and MySpace. This also includes virtual worlds like Second Life and various collaborative projects like Wikipedia, content community sites like Flickr and YouTube and various other sites that are dedicated to feedback.

Impact of Social Media Marketing on Business

As per Wang, Pauleen and Zhang (2016) social media has also helped business to establish communication with customers and permit them to communicate with others. This is helpful to deploy brand loyalty beyond conventional measures. It has conceded the product promotions and services and set up online communities of brand followers. Besides, the conversations between clients have been providing firms with different innovative eats of raising brand awareness, brand recall and brand recognition. Further, the researchers like Swani et al. (2017) have revealed that the strategies of marketing have included marketing intelligence along with public relations, various promotions, management of different customer and products. Here, the marketing communications have started to explore and leverage the social. The reason is that there is a rise in interest found among consumers in using Internet. This is also because of the fact the consumers have been considering the data shared on social media. Apart from this, this is more reliable than the overall information that is been issued directly by different types of firms. Apart from these, Hassan, Nadzim and Shiratuddin (2015) examined that the companies have rousingly adopted the social media for different marketing tasks like market research, branding, customer relationship management, sale promotions and service provisions.

However, various businesses have been found that they are yet to include social media to their complete business strategies though there is the presence of diversified studies that have shown empirical shreds of evidence of the company benefits. This is also helpful to detail the various means through which strategies of social media marketing have been leveraged and developed. Provided with the limited scope of research to various elements of the present day social media and the particular importance towards the different types of activities of company marketing, article of Felix, Rauschnabel and Hinsch (2017) has carried out an investigation. The authors intend to determine the areas of marketing where the strategies are studied and applied, the results are found and kinds of research are developed. These implications are drawn from the resources for both management theory and practice. However, there has been no such common and generic review of the present day social media marketing. The authors has been making essential contribution to those various areas of analysis. The above studies have deepened the knowledge that the companies have needed to take initial steps and strengthen the resource towards present-day social media for strategic purposes.

Iankova et al. (2018) highlights that social media has been useful to get valuable customer, industry and business insights. Social media has been generating the utmost quantity of data about the customers and industry in real time. McDonald (2016) shows that there are over 500 million Tweets, 90 million videos and photos that are uploaded over Instagram and 4.5 billion likes on Facebook. Further, the business leaders have been spending about 3 hours daily over Linkedin. Also, beyond this number, there is a high quantity of information, the data about industry trends, insights and customer preferences. One can collect, store and utilize the costly ideas done through regular active social listening and social media engagement. Moreover, this information can be used to develop robust business decisions as per Macarthy (2018). Further, one can utilize in collecting every social media platform data with the real click. The reports in the real-time can be created and the strategies of marketing can be formulated through the data. Besides, the real time reports can be designed and the marketing strategy can be expressed through the data.

Benefits of Social Media Marketing for Business

According to Fan, Lau and Zhao (2015), the brand promotion can be done at its best. The targeted clients have been spending lots of time over the Internet. They have been searching for different things over the search engines. The marketing over social media is the best approach for SEO. This is helpful in achieving the rankings of search engines that help the clients to find the organization online. Hence, it is vital for a business to put their brand suitably over the online channels. Therefore, it has been essential for various clients in browsing the channels of present day social media. Creating the brand on social media also permits the access of millions of people at a minimum cost and less time. The brand awareness can be doubled and the brand positioning can be developed. The rates of conversion increase highly. Various online resources and tools can be checked to understanding more on how to utilize social media to get benefits as it comes to marketing and branding. Quinton and Wilson (2016) proves that social media puts the business puts the business ahead of time for who have not been utilizing the social media accounts regarding conducting marketing. This is also done by the competitors and one needs to place a keen eye over the social media strategies of the competitors. They must even understand how to communicate with their clients. As this is done, one requires to assure that they are keeping up with the strategies of digital marketing that can be implemented.

Further, Broekemier, Chau and Seshadri (2015) analyzes that more and more small business has been capitalizing over social media benefits and spending more than half of their budget over marketing there. As one requires to raise the online traffic to the website and the rise of sales, one needs to be ahead of the competitors through formulating the strategies of social media and providing the end customers with best solutions. Next, social media is beneficial for targeted advertisements. The ads over social media are the most efficient and proven processes for promoting brands and then lead the generation from the past few years. Moreover, it is the less costly method to support the business and showcase the contents. One can also target a particular team of an audience to maximize the scopes of communication. Here for instance, one can run a campaign over Facebook, segment that by age group, job title, profession, gender and location.

Human Resource

As one has the scopes of connections, behaviors and interests, Ahmad, Musa and Harun, (2016) states that the business can analyze and track the performance over social media advertisements in real time. The announcements over social media provide huge flowers, potential clients and referrals. This is never possible through conventional processes of marketing in less time. Moreover, social media is also helpful for human resources. Ashley and Tuten (2015) stated that this a surprise for many. However, on the other hand, social media has been found to be playing a significant role to. This is fulfill different requirements for human resource for the future. Maximum of the companies and professionals have been utilizing social media as they are looking for their jobs. For instance, LinkedIn is a popular platform of social media as it comes to planning quality human resources and management. Business has been utilizing the profiles of LinkedIn for posting jobs and check the active employees. Moreover, they can visit the potential staffs’ profile and review every needed data such as certification, educational qualification, recommendations, skills and expertise. Further, the present teams of the business have been using Facebook, Twitter for sharing new positions. Chang, Yu and Lu (2015) mentions that are also a high and convenient method of recruiting. Further, the most talented candidates are active in these platforms of social media and without social media, one can be missing out some actual talents. Here, the business of every size has been using social media highly supporting the needs of human resources.

Cavinder et al. (2017) has examined every industry consist of primary influencers, who are the trend makers.  It is seen whatever they have been sharing over the Internet, they have to turn to the latest trend. Hence, by utilizing social media one can recognize them and try to conduct in conducting with them. Moreover, receiving the radar one can highly receive the marketing messages and develop the overall brand identity. The targeted bloggers, writing blogs related to the service and industry offers have consisted of a huge number of followers. They can also take a brand to the upcoming level overnight through one mention within their content. Moreover, it is useful to raise the website traffic and share the materials quicker. Besides, the website traffic can be drastically increased through using the platforms of social media. This is also helpful to direct the visitors to the site. However, it is also useful to get higher search engine ranking. This is done by more amount of shares. One can also integrate the links to the websites to the pages over social media and put the link to the post content of the social media that is also relevant.

Conclusion

At the previous scenarios, the marketers have been witnessing different challenges to examine how the materials have been reaching to the proper customers in less time. Baumöl, Hollebeek and Jung (2016) discusses that with the advent for social, as it comes to sharing the content of the business, particular advantages or features, as is required is to develop an effective content pitch. Here an excellent content pitch is needed to be created and that must be posted over the network accounts of a brand. Further, Alalwan et al. (2017) investigates that there been has a massive role in relationship building by social media. They can create a relationship between the customers and brands. The conversations have been occurring over social media platforms.

Apart from this, the clients have been commenting on the contents and communicating with them. As the business provides the lifecycle products, one can share the info-graphics and images highlighting how the products have been developing other’s lifestyles. It is also useful for the business to get turned into a community and raise the repeated sales. This social strategy is the extension of the department of customer service. Further, social networks have been monitored and adequately managed. Further, the social networks are also monitored and controlled suitably. The reactions have been friendly and quick. In the present work, the people have preferred social care more than phone calls. Though one has been receiving a negative comment, a swift and timely reaction is most needed. The channels of social media are reflected on the brand and how they can treat their clients.

Here, qualitative research is conducted regarding operational description of the literature review conducted. It explains the insights, knowing of phenomenon by high collection and examining the overall narrative data. The overall approach has inductive, process oriented, holistic and the hypothesis of evolving, tentative and pm the basis of specific study. The literature review is limited and not exhaustive. The sampling is done for the purpose and in-depth understanding is retrieved. The measurement is ongoing and narrative. Further, the data analysis is done on words and involved synthesis. The interpretation of data has been tentative and is been reviewed on various ongoing basis and has been totally speculative in nature.

Here, the descriptive statistical and content analysis method is used.

The descriptive statistics has been simply demonstrating what the data has been showing. It is used for presenting qualitative descriptions in a total manageable format. In this study, there have been lots of measurements. A large number of people are measured on any measures. It has been helpful to simplify immense quantity of data sensibly. It has reduced various data to a simple summary. The content analysis has lied at the intersection of qualitative measures. This has been helpful for rigorous exploration for various vital and difficult-to-study problems of interest. This has indulged into diverse sectors such as organizational, managerial and strategic cognition. It has also included human resources, social-issue management, innovation and technology management, international management and organizational theory.

From the current secondary data analysis is seen that the method of social media marketing has facilitated the organizations indirectly communicating with potential clients. This justifies the response of RQ1. These customer shares have the information as per the services and products of the company making a distinct image.

Besides, regarding RQ2, it is also seen there are scopes to conduct for the business to take help of digital social media marketing to develop the organizational performance.

Further, regarding impacts of business performance it is also understood that the method of secondary data collection is seen to gather analytical data for the search, responding to RQ3. Moreover, it is seen the content analysis process is practiced by researchers in sincerely evaluating their conceptual data towards this research material.

The role of social media is analyzed here. Through providing the business brand with social media touch, one can create and connect to customers smartly and serve them with higher levels. This is to make digital marketing easy.

Öztamur and Karakad?lar (2014) stated that regarding the overall theoretical knowledge regarding marketing over social media, it is seen that marketing has played a smart and imperative role in operating on business and supports.

Further, Trainor Andzulis Rapp and Agnihotri (2014) illustrated that it is also observed that the organizations have been sharing personal data among numerous consumers in minimum time and cost through considering the social media.

Besides, Wang and Kim (2017) examined that it is also demonstrated that the features of openness are influenced by marketing over social media. Here, it is also seen that the organizations have been practicing the social media marketing to be adequate for the attainment of expectation of consumers according to Agnihotri Dingus Hu and Krush (2016). As far as the strategies for eradicating the challenges over social media marketing of business performance. Regarding the strategy to eliminate the obstacles over social media marketing is concerned, it is seen by Paniagua and Sapena (2014) online interactivity and a clear website is imperative to make favorable decisions under the context of the present issue. For this SM Brand Management is an effective tool. This is helpful to develop and maintain Twitter Accounts and Blogs, engage interest of people, share important elements of the industry and create trusts, visitors and followers. Then there is SM targeting, where social media platforms can be found to engage in the services. This is helpful to find and tweet people based on Twitter on the keyword tweets and descriptions as analyzed from Dahnil Marzuki Langgat and Fabeil (2014).

Various impacts of business performance is identified in this section. It is investigated that the implementation of the innovations of social media has been supporting the complete business for rising consumer loyalty through climbing the information for consumer demand showed that Kim Lim and Brymer (2015). Above all, the content is attractive to influence various consumers for effective business as per Tsimonis and Dimitriadis (2014). This measure is also imperative to enhance the credibility in minimum cost and time that is helpful for business. Thus to summarize from the article of Wang Pauleen and Zhang (2016), social media has a huge effect on brand awareness, brand loyalty, customer service and so on.

Improved sales	40%
Reduced marketing expenses	46%
Rise in business partnerships	51%
Enhanced search rankings	55%
Developing loyal fans	58%
Generated leads	58%
Given marketplace insight	65%
Rise in traffic	69%
Rise in exposure	85%

Conclusion:

The above study has been helpful to analyze the effect of various standard social media tools and the environment of social media that are used in practice. For achieving the goal, a resource-based view is taken on the business as the active theoretical base. This is helpful to make the categorization between various “role of social media”, different types of “social media triggered organizational capabilities” and the overall “business performances”. The study has specified here, with three types of relatively simple propositions. This also includes the linking the use of social media, performance and overall capabilities. It is also witnessed that the assimilation of inter-linked social media has formed the ecosystem of social media enhancing business capabilities. Further, empirical shreds of evidence are also found supporting the research proposition. Hence, it can also be concluded that the developed business capabilities have been leading to establish business process performance.

To use social media for developing the business various recommendations are provided below.

• Conducting a social media audit:
  • Regarding audit, the business must determine the imposter accounts are stealing the online thunder.
• Knowing the audience:
  • Utilizing social media for small business is helpful to let the micro-target audience. Firstly, the market must understand the specific audience. Through compiling the data over the present customers then digging more in-depth with the analytics of social media, one can develop the clear image who has been buying from the organization and who has been already interacting over the Internet.
• Building relationships:
  • The marketing channels must be used effectively to make direct communication with the followers and customers.
• Sharing compelling visuals whenever needed:
  • For example, internal data of Twitter has been showing that the people are three times more likely to engage with the Tweets having visual elements like GIF, info-graphic, photo and video.

The present study has also consisted of various limitations.

• Firstly, the case study has also been over online advertising on some of the industries over the Internet. However, the effect of social media over other industries are also needed to be analyzed.
• Secondly, some of the young and start-up organizations are considered here. Hence, more businesses of diverse natures and sized are required to be assessed here.
• Lastly, the business performances are some utilizing easy analysis tool. Here, more indicators of performance have been involved in further research.

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