Impact of Social Media Marketing On Performance of Micro and Small Business

IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ON
PERFORMANCE OF MICRO AND SMALL BUSINESSES

Dissertation Submitted to D. Y. Patil University, Navi Mumbai,
Department of Business Management
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of
MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY
in
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Submitted by
SHILPA H. CHHEDA
(Enrolment No. DYP-M.Phil-11001)
Research Guide
Prof. Dr. R. GOPAL
DIRECTOR, DEAN & HEAD OF DEPARTMENT
D.Y. PATIL UNIVERSITY, NAVI MUMBAI,
DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
July, 2014
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IMPACT OF
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
ON
PERFORMANCE OF MICRO AND
SMALL BUSINESSES
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DECLARATION
I, hereby declare that the thesis titled IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING ON PERFORMANCE OF MICRO AND SMALL BUSINESSES
Submitted for the Award of Master of Philosophy (M. Phil) in Business Management
at D. Y. Patil University,Navi Mumbai, Department of Business Management is my
original work and the Dissertation has not formed the basis for the award of any
degree, associateship, fellowship or any other similar titles.
The material borrowed from other sources and incorporated in the thesis has been
duly acknowledged.
I understand that I myself could be held responsible and accountable for plagiarism, if
any, detected later on
The research papers published based on the research conducted out of an in the course
of the study are also based on the study and not borrowed from other sources.
Date: Signature of Student
Enrolment No. DYP-M.Phil-11001
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CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the dissertation entitled “IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING ON PERFORMANCE OF MICRO AND SMALL
BUSINESSES” is the bonafide research work carried out by Mrs. Shilpa Chheda,
student of Master in Philosophy (Business Management), at D. Y. Patil University,
Navi Mumbai, Department of Business Management, in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the award of the Degree of Master in Philosophy (Business
Management) and that the dissertation has not formed the basis for the award
previously of any degree, diploma, associateship, fellowship or any other similar title
of any University or Institution.
Place: Mumbai _____________
Date: Signature of the Guide
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Firstly, I am thankful to the almighty God for all the blessings showered.
I am indebted to the D.Y.Patil University, Navi Mumbai, Department of Business
Management, which has accepted me for M. Phil program and provide an excellent
opportunity to carry out this research project and enhance my erudition.
I sincerely thank Prof. Dr. R. Gopal, Director, Dean and Head of the Department at
D.Y. Patil University, Navi Mumbai, Department of Business Management from the
bottom of my heart for having given me his invaluable guidance for the project and
sparing his precious time for me from his very busy schedule.
Apart from the efforts put in by me, I would like to appreciate the unflinching support
of my husband Hiren Chheda, who has been my pillar of strength in the moments of
doubts and has been there, when there is no one to answer my queries.
I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Amarendra Gandhi for his tremendous
support and mentoring. Without his encouragement and guidance this project would
not have materialized the way it has.
I am grateful for the constant support and help given to me by my friends Ms. Keerthi
Menon and Mrs. Sneha Paryani, as I felt motivated and encouraged every time we
discussed about the project which was vital for the success of the project.
The guidance and support received from my family and friends is beyond limits.
I remain grateful to all those who spared their valuable time in filling up the
questionnaire. Finally, I am sincerely obliged to all those who have helped me directly
and indirectly in the completion of this study.
Place: Mumbai
Date: Signature of the Student
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER No. TITLE PAGE No.
Title I
Declaration II
Certificate III
Acknowledgement IV
List of Tables VI
List of Figure VII
List of Abbreviations VIII
Executive Summary IX
Chapter I INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Introduction to Micro and Small Business 1
1.2 Introduction to Social Media 6
1.3 Statistics of Social Media Use in India 12
1.4 Introduction to Concept of Social Consumer 17
Chapter II REVIEW OF LITERATURE 21
2.2 Research Gap 43
Chapter III OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH 44

METHODOLOGY
3.1 Purpose of the Study 44
3.2 Objective of the Study 44
3.3 Hypothesis 45
3.4 Methods of Data Collection 46
3.5 Research Instrument 47
3.6 Sample Description 47
3.7 Data Analysis 48
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3.8 Limitations of the Research 48
3.9 Future scope of the study 49
Chapter IV SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING 50
4.1 Introduction 50
4.2 Rise in Social Media Marketing 51
4.3 Social Media Marketing for Small 53

Businesses
Chapter V ENGAGEMENT METHODS 57
5.1 Introduction 57
5.2 Importance of Engagement Methods 59
5.3 Engagement Techniques of Social Media 64

Tools
Chapter VI DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 79-127
Chapter VII CONCLUSION 128-131
Chapter VIII SUGGESTIONS AND 132-134

RECOMMENDATIONS
Chapter IX ANNEXURE
References (Bibliography) 135
Questionnaire 141-161
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LIST OF TABLES
Sr. No. Table No. Title Page No.

1. Table 1.1 India Snapshot 12
2. Table 1.2 India : Internet Indicators 12

3. Table 1.3 India : Social indicators 13
4. Table 1.4 India: Social Media Use 13
5. Table 1.5 India : Mobile Users 14
6. Table 1.6 India : Contract Type 14
7. Table 1.7 India : Smartphone Usage 15
8. Table 1.8 India : Mobile Statistics 15
9 Table 2.1 Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Act 25
10. Table 3.1 Sample Size 48
11. Table 5.1 PC-Smartphone Engagement Index 63
12. Table 5.2 Facebook Statistics 65-66
13 Table 6.1 Small Businesses using Social Media 79
14 Table 6.2 Type of business 80
15 Table 6.3 Average customer prior social media 81
16 Table 6.4 Use of Engagement tools 82
17 Table 6.5 Initial Investment 83
18 Table 6.6 Objective of using social media 84
19 Table 6.7 Frequency of using social media 85
20 Table 6.8 Other media used 86
21 Table 6.9 Organized deals promotion 87
22 Table 6.10 Campaign using Social Media 88
23 Table 6.11 Frequency of updates 89
24 Table 6.12 Increase in business 90
25 Table 6.13 Social media benefit to business 91
26 Table 6.14 Measurement of Success 92
27 Table 6.15 Social media Investment 93
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LIST OF FIGURES
Sr. No. Figure No. Title Page No.

1 Figure 6.1 Small Businesses using Social Media 79
2 Figure 6.2 Type of business 80
3 Figure 6.3 Average customer prior social media 81
4 Figure 6.4 Use of Engagement tools 82
5 Figure 6.5 Initial Investment 83
6 Figure 6.6 Objective of using social media 84
7 Figure 6.7 Frequency of using social media 85
8 Figure 6.8 Other media used 86
9 Figure 6.9 Organized deals promotion 87
10 Figure 6.10 Campaign using Social Media 88
11 Figure 6.11 Frequency of updates 89
12 Figure 6.12 Increase in business 90
13 Figure 6.13 Social media benefit to business 91
14 Figure 6.14 Measurement of Success 92
15 Figure 6.15 Social media Investment 93
16 Figure 6.16 Use of Social Media Sites 98
17 Figure 6.17 Age Distribution 99
18 Figure 6.18 Educational Level 100
19 Figure 6.19 Marital Status 101
20 Figure 6.20 Employment Status 102
21 Figure 6.21 Having account on Social media 103
22 Figure 6.22 Social Media usage pattern 104
23 Figure 6.23 Log In patterns 105
24 Figure 6.24 Social Media Sites Followed 106
25 Figure 6.25 Confidentiality on social media 107
26 Figure 6.26 Purpose of using social media 108
27 Figure 6.27 Importance of SM in Social Life 109
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28 Figure 6.28 Influence of opinion/review 110
29 Figure 6.29 Reason for Brand Attraction 111
30 Figure 6.30 Reference for retailers 112
31 Figure 6.31 Level if Trust on online shopping 113
32 Figure 6.32 Level of Trust 114
33 Figure 6.33 Relevance of SM Advt. 115
34 Figure 6.34 Frequency of clicks 116
35 Figure 6.35 Frequency of purchasing 117
36 Figure 6.36 Experience of shopping online 118
37 Figure 6.37 Mode of Payments 119
38 Figure 6.38 Level of Satisfaction 120
39 Figure 6.39 Satisfaction of after sales 121
40 Figure 6.40 Grievances/ complaints 122
41 Figure 6.41 Effects on purchasing 123
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
 ADS – Advertisements
 B2B – Business To Business
 B2C – Business To Consumer
 CEO – Chief Executive Officer
 CRM – Customer Relation Management
 eWoM – Electronic Word Of Mouth
 FB – Face Book
 IAMAI – Internet And Mobile Association Of India
 IIM – Indian Institute Of Management
 IMRB – Indian Media Research Bureau
 IT – Information Technology
 MBBS – Bachelor Of Medicine And Bachelor Of Surgery
 MSE – Micro Small Enterprise
 MSME – Micro Small Medium Enterprises
 NSRCEL – N S Raghavan Centre For Entrepreneurial Learning
 P & G – Procter And Gamble
 RSS – Rich Site Summary
 SEO – Search Engine Optimization
 SERP – Search Engine Results Page
 SM – Social Media
 SMB – Small Medium Business
 SMM – Social Media Marketing
 SMO – Social MediaOptimization
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 SMMW – Social Media Marketing World
 TLD – Top Level Domain
 UNICEF – United Nations Children Fund And Emergency Relief
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The research report on, ”Impact of Social Media Marketing on performance of micro
and small businesses” is to study how Micro and Small businesses can leverage
social media to penetrate their markets, reach their customers and develop
relationships in a personal and direct manner that can catapult their brand and raise
their awareness as successfully as any large business. The report also discloses the
influence of social media on consumers’ online buying decisions.
Social media was a completely new thing four years ago, many people did not know
what social media was and the effect it would have on all in our lives. It was an
exciting interactive medium which suddenly took the world by storm to such an
extent that it became something that no business, small or large, local or global, could
afford to ignore. Today, there are more than 1.28 billion active users on Facebook
alone, currently the world's most popular social network. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+
and various other social media sites have hundreds of millions of active users as well
.Social Media has relevance not only for regular internet users, but business as well.
Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create,
share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks.
Traditionally, a small business would develop their relationships by going from door-
to-door to raise awareness and grow their brand. How fast they achieve this depends
on their budget and time available to their business. Traditionally, large businesses
had the power of reaching their markets through huge advertising budget, which small
companies found it difficult to fight the stiff competition from these large companies.
In today’s business environment, social media has become a new marketing tool that
is available to all businesses, that instantly develops relationships with potential
customers. Social media does not require huge investments in terms of money or time.
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Social media is a tool which enables small businesses to reach a large and potentially
global audience in a very short period of time with relatively little energy. This has
opened a whole new opportunity to the way a small business can develop awareness
about its goods, services and marketing activities and able to develop relationships by
communicating positive image and dialogue about a brand. Social Media is a
revolution. Personal, professional, and commercial aspects are combined seamlessly,
and in a blink of an eye, it promotes extreme extensive inter and intra communication
and interaction. Unlike traditional media channels, which offer a one-way experience,
social media is based on a two-way interactive experience between the consumer and
the business. Social Consumer, the term added in the study, is one who participates in
social commerce, social shopping, and consults with social media and social networks
when making purchasing decisions. Consumers interact with businesses or brands via
social media, for getting discounts or coupons, reading reviews as part of purchasing
process as customers research product information before deciding to transact.
Consumers are willing to interact with businesses through social media for their
benefit, and also to decide whether social media is the right channel to use to get the
value they seek and can help create trust for the company. That value could be in the
form of a coupon or specific information. Engaging with a company via social media
may result in a feeling of connectedness for consumers an emotional, intangible gain
but the wish for intimacy is not what drives most of them. For most consumers, social
media is about engaging with friends and family and accessing news and
entertainment not interacting with brands. Businesses are betting that social media
interactions will engender increased customer loyalty.
Marketing strategies of various micro and small businesses are beginning to include
social media as a valuable tool to connect with a vast pool of potential customers in
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ways that encourage people to share information in a conversational manner.
Although marketers have traditionally focused all of their energies in ensuring the
best placement in the market. There is the possibility that over the period of time
people will start to perceive social media sites as the main source of all their
information and hence the best opportunity for micro and small businesses will unfold
here.
Social media marketing has become more common with the increased popularity of
websites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Social media marketing
refers to marketing done through social media or social networking websites. While
most companies and organizations have their own websites, it can be difficult to reach
users not know about the organization. Therefore, many organizations have found it
useful to develop a presence on websites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter as
well. Social media marketing provides a low cost opportunity for businesses to reach
large numbers of users and gain brand recognition. Since social networking websites
already have large established online communities, businesses and organizations can
gain exposure by simply making their presence felt on these websites. Organizations
can create custom social media profiles, then build their own communities within
these sites by adding users as friends or followers. Many companies attract users by
posting frequent updates and providing special offers through their social media
profile pages. While social media marketing is a powerful online marketing tool, it is
typically used to supplement other marketing methods rather than replace them. Since
just about any company or business and join a social networking website, it can be
difficult to stand out from the crowd. Therefore, most companies still rely on Web
advertising and search engine optimization to generate traffic to their websites. Social
media marketing programs usually center on efforts to create content that attracts
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attention and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. A corporate
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.
Hence, this form of marketing is driven by word-of-mouth, meaning it results in
earned media rather than paid media.
Thus the main objective of the study is:
 To identify the various types of business using Social Media for marketing
 To study the impact of Social Media on Business Performance
 To study the impact of various online promotional activities on the brand
visibility
 To study performance of micro and small businesses after inclusion of social
media marketing
The study thus attempts to integrate definitions and meanings of Marketing, micro
and small businesses from various different streams of contemporary research. A
detailed theoretical evaluation of Social Media, social media tools, social media
marketing, engagement techniques of social media marketing used by micro and small
businesses, business benefits of Social Media Marketing is then attempted.
Methods of Data Collection
Primary data was collected from micro and small businesses and customers by using a
questionnaires designed to capture their perception and use of social media.
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The report presents detailed analysis to describe various aspects related to Social
Media Marketing and its influence on businesses and consumers, based on which
certain findings and conclusion on the research topic are penned down.
Online research questionnaires were prepared for the survey, one for the small
business and other for the consumer. Questionnaire was categorized with Multiple
Choice closed-ended questions as they are ideal for calculating statistical data and
percentages. Further specifically Closed-Ended Importance Questions, Likert
Questions, Dichotomous Questions, open ended question to get descriptive
information about the topic were asked to collect data and achieve the purpose of
study.
Limitations of the study
Use of online questionnaire, is often quicker and less detailed. The disadvantages of
this method can be the exclusion of people who do not have a computer or mobile and
also require internet connection. Also the validity of such surveys are questionable as
people might be in a hurry to complete it so might not give accurate responses and
may not be willing to share details. Constraints of time and resources were inevitable.
Area of study for micro and small businesses was restricted to Mumbai to get better
insights of local market. and also all the tools of social media engagement are not
explored.
Major Findings of the Study
Social media in today’s times, is the number one activity on the web, as majority of
the respondents of the study have been found to be using social media for more than 3
years and spend on an average 4-5 hours on it a day. People of all ages are not
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actively using social media. Respondents of the age group from 15 to 35 are the most
active while respondents above age group 45 are generally not engaged in social
media for buying decisions as they prefer traditional method of shopping.
Demographic details can be surmised as the respondents of the age group 15-35 lead
the survey, indicating that the younger generation is spending more time on social
media sites as they are logged in quite frequently. Majority of the respondents found
that social media is important for their social life and they engage in it mostly for
connecting with family and friends, socializing and collecting the information.
Facebook is the most favored and popular social networking site of the respondents
followed by linkedin and twitter, thus information on these social networking sites
seems to be relevant and of matter of interest to them. Majority of the respondents
hardly got influenced by the views and reviews of the family and friends and also the
external source, this may indicate that the decision making is influenced to the extent
of procuring information. Respondents do find the relevance in the advertisement they
see on social media sites and also click on them sometimes indicating they get
attracted towards the brand and want to collect information about the same though it
may not convert into a purchase. They find contests, promotions, pictures, offers
interesting and like to participate, which shows that brand information do influence
the respondents. As far as the shopping experience is concerned, majority of the
respondents who have shopped online responded positively and were satisfied with
the overall experience. The level of trust for shopping online is building gradually as
majority respondents agreed to have shopped sometime or the other after clicking on
the advertisement. Respondents are satisfied with the after sales service provided by
the companies selling online and they have rarely addressed the grievance, which can
be a step towards trust building and relationship management for shopping online.
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Overall, the factors help to conclude that the consumers do get influenced by social
media marketing to some extent for making purchase decisions.
Awareness of social media is certainly very high among small businesses; it has
become the talk of the town. As it was found that nearly 70% of respondents use
social media for their business and to increase their visibility. But simultaneously, on
the other side of the coin nearly 30% of the respondents are still not using social
media and hence are missing out on a tremendous opportunity to connect and engage
with potential customers. Small businesses have been slower to adopt, mainly because
they feel social media is not significant for their type of business. Many respondents
perceive their customers base do not use social networks or not suitable for their type
of business. In fact, this sentiment was echoed by 30% of respondents in a recent
survey which mostly included distributors and manufacturers. Majority of the
respondents found social media marketing very important for their business and were
certain about its bright future potentials, when asked for their opinions about social
media. It was found that majority of micro and small business had done initial
investment from zero up to 5 lakhs of budget to engage in social media for business.
The main reason for social media marketing was to create a platform for highlighting
their brand and create brand awareness as it would be difficult for the small business
to advertise their product by other expensive and paid mediums with limited
resources. The brand highlighting was done through various social media tools like
facebook, twitter, pinterest, linkedin by using various engagement methods. Majority
have responded that they have not measured the increase in the revenue after the
inclusion of social media as a marketing tool, as there can be numerous other factors
which have an impact on the revenue generation of businesses.
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Although social media marketing is a relatively recent concept in India, it has
redefined the way businesses are implementing marketing campaigns. With the online
medium providing mass reach and low cost benefits, social media marketing is a
powerful tool not just for big companies but also for small entrepreneurial start-ups.
Businesses must creatively use social media marketing and come up with innovative
campaigns to reach out to customers and build a successful brand.
Future scope of the study
The present study is restricted to Mumbai city, which gives a scope for further study
to be conducted in other metropolitan cities and even other tier I cities.
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CHAPTER I
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INTRODUCTION
Social media marketing is the latest "buzz" in marketing. India is probably among the
first proponents of social media marketing. These days, the organizational cause has
replaced the social cause as companies seek to engage with their audience via the
online platforms. Online presence is a must for businesses today. Apart from a basic
website; consumers looks for a blog, a Facebook page, shopping cart, e-brochures,
etc. 92% of micro and small businessesagree that social media is an effective
marketing technology tool. They are evenly split on the effectiveness of social media
for attracting new customers and engaging existing customers. (e-Strategy Trends)
1.1 Introduction to Small Business
There are around 40 million small business owners in India, out of which, around
500,000 have their presence online while there are 23 million micro and small
businesses in the US.
Medium and Small Enterprises Sector (MSEs) continue to be a vibrant sector of the
Indian economy. It is estimated that there are about 12.8 million units (over 90 per
cent of total industrial units) in this sector employing nearly 31 million people. This
sector contributes nearly 39 per cent of the total industrial production and accounts for
approximately 33 per cent of the total exports. This sector has consistently registered
a higher growth rate than the rest of the industrial sector. There are over 6500
products ranging from traditional to high-tech items, which are being manufactured
by the small enterprises in India. After agriculture, the MSEs sector provides the
maximum opportunities for both self-employment and jobs in the country. The small
enterprises sector in India holds great potential for further expansion and growth in
the future.
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The Government of India has enacted the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Development (MSMED) Act, 2006 in terms of which the definition of micro, small
and medium enterprises is as under:
(a) Enterprises engaged in the manufacture or production, processing or preservation
of goods as specified below:
(i) A micro enterprise is an enterprise where investment in plant and machinery does
not exceed Rs. 25 lakh;
(ii) A small enterprise is an enterprise where the investment in plant and machinery is
more than Rs. 25 lakh but does not exceed Rs. 5 crore; and
(iii) A medium enterprise is an enterprise where the investment in plant and
machinery is more than Rs.5 crore but does not exceed Rs.10 crore.
In case of the above enterprises, investment in plant and machinery is the original cost
excluding land and building and the items specified by the Ministry of Small Scale
Industries vide its notification No.S.O.1722(E) dated October 5, 2006.
(b) Enterprises engaged in providing or rendering of services and whose investment in
equipment (original cost excluding land and building and furniture, fittings and other
items not directly related to the service rendered or as may be notified under the
MSMED Act, 2006 are specified below.
(i) A micro enterprise is an enterprise where the investment in equipment does not
exceed Rs. 10 lakh;
(ii) A small enterprise is an enterprise where the investment in equipment is more than
Rs.10 lakh but does not exceed Rs. 2 crore; and
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(iii) A medium enterprise is an enterprise where the investment in equipment is more
than Rs. 2 crore but does not exceed Rs. 5 crore.
Thus these large variety of products and services, produced and rendered by micro
and small firms need to reach the end consumer by using appropriate marketing
strategy choosing various medias so let us have a look about marketing and marketing
strategy.
Types of Micro and Small Home-based businesses
A home-based business is an enterprise in which all or most of the work is performed
at or from the owner-operator's private residence. Home-based business is one of the
fastest growing sectors in the economy. Common businesses that are operated from
home are trade businesses, where general administrative tasks are done at home, with
work being completed at various sites. Examples include painters, plumbers and
electricians. Many micro-businesses are family operated. Family members will
generally have ownership of the business and play a significant role in its day-to-day
operations. Many publicly-listed companies and franchises started from the humble
beginnings of a family-operated business. Some common examples of family
businesses include cake shops, restaurants, café, florists, designers, photography and
so on.
Independent contractors run their own business, and hire out their time to businesses
and other organisations as a service. Their entitlements and obligations differ from an
employee in many ways. They own our own business and generally will be able to
negotiate fees and working arrangements. Some examples of independent contractors
are builders, caterers and personal trainers.
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A franchise is an arrangement whereby the originator of a business product or
operating system (franchisor) gives a prospective small business owner (franchisee)
the right to sell these products and/or use the business operations system on the
franchisor's behalf. Some key micro-business franchises include food chains, cleaning
businesses franchises.
E-businesses are businesses that utilise the internet for business activities, advertising
and transactions. With the increase in internet use and popularity, along with
relatively low start-up capital requirements, the emergence of e-businesses has seen a
dramatic increase in the past decade. Some e-businesses are solely internet-based,
with all communications and transactions completed online. Other businesses use a
website to support the physical store and products, by providing product information
online. Others simply use the internet as an advertising tool.
Marketing
The management process through which goods and services move from concept to the
customer. Marketing is based on thinking about the business in terms of customer
needs and their satisfaction. Marketing differs from selling because (in the words of
Harvard Business School's retired professor of marketing Theodore C. Levitt)
"Selling concerns itself with the tricks and techniques of getting people to exchange
their cash for your product. It is not concerned with the values that the exchange is all
about. And it does not, as marketing invariable does, view the entire business process
as consisting of a tightly integrated effort to discover, create, arouse and satisfy
customer needs." In other words, marketing has less to do with getting customers to
pay for your product as it does developing a demand for that product and fulfilling the
customer's needs.
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The marketing mix is a familiar marketing strategy tool, which you will probably
know, was traditionally limited to the core 4Ps of Product, Price, Place and Promotion
The 4Ps were designed at a time where businesses sold products, rather than services
and the role of customer service in helping brand development wasn’t so well know.
Over time, Booms and Pitner added three extended ‘service mix P’s’: Participants,
Physical evidence and Processes, and later Participants was renamed People. Today,
it’s recommended that the full 7Ps of the marketing mix are considered when
reviewing competitive strategies. Thus the businessman uses appropriate marketing
mix for his product or services and prepare a marketing strategy using various
combinations to reach out the customers.
Marketing Strategy
An organization's strategy that combines all of its marketing goals into one
comprehensive plan. A good marketing strategy should be drawn from market
research and focus on the right product mix in order to achieve the maximum profit
potential and sustain the business. The marketing strategy is the foundation of a
marketing plan.
Life for marketers used to be simpler. He just had a few TV channels, some radio
stations, a handful of top magazines and a newspaper or two in each market.
Reaching consumers was easy by crafting a compelling message. Now there are
whole slew of TV channels, millions of web sites and hundreds of thousands of
applications. Marketing was never easy, but technology has made it a whole lot
tougher. What used to be a matter of identifying needs and communicating benefits
now requires to build immersive experiences that engage consumers which requires a
seamless integration of a whole new range of skills and capabilities. There’s so much
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going on in the marketing arena today, everybody is struggling to keep up. At the
same time, every marketing professional feels pressure to be “progressive” and
actively integrate emerging “media” into their marketing program.
However, most businesses can be adequately captured by evaluating just three
metrics: awareness, sales and advocacy (i.e. customer referral). This metrics can be
achieved through traditional media along with combination of new media called
SOCIAL MEDIA.
1.2 Social Media
The best way to define social media is to break it down. Media is an instrument on
communication, like a newspaper or a radio, so social media would be a social
instrument of communication.
Regular or Traditional media has a one-way street where you can read a newspaper
or listen to a report on television, but you have very limited ability to give your
thoughts on the matter.Social media, on the other hand, is a two-way street that gives
you the ability to communicate too.
Social Media is the future of communication, a countless array of internet based tools
and platforms that increase and enhance the sharing of information. This new form of
media makes the transfer of text, photos, audio, video, and information in general
increasingly fluid among internet users. Social Media has relevance not only for
regular internet users, but business as well.Social media refers to the means of
interactions among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information
and ideas in virtual communities and networks
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Definitions of Social Media
1. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of
Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological
foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-
generated content."
2. Furthermore, social media depend on mobile and web-based technologies to
create highly interactive platforms through which individuals and communities
share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated content. They introduce
substantial and pervasive changes to communication between organizations,
communities, and individuals.
3. Social media differ from traditional or industrial media in many ways,
including quality, reach, frequency, usability, immediacy, and permanence.
4. There are many effects that stem from internet usage. According to Nielsen,
internet users continue to spend more time with social media sites than any
other type of site.
 Wikipedia, the social media go-to reference created by the public in the form
of thousands of contributors, defines Social media as “media for social
interaction, using highly accessible and scalable communication techniques.
Social media is the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn
communication into interactive dialogue.”
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 Social media is today’s most transparent, engaging and interactive form of
public relations. It combines the true grit of real time content with the beauty
of authentic peer-to-peer communication. Lisa Buyer – The Buyer Group
 Social media is not about what each one of us does or says, but about what we
do and say together, worldwide, to communicate in all directions at any time,
by any possible (digital) means. Michelle Chmielewski – Synthesio
 Social Media is a new marketing tool that allows you to get to know your
customers and prospects in ways that were previously not possible. This
information and knowledge must be paid for with output of respect,
trustworthiness, and honesty. Social Media is not a fad, but I also think it’s
just the beginning of the marketing revolution – not the end. Marjorie
Clayman – Clayman Advertising, Inc.
Social Media Websites:
1. Social networking sites- Facebook, Google Plus, CafeMom, Gather, Fitsugar
2. Interact by adding friends, commenting on profiles, joining groups and having
discussions.
3. Micro-blogging sites- Twitter, Tumblr, Posterous
4. Publishing tools- WordPress, Blogger, Squarespace
5. Collaboration tools- Wikipedia, WikiTravel, WikiBooks
6. Rating/Review sites- Amazon ratings, Angie’s List
7. Photo sharing sites- Flikr, Instagram, Pinterest
8. Video sharing sites- YouTube, Vimeo, Viddler
9. Personal broadcasting tools- Blog Talk radio, Ustream, Livestream
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10. Virtual worlds- Second Life, World of Warcraft, Farmville
11. Location based services- Check-ins, Facebook Places, Foursquare, Yelp
12. Widgets- Profile badges, Like buttons
13. Social bookmarking and news aggregation- Digg, Delicious
14. Interact by voting for articles and commenting on them. Interact by tagging
websites and
15. Searching through websites bookmarked by other people.
16. Group buying- Groupon, Living Social, Crowdsavings
Popular Social Media Tools and Platforms:
Blogs: A platform for casual dialogue and discussions on a specific topic or opinion.
Facebook: The world’s largest social network, Users create a personal profile, add
other users as friends, and exchange messages, including status updates. Brands create
pages and Facebook users can “like” brands’ pages.
Twitter: A social networking/micro-blogging platform that allows groups and
individuals to stay connected through the exchange of short status messages (140
character limit).
YouTube &Vimeo: Video hosting and watching websites.
Flickr: An image and video hosting website and online community. Photos can be
shared on Facebook and Twitter and other social networking sites.
Instagram: A free photo and video sharing app that allows users to apply digital
filters, frames and special effects to their photos and then share them on a variety of
social networking sites.
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LinkedIn Groups: A place where groups of professionals with similar areas of
interest can share and participate in a conversations happening in their fields.
Pinterestis a social curation website for sharing and categorizing images found
online. Pinterest requires brief descriptions but the main focus of the site is visual.
Clicking on an image will take you to the original source, so, for example, if you click
on a picture of a pair of shoes, you might be taken to a site where you can purchase
them. An image of blueberry pancakes might take you to the recipe; a picture of a
whimsical birdhouse might take you to the instructions.
Social Media and Small Businesses
 Social Media Is Changing the Traditional methods of Presence.
The traditional techniques of marketing using print and electronic media along with
Internet marketing and lead generation were used to drive traffic to a business and its
website. As search engine algorithms evolve, website owners have to stay on their
toes to make sure their website is constantly updated with relevant and current
information to prevent being devalued in search results. Today, social media like,
Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and YouTube channels are being seen as sites in
their own right to mark the presence.
 Social Media Allows Businesses to Crowd-source Ideas
Before you launch a new product or service, one would like to have some ideas about
what people think about it. So by engaging with prospects and customers via social
media, one can actually ask the fans and followers what colors they prefer or what
types of features they want. Thus one can involve consumers in valuable free market
research, by asking their opinions and can help establish credibility by showing that
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their opinions matter. After seeing their ideas becoming a reality, business has more
than likely just increased their customer base.
 Social Media Allows to Keep An Eye On Competition
Businesses are changing marketing strategies based on information they find in social
media feeds from their competitors. By keeping an eye on competitors, their strengths
and weaknesses can determine their marketing efforts. This gathered information
helps to implement things that might be needed to improve such as social media
campaigns, contests, giveaways or types of content the followers may be responding
to the most.
 Social Media Allows Business to Be More Transparent
The process of taking a prospect to the point of becoming a customer has slowed
down somewhat due to consumers’ awareness. People want to buy from those
companies who have established credibility and who seem to be totally transparent in
their advertising campaigns. Social media is changing peoples’ opinions of
businesses. By providing messages that are open, transparent, and helpful, social
audiences will learn that your business cares about its customers and potential
customers. One can position their company as a valuable resource by simply sharing
information like advice, tips, or just answering questions about the industry.
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1.3 The Social India Statistics
Given the major changes in its internet user numbers as per the below data, here’s
how the situation in India looks today:
Table 1.1 India’s Snapshot
India’s Snapshot
Sr. No Particulars Results
1 Total Population : 1,220,800,359 Urban : 31 %
Rural : 69%
2 Internet Users : 213,000,000 Internet : 17%
3 Active Facebook Users : 90,000,000 Facebook : 7%
4 Active Mobile Subscriptions : Mobile Subscription : 73%

893,862,000
Source: Wearesocial.sg Sources: US Central Bureau, ITU, Facebook for Jan’ 2014.
Table 1.2 India : Internet Indicators
India : Internet Indicators

1 Average time that internet users spend 4 Hours 54 Minutes

using the internet each day through a
desktop or laptop
2 Mobile internet penetration as a 11 %
percentage of total population
3 Average time that mobile internet users 2 Hours 36 Minutes
spend using mobile internet each day
Source : Wearesocial.sg Sources : US Central Bureau, ITU, Facebook for Jan’ 2014.
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Table 1.3 India : Social indicators
India : Social Indicators

Sr. No Particulars Response
1 Social Media penetration as a 12%

percentage of the total population
2 Average time social media users 2 Hours 26 Minutes
spend on social media each day
3 Percentage of mobile users using 57%
social media apps on their phone
4 Percentage of mobile users using 29%
location-based services
Table 1.4 India: Social Media Use
India : Social Media Use

Sr. No. Particulars Results
1 Any Social Network Own An Account : 97%

Used in Past Month : 72%
2 Facebook Own An Account : 94%
3 Google + Own An Account : 78%
4 Twitter Own An Account : 67%
5 Linkedin Own An Account : 54%
6 Orkut Own An Account : 51%
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Table 1.5 India : Mobile Users
India : Mobile Users

1 Total Number of Active Mobile 347 Millions

Users (Unique Individuals)
2 Mobile Penetration (Unique Users 28.5%
as a percentage of Total
Population)
3 Total Number of Active Mobile 883 Million
Subscriptions (Connections)
4 Average Number of Active Mobile 2.54
Subscriptions per unique user
Table 1.6 India : Contract Type
India : Contract type

Sr. No Particulars Response
1 Percentage of Total Mobile 95%

Subscriptions that are pre-paid
Subscriptions that are post-paid
Subscriptions that are 3G
Connections
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Table 1.7 India : Smartphone Usage
India : Smartphone Usage

1 Smartphone penetration as a 13%

2 Smartphone users searching for 95%
local information via their phone
3 Smartphone users researching 91%
products via their phone
4 Smartphone users who have made 54%
purchase via their phone
Table 1.8 India : Mobile Statistics
India : Mobile Statistics

1 Number of Active Mobile 59.8 Million

Broadband Subscriptions
2 Mobile Broadband Subscriptions as 4.9%
a percentage of the total population
3 Active Social Media users 72 Million
accessing social media on a mobile
device
4 Penetration of mobile social as a 5.9%
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India Leads Worldwide Social Networking Growth
Country set to control largest Facebook population worldwide. This year, eMarketer
estimates, 1.61 billion people will log in to social networking sites at least monthly,
from any electronic device. That’s a 14.2% gain on social networker numbers from
2012, and double-digit growth is expected to continue for another year. By 2017, 2.33
billion people will use social networks.
Currently, the highest penetration of social network users as a share of total
population occurs in the Netherlands, where 63.5% of all residents are social network
users; Norway follows just behind at 63.3%. Majorities of residents in Sweden, South
Korea, Denmark, the US, Finland, Canada and the UK also use social networking
sites monthly.
The fastest growth in social network usage is happening in less-developed markets,
however. India, with the highest growth this year, will increase user numbers by
37.4%, while Indonesia’s numbers will climb 28.7% and Mexico will grow its social
network user base by 21.1%.
All three of those countries are also high-growth areas for Facebook, the world’s
largest social network, which eMarketer estimates will reach a worldwide monthly
user base of 1.026 billion this year. The US remains the single country with the
greatest number of Facebook users, at 146.8 million this year, and India comes in a
distant second. But with India’s large population and high expected growth rate,
eMarketer believes it will develop the largest Facebook population of any country in
the world by 2016. (Since Facebook is banned in China, eMarketer assumes there are
no users of the social network in the country.)
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Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs) as discussed earlier play a key role in
the development of economies with their effective, efficient, flexible and pioneering
entrepreneurial spirit. The Micro & Small Enterprises, thus can enhance their social
media marketing skills to reach out the customers and achieve better future prospects.
1.4 The Concept of Social Consumer / Iconsumer
Consumer
A consumer is a person or group of people, such as a household, who are the final
users of products or services.
An individual who buys products or services for personal use and not for manufacture
or resale. A consumer is someone who can make the decision whether or not to
purchase an item at the store, and someone who can be influenced by marketing and
advertisements. Any time someone goes to a store and purchases a toy, shirt,
beverage, or anything else, they are making that decision as a consumer.
Consumer Behaviour
Consumer behaviour is a variety of processes and ways that people use to satisfy their
wants and needs. They define the way people select the services and products they
want and use for their lives. It is the decision-making process of buying.
Consumer behavior refers to how, where or why a person chooses to buy a product or
service or not to buy that product. These behaviors can be influenced by geography,
belief system.
A consumer may not act in isolation in the purchase, but rather may be influenced by
any of several people in various roles. The number of people involved in the buying
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decision increases with the level of involvement and complexity of the buying
decision behaviour.
Consumer’s buyer behaviour and the resulting purchase decision are strongly
influenced by cultural, social, personal and psychological characteristics. An
understanding of the influence of these factors is essential for marketers in order to
develop suitable marketing mixes to appeal to the target customer.
Cultural factors include a consumer’s culture, subculture and social class. These
factors are often inherent in our values and decision processes.
Social factors include groups (reference groups, aspirational groups and member
groups), family, roles and status. This explains the outside influences of others on our
purchase decisions either directly or indirectly.
Personal factors include such variables as age and lifecycle stage, occupation,
economic circumstances, lifestyle (activities, interests, opinions and demographics),
personality and self-concept. These may explain why our preferences often change as
our `situation' changes.
Psychological factors affecting our purchase decision include motivation (Maslow's
hierarchy of needs), perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes.
Other people often influence a consumer’s purchase decision. The marketer needs to
know which people are involved in the buying decision and what role each person
plays, so that marketing strategies can also be aimed at these people. (Kotler et al,
1994).
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SocialConsumer
Introduction
Twenty years ago, if one was dissatisfied with a company's product or business
practices, then probably they would stop buying from them. One might write an angry
letter, and even tell their friends and family not to patronize that business.
But the game has changed with social media. While one angry tweet may not make
much impact, the web allows customers to find and connect with like-minded parties.
Critical mass has never been more within consumers reach. At best, companies strive
to be more responsive. At worst, they now live in fear of these pools of discontent.
And the game changer is social consumer
The Social Consumer refers to a consumer that participates in social commerce, social
shopping, and consults with social media and social networks when making
purchasing decisions. Social consumerism implies the integration of the consumer's
social graph during the traditional shopping experience.
The term was first introduced by Pete Blackshaw, EVP of Digital Strategic Services
for the Nielsen Company at a Consumer 360 insight session in June 2010. The
concept of the Social Consumer was further developed by Brian Solis in his article
The Dawn of the Social Consumer. Fast Company recognized this rising demographic
and cultural shift soon after. The Social Consumer was also the focus of a research
report by the Pivot Conference titled Trends in Marketing to Social Consumers.
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During the traditional sales cycle, social consumer characteristics can include:
1. Incorporating geo-location applications (such as Foursquare) to check-in .
2. Utilizing Twitter and Facebook as entry points to purchase.
3. Purchasing through collective coupon sites like Groupon or LivingSocial.
4. Consulting with social networks for recommendations.
Thus the behavior aspect of Social Consumers are:
1. Consumes information and learns about breaking news through sites like
Twitter and Facebook
2. Learns about new products through social channels and networks.
3. Is wise to unsolicited promotions and trusts only relevant information
4. Desires a conversation with the brand rather than one way ad messages.
5. Expects brands to be active in the same social media sites he/she hangs out in.
6. Wants brands to listen, engage and respond quickly
This Social consumer can also be called as Iconsumer and he eats, sleeps and lives
with social media.
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CHAPTER II
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REVIEW OF LITERATURE
What is Social Media?
1) Social media is the interaction among people in which they create, share or
exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. Andreas
Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-
based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations
of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated
content. Furthermore, social media depend on mobile and web-based
technologies to create highly interactive platforms through which individuals
and communities share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated content.
They introduce substantial and pervasive changes to communication between
organizations, communities, and individuals. Social media differ from
traditional or industrial media in many ways, including quality, reach,
frequency, usability, immediacy, and permanence. There are many effects that
stem from internet usage. According to Nielsen, internet users continue to
spend more time with social media sites than any other type of site.
2) Social media is the collective of online communications channels dedicated to
community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration.
Websites and applications dedicated to forums, microblogging, social
networking, social bookmarking, social curation, and wikis are among the
different types of social media.
3) Social media broadly defined consists of any online platform or channel for
user generated content. By this definition, for example, WordPress,
Sharepoint, and Lithium qualify as social media, as do YouTube, Facebook
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and Twitter. Social media more narrowly defined includes only channels for
user-generated content, as distinguished from platforms, which are referred to
as social technologies. By this definition, for example, YouTube, Facebook,
and Twitter are social media, and WordPress, Sharepoint and Lithium are
social technologies. Joe Cothrel – Lithium Technologies, Inc.
4) Social media is digital content and interaction that is created by and between
people. Sam Decker – Mass Relevance
5) Social media is a shift in how we get our information. It used to be that we
would wait for the paper boy to throw our news on the doorstep (or into the
flowers) and we’d read the paper, front to back, with our morning coffee
before going to work. Now we get information, 24/7 and on the fly, from
anywhere. In the more traditional senses, online, on our phones, and through
the social platforms. Social media allows us to network, to find people with
like interests, and to meet people who can become friends or customers. It
flattens out the world and gives us access to people we never would have been
able to meet otherwise. Gini Dietrich – Arment Dietrich, Inc.
6) All the traditional media print, broadcast, search, and so on provide platforms
for delivery of ads near and around relevant content. Social media are
platforms for interaction and relationships, not content and ads. This is quite
similar to what Ted McConnell, General Manager-Interactive Marketing and
Innovation at Procter & Gamble Co. likes to say about social media. Bryan
Eisenberg – Author of Waiting for Your Cat to Bark (Affiliate link)
7) Markets have become conversations. Social media are the online platforms
and locations that provide a way for people to participate in these
conversations. For individuals it is a way to connect and share content with
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friends and like-minded people. For businesses it’s a way to tap into what
people are saying about your brand, your product and/or your service,
participate in the conversations, be open to new ideas and then use these
insights to make better business decisions. Sally Falkow.
8) Social media is people’s conversations and actions online that can be mined by
advertisers for insights but not coerced to pass along marketing messages. It’s
the new form of media that does not exist until it happens and that cannot be
bought by advertisers to carry their messages. Dr. Augustine Fou – Marketing
Science Consulting Group, Inc.
9) Social media is the tools, services, and communication facilitating connection
between peers with common interests. Chris Garrett – Chrisg.com
10) Social media are the online technologies and practices that people use to share
content, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives, and media themselves.
They are media for social interaction. Howard Greenstein – Social Media
Club-NYC
11) Social media is an ever-growing and evolving collection of online tools and
toys, platforms and applications that enable all of us to interact with and share
information. Increasingly, it’s both the connective tissue and neural net of the
Web. Ann Handley – MarketingProfs, Author with C.C. Chapman of Content
Rules (Affiliate link)
12) Social media is a reflection of conversations happening every day, whether at
the supermarket, a bar, the train, the watercooler or the playground. It just
allows for those conversations to reach a broader audience due to digital being
a megaphone for scale Sarah Hofstetter – 360i
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13) Social media is online text, pictures, videos and links, shared amongst people
and organizations. Dave Kerpen – Likeable Media
14) Social media is not one thing. It’s five distinct things:
 It’s a strategic tool for uncovering business insights.
 It’s managing the influencers who are driving the conversation around
your brand.
 It’s marketing that provides value and turns customers into evangelists.
 It’s a critical component customer care.
 It’s transforming your organization to meet the transparency and
humanity customers now expect of brands. Adam Kleinberg – Traction
15) Social media is digital, content-based communications based on the
interactions enabled by a plethora of web technologies. Rebecca Lieb, author
of The Truth About Search Engine Optimization (Affiliate link)
What is Micro and Small businesses?
In accordance with the provision of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises
Development (MSMED) Act, 2006 the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSME) are classified in two Classes:
(a) Manufacturing Enterprises- The enterprises engaged in the manufacture or
production of goods pertaining to any industry specified in the first schedule to the
Industries (Development and regulation) Act, 1951 or employing plant and machinery
in the process of value addition to the final product having a distinct name or
character or use. The Manufacturing Enterprise aredefined in terms of investment in
Plant & Machinery.
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(b) Service Enterprises: The enterprises engaged in providing or rendering of
services and are defined in terms of investment in equipment
The limit for investment in plant and machinery / equipment for manufacturing /
service enterprises, as notified, vide S.O. 1642(E) dtd.29-09-2006 are as under:
Table 2.1 Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Act 2006
Manufacturing Sector
Enterprises Investment in plant & machinery
Micro Enterprises Does not exceed twenty five lakh rupees
Small Enterprises More than twenty five lakh rupees but does not exceed five crore rupees
Medium Enterprises More than five crore rupees but does not exceed ten crore rupees
Service Sector
Enterprises Investment in equipment’s
Micro Enterprises Does not exceed ten lakh rupees:
Small Enterprises More than ten lakh rupees but does not exceed two crore rupees
Medium Enterprises More than two crore rupees but does not exceed five core rupees
Source:http://www.dcmsme.gov.in/ssiindia/defination_msme.htm
Extracted 10/3/14
What is social media marketing?
Social media is a collection of online platforms and tools that people use to share
content, profiles, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and media itself,
facilitating conversations and interactions online between groups of people.
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Social Media is the platform/tools.Social Networking is the act of connecting on
social media platforms.
Social Media Marketing is how businesses join the conversation in an authentic and
transparent way to build relationships. Doreen Moran – Digital and Social Marketing
Strategist
Social Media and its Role in Marketing
(SisiraNeti, 2 July 2011) Social Media, today, is among the ‘best opportunities
available’ to a brand for connecting with prospective consumers. Social media is the
medium to socialize. These new media win the trust of consumers by connecting with
them at a deeper level. Social media marketing is the new mantra for several brands
since early last year. Marketers are taking note of many different social media
opportunities and beginning to implement new social initiatives at a higher rate than
ever before. Social media marketing and the businesses that utilize it have become
more sophisticated. One cannot afford to have no presence on the social channels if
the competitor is making waves with its products and services. The explosion of
social media phenomenon is as mind boggling as that and the pace at which it is
growing is maddening. Global companies have recognized social media marketing as
a potential marketing platform, utilized them with innovations to power their
advertising campaign with social media marketing. This paper discusses about the
concepts of social media and social media marketing and other aspects like the growth
and benefits, role and relevance of social media in marketing, social media marketing
strategies. It also presents an overview on social media marketing in India.
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The Implications of Facebook Marketing for Organizations
(March 2013)With the explosive popularity of Facebook as a social media, there has
not been much research that examines Facebook marketing and its implications for
businesses. This paper represents an exploratory effort into this direction and analyses
existing Facebook marketing practices and tools, their benefits, and concerns
associated with this type of social media marketing. Practical implications are
suggested for organizations using Facebook as a social marketing tool and areas for
future research are identified.
The Complementary Roles of Traditional and Social Media in Driving
Marketing Performance
(2014)The media landscape has dramatically changed over the past decade, with
traditional media (e.g., newspapers, television) now supplemented by social media
(e.g., blogs, discussion forums). This new media landscape is not well understood
with respect to (i) the joint impacts of traditional and social media on marketing
performance (e.g., sales), (ii) how these media types influence each other, and (iii) the
mechanisms through which they affect marketing outcomes. These issues are
examined with 14 months of daily performance data and media activity for a
microfinance website. The authors find that both traditional and social media have
strong effects on marketing performance, though a single unit of social media has a
much smaller effect than a single unit of traditional media. However, because social
media is created in larger volumes than traditional media, it has a sizeable effect on
performance (i.e., social media is high-volume, low-margin, whereas traditional
media is low-volume, high-margin). Further, social media acts as a broker of
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information flow in an informal network comprising traditional and social media
outlets.
Social Media and its Impact on Consumers Behaviour
(ElisabetaIoanas, IvonaStoica, 2014) Technology gives consumer the power to
investigate products to label them and criticize them in equal measure, and more.
Therefore many companies today have pages on social networks to complement the
information held about products, held by the feedback of consumers about products
and tend to relate more to a company after reading various reviews. The paper is
related to the impact of social media on consumer behaviour, therefore it has been
made a quantitative research. The sample counted 116 respondents and from the
statistical perspective, the conclusions were established in terms of the univariate and
bivariate analysis. Following the analysis of the research variables we can make a
consumer profile that uses social networks. Likewise, after doing the complex
statistical analysis using SPSS and the analysis offered by the online platform the host
of questionnaire, it can be seen how much it is influenced and the real impact of social
media reflected in the behaviour changes.
The Influence of Social Networking Sites on Buying Behaviours of Millennial
(Sharon S. Pate, Adams) Social media sites have become an important part of
Millennials lives. According to the Pew Research Center (2010), Millennials' are
living their lives on the internet. Social media can be linked to a positive association
providing instrumental value that assists consumers in making decisions about
whatproduct to buy, when to buy, and where to buy (Weigand, 2009). With social
media becoming a large portion of the promotion mix, it is important to understand
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the motivation behind buying behaviors and if social media plays a role in influencing
those behaviors. The purpose of this research was to determine the influence of social
networking sites influence on buying Behaviors of Millennials.
Does Social Media Affect Consumer Decision-Making?
(PatarawadeeSema, Professor Martin Sivula, July 30, 2013)Social media becomes an
important communication tool that people use to connect to other people or
organization. People use social media to share their experiences, reviews, information,
advice, warnings, tips and/or any kind of issues that are interesting to their
“connection” or friends. That information is a helpful source, which may Influence
consumer’s decision-making. Most of studies showed that people use information on
social media as the guideline for their future purchase or planning their future trip.
Also, social media is used as an advertising for the marketer. Marketers take this
advantage and create marketing strategy, which in turn could help them gain more
customers. The social media environment is very easy to apply and to reach the reach
customer. These benefits give persons convenience to achieve what they are looking
for. People tend to believe in what their friends recommend. Facebook, Twitter, or
Myspace is the most popular social media site that people share their lifestyle, stories,
or even where they went for vacation. Posting information could lead their friends to
do the same thing or use their information to make decisions. The goal of this research
report is to ascertain through a review of selected literature on social media its
influence on travelers' decision-making for their future vacations.
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Social Media as a Marketing Tool: A Literature
(Abu Bashar, Irshad Ahmad, Mohammad Wasiq. November 2012) 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.
An empirical investigation of social network influence on consumer purchasing
decision: The case of Facebook
(Loredana Di Pietro, EleonoraPantano, July/September 2012)Social networks are
becoming an efficient tool for IT-based business, by providing several services for
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both consumers and marketers. The aim of this paper is to investigate to what extend
social networks, as Facebook, influence consumer's purchasing decision through a
quantitative analysis, which integrates a revised technology acceptance model. The
findings confirm that enjoyment is a key determinant of social networks usage as tool
for supporting the purchasing decision. This research moves beyond social networks
usage to factors related to the Facebook-mediated marketing communications, by
providing significant data on the weight of this channel for the development of new
direct marketing strategies.
Essential Trends in Social Media Marketing in 2014
(Evan Prokop, Mar 30th, 2014) The energy was sky high at Social Media Marketing
World this year. Marketers, brands, consultants and business owners from over 40
different countries gathered together to learn about the latest innovations in social
media marketing, rub shoulders with social media rock stars, and enjoy unprecedented
networking opportunities. The opening keynote speech from the conference organizer
Michael Stelzner, had set the tone for the days to come, Michael discussed the trends
that he thinks will be making the biggest impact in social media marketing in 2014.
Smart marketers should take note, because his presentation was chock full of
excellent opportunities for businesses to increase the value they are getting from
social throughout the coming year and beyond. Below were four key takeaways:
Visual Content will be a HUGE focus in Social in 2014
From memes to info graphics to in-the-moment instagram images, brands big and
small are already getting huge engagement from visual content, and 2014 will be the
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year that visual content truly takes over in social. According to research from Social
Media Examiner, 70% of marketers plan to increase their use of visual assets in 2014
Blogging will continue to Rule
Business blogging has seen a meteoric rise in the last few years, and all signs point to
the trend continuing in force in 2014. Unlike your social brand pages, a successful
business blog is a platform to own, and thus should serve as the hub of your social
presence.
Google Plus will graduate from Ghost Town to Metropolis
Google Plus had a somewhat rocky start, with many calling it a ghost town or
complaining that it was being forced upon YouTube users, but it’s come a long way
since. According to recent research from Social Media Examiner, Google+ tops the
list of social networks that marketers want to learn and master in 2014.
Podcasting will Dramatically Increase in Popularity and Reach
Starting out primarily as a means to increase registrations to SMMW, Michael
explained how the Social Media Marketing Podcast has turned into much more, and
today is one of his company’s most important marketing assets. Michael predicts that
soon all vehicles will have podcast support built in, making this a golden opportunity
for marketers and businesses to get in the podcasting game.
Social Media Campaign Can Swing 3%-4% of Votes
(IAMAI New Delhi, Oct 08, 2013): The number of social media users in Urban India
would reach 86 million in October this year, and 91 million by the end of this year,
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according to the report ‘Social Media in India – 2013’ by the Internet and Mobile
Association Of India (IAMAI) and IMRB, released today. Social media users in urban
India are expected to grow by 19% between June and December this year. The report
further found that 19.8 million users use mobile phones to access social media
platforms in urban India.
Based on the number of eligible voters, data of actual voter turnout from the Election
Commission of India and field interviews, the report estimates that there could be a
vote swing of 3%-4% in 24 states – states where the internet users are sizeable. The
vote swingers can be pre-dominantly young men and non-working women whose
affiliation towards social media is high. Talking to representatives of major political
parties in India, the report also found that parties have earmarked around 2%-5% of
their election budgets for social media. While political parties are gradually investing
in social media, corporate have long realized the importance of the medium. The
corporates are spending nearly 13% of their digital advertising budget on social media
in FY2012-2013. It was only 10% in FY2011-12. Predictably, the report finds that the
highest proportion of social media usage in the Top 4 Metros & the Non Metros was
among the demographic segment Young Men with 30% and 26% penetration levels
respectively. Interestingly, the report finds that younger women are increasingly using
social media, whereas, in the Other Metros & Small Metros, College Going Students
show the highest proportion of social media usage. Working Women demographic
segment is observed as having the lowest proportion of social media usage in Other,
Small & Non-Metros whereas they show a moderate proportion of social media usage
in the Top 4 Metros.
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Social Media Salesman
(YolandeD’Mello, Feb 8, 2014)Small businesses are finding that social media can
help run a one-man show of marketing, retail and research. Home bakers, housewives
and smart CEOs are meeting consumers who spend hours online through their
smartphones and computers to sell direct. Mirror gets small-time 'CEOs' to share their
marketing strategies:
NameetPotnis Behind: SellMojo, online store platform for social shopping Sells:
Exclusively through Facebook Strategy: Helps small businesses install 'buy' button to
retail via Facebook No. Of Clients: 700
MBA grad NameetPotnis was convinced that small-time businessmen on Facebook
needed to smoothen their act in online retail. According to him, Facebook marketing
is effective but the journey between a 'like' and sale is a long one and solution for that
is, a 'buy' button on the Facebook page.
Mystery Baker Behind: Sweetish House Mafia cookies Sells: Exclusively through
Facebook, Twitter Strategy: Keeps location, day and time of sale a mystery to up the
foodie's curiosity Sales: Rs 14,000 per week. In the last nine months, salivating
corporates and college students have been seen waiting for a blue Nano at odd spots
across SoBo, to pick up their batch of gourmet cookies. And social media has played
the perfect business partner.
SnehNihalani Behind: Radio Rani, concept clothing Sells: Exclusively through
Facebook, Twitter Strategy: Tempts consumer by frequently and regularly offering
fresh design teasers Sales: 35 sarees in 3 months. Facebook was copywriterwanting-
to-turn-full-timedesignerSnehNihalani's testing ground. Before she quit her job, she
made a Facebook page last November to showcase the concept sarees using the
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Buddha and Draupadi prints she was creating. In three months, she has collected 800
followers, and has sold out two collections. This is no short of instant success,
considering each design from the Maha Rani collection costs Rs 19,500, while her
cotton Risky Rani pieces start at Rs 12,500. The growing buzz has brought online
commerce sites to her doorstep, and that's upped the number of hits her designs
receive, but each sale also means a cut for the middleman. According to her, this was
the first step following a full-fledged website.
The Rise Of Social Media Marketing
The rise of social media marketing can be attributed to the growing popularity of
social media among the urban, tech-savvy population. As the number of people
frequenting blogs, wikis, online communities, and social-networking sites continues
to increase, businesses are adopting social media to reach out to their consumers and
promote their products and services. Social media is redefining the way businesses are
implementing marketing campaigns. In this interview with Mr. Suresh Babu, the
founder of Online Marketing Enthusiast Community and a corporate web marketing
trainer who closely works with NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore, an attempt to gain an
insight into social media marketing in India and how this tool can be effectively used
by an entrepreneur or a market leader to promote and sustain businesses in the long
run. Various aspects were covered regarding social media marketing and the first one
was about:
Social Media Marketing Strategy
tejas@iimb asked that Social media marketing has been embraced by a number of
companies including some big names like P&G and Intel which operate in different
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business areas so does social media marketing work equally well irrespective of the
kind and size of business say for B2C, B2B, SME and established brands?
Suresh babu replied, Social media marketing was absolutely necessary today. For a
bigger company it was easier in terms of visibility but at the same time it might be
difficult because of the different policies and approval requirements that they have. It
was relatively easier for small businesses. Social media marketing has several
advantages for small organizations. Since not many people are doing it now, they can
leverage the early mover advantage. Most of the social media sites are free, so in
terms of investment, there was hardly any cost involved except perhaps for time. It is
not very complicated- there is no need to be an expert programmer. Social media
marketing has several advantages for small organizations.
To illustrate with an example, a small florist can take videos of his customers
narrating their story behind the flowers, post information and pictures online which
people like you and me can access. Creating this user generated content is what social
media marketing is all about.
tejas@iimb asked, Social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter have more
than 250 million and 14 million registered users respectively. Over 346 million people
read blogs while 184 million people are active bloggers themselves. With so many
online platforms available today, what would be the best strategy for someone
venturing into the social media space for marketing? How does one decide upon
which online platform to start with?
On which sureshbabu replied that, the online platform varies with the kind of
business. Since sites like Facebook have the maximum users, it always helps to have a
presence on hugely popular sites. But it is also important to be active on these sites.
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Specific businesses like travel for instance may choose their own verticals. They may
prefer sites which people visit only because they are passionate about travel. In order
to decide which platform to start with, it is essential that you first understand where
your potential audience is. If you see that there are a lot of discussions about
Bangalore or IIM students on Twitter and this is the segment you want to market to,
go with Twitter. Same with blogs. Identify popular blogs relevant to your service or
product and accordingly go up there.
The next aspect cleared was about Present Scenario - Indian Context
tejas@iimb asked, considering that a large percentage of the Indian population lives in
rural areas where the internet penetration is less, is it justified to hail social media
marketing as a tool for reaching out to large numbers of people? Even in the urban
areas, isn’t the target restricted by how tech-savvy the customer is?
To which Suresh Babu eagerly said, social media marketing does not depend on how
tech-savvy the audience is. It is more about awareness. Social media can have an
impact even in the rural areas. No one earlier imagined the immense penetration
levels that cell phones and televisions have today in rural India. Over a period of time
people tend to adapt to technology. Also in the future social media will reach the
masses through television and phone. The barrier for people to know how to use
internet will go down drastically. Already one can today access Facebook updates on
his/her mobiles. Education and awareness is nonetheless important. It will be the next
generation which will truly embrace social media in the rural space which is a huge
opportunity in itself.
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20+ mind-blowing social media statistics revisited by E-consultancy
More than 700,000 local businesses have active Pages on Facebook. 70% of bloggers
are organically talking about brands on their blog, and 38% of them post brand or
product reviews. At its current rate, Twitter will process almost 10 billion tweets in
2010.
Social Marketing Lifts Organic Conversions by MarketingSherpa
According to MarketingSherpa research, marketers working in social media report an
average 27% conversion rate for organic search traffic, while those not using social
media reported a 17% rate. Adam T. Sutton concludes, that SEO is more effective at
attracting attention and ultimately converting people. However, social media is more
likely to increase positive thinking around a product and brand.
The Difference between Friends, Fans and Followers by Brian Solis
Brian Solis contends that, the future of business is tied to how the 3F’s (friends, fans
and followers) convert into the 4A’s, action, advisor, affinity, and advocacy,
regardless of network , And which tool works best for that? When asked if they were
more likely to purchase from a brand after becoming a subscriber, fan or follower,
37% of Twitter users said “yes” (strongly agreed), versus 17% of Facebook users and
27% of email subscribers. Asked if they would recommend a brand based on their
social media connection to it, 33% of Twitter users responded affirmatively versus
24% of email subscribers and just 21% of Facebook users.
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Social Media Marketing by Pharmaceutical Industry: Perception and Attitudes
of Key Stakeholders
(P. Gupta, A.Udupa,April 30, 2011)The purpose of the study was to assess the
perception, attitudes and behavior of the key target consumer groups – doctors and
patients, regarding social media marketing by pharmaceutical industry. It is a cross-
sectional, questionnaire-based study done in 2 groups – 50 general practitioners and
250 patients, in Navi Mumbai (India) area, selected by random sampling. The results
highlighted that the awareness and acceptance of the concept of social media
marketing was high amongst both the doctors and the patients. Amongst doctors, it is
positively and significantly associated with young age and having a postgraduate
degree after MBBS. Amongst the patients, a high proportion take self-medication
based on reference to the internet, most common ailments for use of self-medication
being aches, respiratory illnesses and gastrointestinal illnesses. The increasing
positive response of the key consumer groups, especially in the young age group,
makes social media a powerful marketing tool, which can be explored by the
pharmaceutical industry.
Social Media Monitoring Tools
(Human Digital, 2011) The purpose of this report is to explore the role of monitoring
tools in the PR and Marketing industries. It aims to explore the validity of the data
provided, how effective the automated analytics are, and under what circumstances
would utilization of a monitoring tool be effective. Further, it explores whether
largescale harvesting of data is effective in developing a social media strategy, or
whether human analytics and targeted intelligence provides a more tailored, longterm
and useful strategy.
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Social Media or Snake Oil: Does Social Media Measure Up to the Hype?
(G.M. Filisko, Jan 1 2011) A growing chorus of voices says yes when asked whether
the social media phenomenon overhyped? Critics argue there are no credible ways to
measure return on investment in social media. They also contend there’s no definitive
data showing that social media create business, or that the number of followers you
have on Twitter or friends on Face book translates into dollars earned. The
conundrum is that both the cynics and the cheerleaders may be right. Kevin O’Keefe,
CEO and publisher of Seattle-based Lexblog, which provides social media consulting
to law firms, says he does think there is too much hype about social media, as
according to him, there are a lot of people who don’t know what they’re talking about
creating a buzz about it. It’s terribly effective, and that doesn’t mean it’s not
overhyped.
Small Business Gets Serious: Digital Trends for Small Business in 2014
(22/01/2014) New Year comes a cautious view of the year's economic growth,
regulatory changes across a variety of industries and continued development in the
reliance on the Internet for personal and professional connection and communication.
It's an uncertain time for many businesses, but especially susceptible to falling behind
the curve are the many small businesses and mom and pop shops with already strained
budgets and resources.
So how can small businesses go from struggling to thrive? In large part, it comes
down to understanding the opportunities and trends that will present themselves in the
coming year. Small business owners know it isn't a game, it's their livelihood. It's time
to get serious about understanding and implementing plans to maximize business
opportunities.
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Can Social Media Have an Impact on Small Businesses and How?
(Websadmin, 8th May)Small businesses across the country are set to increase the time
and effort they spend on social media marketing, but research on its effectiveness has
been mixed. A recent survey by one of the largest lending institutions in the US
discovered the majority of small-business executives found social networks no good
for expanding their business. However, according to the “Small Business Marketing
Forecast 2010″ sponsored Ad-ology, lead generation is the biggest benefit of social
networking. Social networks were also considered to be a great way to keep in-tune
with the industry, and to monitor communications about your brand. The chart below
illustrates the benefits to small business.
Education and Resources are lacking
Awareness of social media is certainly very high among small businesses – it’s
become the “talk of the town.” The problem is that businesses need to be educated
about how to set up and work with this new online phenomenon. But, there are other
mental “roadblocks” to getting the most from social media. Many businesses perceive
their customers do not use social networks. In fact, this sentiment was made by 31%
of respondents in a recent survey. Additionally, about 1/3 of respondents indicated
they didn’t have the internal resources to effectively execute a social media campaign.
Social Media is Adapting, and So Should You. Marketers and brands know that
purchases online begin with online searches, and social media is adapting to meet this
need. Approximately 46% of online users from around the world count on social
media when making a purchasing decision (Source: Nielsen). Facebook's new graph
search is key, acting like a local search engine within the social network. Allowing
users to conduct searches such as "pizza places in Connecticut that my friends like."
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By searching through social media the experience is completely different. You are no
longer mindlessly picking a restaurant in the hope that it will be great. People are able
to see what places their friends like. According to a Morpace Omnibus Report, “A
whopping 68% of Facebook users say a recommendation from a Facebook friend
would make them more likely to buy a specific product or visit a certain retailer.”
After stumbling upon this hidden gem, all your friends love, it's now all about
creating a relationship. That's where the social aspect comes in handy. Users can now
search through the information on your page to learn about what specials you offer or
what items your loyal customers recommend. It doesn't get much better than that.
According to HubSpot's State of Inbound Marketing, 77% of B2C and 43% of B2C
companies say they've acquired customers through Facebook.
Twitter has also made local search a priority by introducing lead generation cards.
This feature allows businesses to create promoted offers. When a follower expands
the tweet the offer is shown. There are seven different types of Twitter cards
available. Depending on which card is selected the ability for more content, pictures, a
gallery of pictures, or even a media player are available.
Social Media Is Making a Big Impact on Small Business [INFOGRAPHIC]
(Shea Bennett, August 16, 2012)By Infographic we come to know that 73 percent of
small businesses are now using social media. Furthermore, four fifths (81 percent) of
these plan to further increase their social marketing efforts, and 62 percent of SMBs
not currently using these channels have said that they plan to do so in the next year.
Facebook leads the way, with 82 percent of social small businesses utilizing this
platform, ahead of YouTube (73 percent), Twitter (47 percent) and LinkedIn (47
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percent). As much as social media has rapidly integrated itself into the business
world, it’s important to remember that the tried and tested marketing methods still
deliver for many brands. Indeed, website (95 percent) and email (91 percent) remain
the SMB digital marketing strategies of choice, and, perhaps surprisingly, more than
three quarters still rely on print advertising.
2.1 Research Gaps
Literature on effectiveness of social media marketing and consummation of social
media marketing is largely lacking in India. While large businesses can engage
services of market research firms to evaluate effectiveness of marketing services,
small-medium businesses tend to spend a fraction of their available capital on
marketing hence there is further lack of data on use of marketing via social media.
This work will attempt to explore following components:
 Type of small business can add its value through social media marketing.
 Methods followed to reach the target customers.
 Effectiveness of social media marketing measured in terms of return on
investment.
 Impact of use of social media on sales, effect on customer base, brand
visibility.
 It is also equally important to investigate how the social media marketing is
consumed by the target consumers.
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CHAPTER III
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OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Purpose of the study:
Social media was a completely new thing four years ago, many people did not know
what social media was and the effect it would have on our lives. It was an exciting
interactive medium which suddenly took the world by storm to such an extent that it
became something that no business, small or large, local or global, could afford to
ignore. Initially small businessman often found the prospect of online marketing a
daunting one, because it was difficult to know which areas to focus on. Thus social
media marketing being an extensive subject with a complex hierarch created an urge
to familiarize with it and to find the plan or strategy explored by the small and micro
business
The purpose of the research is to study, how Micro and Small businesses can leverage
social media to penetrate their markets, reach their customers and develop
relationships in a personal and direct manner that can catapult their brand and raise
their awareness as successfully at par with any large business. The study also throws
light on the influence of social media on consumer’s online buying decisions and
behaviour.
3.2 Research Objectives
 To identify the various types of micro and small business using Social Media
for marketing
 To study the impact of Social Media on Business Performance
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 To study the impact of various online promotional activities on the brand
visibility
 To study performance of micro and small businesses after inclusion of social
media marketing
3.3 Research Hypothesis
H01:There is no association between use of social media and type ofbusiness.
H11: There is an association between use of social media and type of business.
H02: There is no association between frequency of use of social media and
Benefit to the business.
H12: There is an association between frequency of use of social media and
Benefit to the business
H03: There is no association between online promotional activities and benefit
to the business.
H13: There is an association between online promotional activities and benefit
to the business.
H04: There is no association between frequency of updates and increase in
customer base
H14: There is an association between frequency of updates and increase in
customer base
Research Type:
Exploratory research is initial research conducted to clarify and define the nature of a
problem which does not provide conclusive evidence and hence subsequent research
expected. The purpose of the study is to understand the phenomenon of social media
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marketing and to acquire new insights into it. The results acquired from this study
cannot be generalized to the population at large, hence the study is said to be
exploratory research
3.4 Methods of data collection:
The Quantitative data collection method is being used so that the produced results are
easy to summarize, compare, and generalize. Data collectionhas been done using
Primary and Secondary methods.
Secondary data collection methods:
Various information has been collected by referring books, journals, newspaper
articles, research reports, dissertations, research papers, websites, online journals and
articles.
Primary data collection method:
Online research questionnaires were prepared for the survey, one for the small
business and other for the consumer, which were hosted respectively in the links
http://goo.gl/ddhcHf and http://goo.gl/zzVjPt.
Data Collection procedure
Online instruments designed solely for this study have been used to capture data from
the selected sample. The instrument has been developed using the Google form
service. A new Google account was created specifically for this project. New forms
were used for each case and data collected was used for analysis. Protection of the
identity of the respondents was maintained. The created links were uploaded on the
social sites and also sent to available contacts through messenger.
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3.5 Research Instrument:
Two Structured questionnaires were prepared well in advance after checking and
supplementing previously accumulated data. Both the questionnaire have definite and
concrete questions.
Type of questions:
Questionnaire was categorized with Multiple Choice closed-ended questions as they
are ideal for calculating statistical data and percentages. Further specifically Closed-
Ended Importance Questions, Likert Questions, Dichotomous Questions, open ended
question to get descriptive information about the topic were asked to collect data and
achieve the purpose of study.
3.6 Sampling Method:
The study population covers all the consumers using social media and micro and
small businesses engaging in social media for business, which covers large population
and hence was difficult to collect data by census method, thus sampling method is
used to collect the information. Hence justified sampling is done.
Also taking into consideration the time, resources available, the collection of data
from big sample was also a step back, hence non-probability convenience sampling
method is used. Also Snowball sampling was used purposely where in one person
who qualifies to participate was asked to recommend several other people who have
the knowledge about social media, and so participant list increased thereon.
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Table 3.1 Sample Size
Sample Size Consumers Retailers Total
Proposed 100 100 200
Collected 138 107 245
Less : Rejected ---- 8 8
Net Collection 138 99 237
3.7 Data Analysis
Hypothesis testing is done using chi-square and frequency tables generated through
SPSS, wherein associations are defined and hypothesis is accepted or rejected to study
the objectives. Also frequency tables along with pie charts were prepared for
graphical representations of variables to analyse the data collected.
3.8 Limitations of the study
1. Online questionnaire: This type of research is often quicker and less detailed.
The disadvantages of this method can be the exclusion of people who do not
have a computer or mobile and also require internet connection. Also the
validity of such surveys are questionable as people might be in a hurry to
complete it so might not give accurate responses and may not be willing to
share details.
2. Constraints of time and resources were inevitable.
3. Area of study for micro and small businesses was restricted to Mumbai to get
better insights of local market.
4. All the tools of social media engagement are not explored.
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3.9 Future scope of the study
The present study is restricted to Mumbai city, which gives a scope for further study
to be conducted in other metropolitan cities and even other tier I cities.
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CHAPTER IV
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SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
4.1 Introduction
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.
Social media marketing (SMM) is 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.
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.
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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.
So the point is, one never know what the future holds; nobody could have predicted
we would have to be so reliant on social media websites as a means of
communication. But there’s one thing that has remained rigid since 2007; the rise of
social media marketing.
4.2 The Rise of Social Media Marketing
What can be a better example, Facebook became a $100 billion industry. The social
media website gets a significant portion of its revenue through online advertisements.
Companies pay handsome amount for their products to be advertised through social
media networks. Hard to believe but it might be much harder to believe the fact that
93% of marketers use social media just for business purposes. The rise of social
media marketing may be attributable to several factors, one of which is the large
consumer base, numbering to 1.3 billion users on Facebook alone. The other factors
include the customer information that the social media accounts hold, which can help
in targeting customers.
Social media marketing is the next big thing for micro and small businesses, but it is
not just about lead generation – it isabout relationship building. Social media
marketing is the knowledge and skill to gain Twitter followers, and then use Twitter
marketing to get them to buy. Social media marketing is the knowledge to set up a
Facebook fan, get Facebook fans, and then build relationships and start conversations
about your brand and products on Facebook. And social media marketing is all about
leveraging free social media tools to monitor your online reputation and build buzz.
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One of the key components of social media marketing is social media optimization
(SMO). Like search engine optimization (SEO), Social media optimization is a
strategy for drawing new and unique visitors to a website. Social media optimisation
can be done two ways: adding social media links to content, such as RSS feeds and
sharing buttons or promoting activity through social media by updating statuses or
tweets, or blog posts.
Social media marketing helps a company get direct feedback from customers and
potential customers while making the company seem more personable. The
interactive parts of social media give customers the opportunity to ask questions or
voice complaints and feel they are being heard. This aspect of social media marketing
is called social customer relationship management (social CRM).
Social media marketing became more common with the increased popularity of
websites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Social media marketing
refers to marketing done through social media or social networking websites. While
most companies and organizations have their own websites, it can be difficult to reach
users who do not already know about the organization. Therefore, many organizations
have found it useful to also develop a presence on Web 2.0 websites, such as
Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter as well. Social media marketing provides a low cost
way for businesses to reach large numbers of users and gain brand recognition. Since
social networking websites already have large established online communities,
businesses and organizations can gain exposure by simply joining these websites.
Organizations can create custom social media profiles, then build their own
communities within these sites by adding users as friends or followers. Many
companies attract users by posting frequent updates and providing special offers
through their social media profile pages. While social media marketing is a powerful
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online marketing tool, it is typically used to supplement other online marketing
methods rather than replace them. Since just about any company or business and join
a social networking website, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd. Therefore,
most companies still rely on Web advertising and search engine optimization to
generate traffic to their websites. Social media marketing programs usually center on
efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it with
their social networks. A corporate 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. Hence, this form of marketing is driven by word-of-
mouth, meaning it results in earned media rather than paid media.
Social media has become a platform that is easily accessible to anyone with internet
access. Increased communication for organizations fosters brand awareness and often,
improved customer service. Additionally, social media serves as a relatively
inexpensive platform for organizations to implement marketing campaigns. Too many
people approach social media marketing as if it is a step-by-step process that must be
carried out checklist-style every day. As a result, one can see plenty of webmasters
posting a set number of status updates, following a certain number of new people and
sharing a specific number of articles, day in and day out.
4.3 Social Media Makes Sense for Startups and Small Businesses
The phenomenon social media has intrigued millions. Everyone is out there, doing it,
discussing it, exploring it as:
1) It is affordable – There is no need to shell out to start the profile/fan page of
business on Facebook or Twitter or any social media sites that convinces you as it
is for free.
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2) Global - There is no limit to the reach that social platforms have. It is global.
3) Real Time Marketing – This is the ideal place to talk to your consumers and
became a part of their personal circle whenever one wants.
4) Building Human Networks – Like humans, small businesses thrive on social
connect. With the internet, interaction is no longer limited to the physical presence. It
is now possible to set up a huge human database with the click of a button.
5) Effective – One can actually measure the impact by seeing the physical number of
fans on the social media page, interacting, conversing and engaging with the business
Benefits of Social Media Marketing for Micro and Small Businesses
With the explosion of social media over the last few years, it might be hard pressed to
find a marketing expert who does not recommend social media as part of a holistic
marketing strategy. But, is it really worth the time and effort to build a social media
presence at this point.
There are simple ways a business can benefit from implementing an effective social
media marketing plan:
1. Social Media Can Reduce the Overall Marketing Costs
First and foremost, the ability to tweet a message or post something to Facebook is
dramatically more cost effective than running a paid advertisement or mailing
thousands of marketing pieces. However, there are also advanced advertising tools in
social media that allow to run a marketing campaign that is both keyword- and
demographic specific so that one can get the best bang for your marketing
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2. Social Media Can Impact Organic Search Results
Social media does allow to broadcast the business content out to a wide range of
interested readers. Interested prospects then visit your content, enquire, tell their
friends, and ultimately link to it. Google and Bing both pay attention to social signals
like this and they rank links on the search results page.
3. With Social Media, Businesses Can Offer Better Customer Service
If the customer comments, concerns, and questions matter the most, then social media
would be extremely beneficial. Customers using one of the common platforms like
Facebook or Twitter can easily communicate directly and quick answer to them in a
public format lets other customers see your responsiveness.
4. With Social Media Self Online Personality can be designed
The idea is that social media is more like a cocktail party than a business meeting.
One will always do a lot better in a social situation if one is more like itself and less
like a corporate robot. Social media is a great way to display our business personality,
as well as behind-the-scenes information about us, our employees, our workspace, and
more. When you humanize the brand in this way, it makes it easier for consumers to
connect with us and develop loyalty.
5. Social Media allows the business to associate with other businesses.
The fact that one is able to connect directly to the consumer means one can use this
platform to also connect to other entrepreneurs and business owners. From possible
strategic business partners to new distributors, social media lets have real
conversations with actual people who might otherwise be socially or geographically
inaccessible in the real world.
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6. Customers Can Validate the Business on Social Media
The idea behind allowing customers to correspond directly with us is so that they can
get the best customer service possible. When this occurs, it happens in a very public
forum that can be seen by other prospects. So when customers using the praises to
their friends it not only validates us, but increases the chances that someone else is
going to give you a shot next time they need your services.
7. With Social Media One Can Provide Value
The idea that we can provide a truly valuable service to our target market means we
are positioning ourselves as an expert in the industry. Whether that’s educational and
entertaining blogs, posts, or tweets, if we are solving a problem or providing
information, we’re adding value that customers will appreciate.
8. Social Media Lets One Gain the Competitive Advantage
If used correctly, social media can boost our search rankings, allow to provide better
customer service, build an effective online personality, connect with new business
partners, build connections, and validate professional standing all while providing
consumers with the value they want.
In fact, social media marketing represents a great opportunity to engage with
followers and generate both lifelong customers and the market research information
needed to keep our product and service offerings fresh.
In the end, online success truly depends on how smart one is to communicate online
with clear strategy to take benefit from multitude of resources
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CHAPTER V
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ENGAGEMENT METHODS
5.1 Introduction
The original purpose of businesses being on social media is to get a company’s
message out to as many people as possible, with the goal to gain as many followers as
possible. While these two aspects are still important when it comes to social media
marketing, marketers have come to find that one of the most powerful aspects of
social media is the opportunity to interact and engage with those that are
communicating with our brand. Engagement is even more important than developing
a large amount of followers or a large fan base because in a current environment
where segmented audiences are becoming more and more important, making a
connection with someone who is directly interested with the brand is much more
important than having a large following that may not do anything further with the
brand. In this chapter, we will go over what can actually be considered engagement on
social media as well as why it is so important to do so.
Meaning and Definition
Here is how a dictionary defines engagement:
1. The act of engaging or the state of being engaged.
2. Betrothal.
3. Something that serves to engage; a pledge.
4. A promise or agreement to be at a particular place at a particular time.
5. a. Employment, especially for a specified time.
b. A specific, often limited, period of employment.
6. A hostile encounter; a battle.
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7. The condition of being in gear.
The word engagement has become a sort of buzz word in the social media world, we
hear it all the time. What does it actually mean though? Engagement is anything that
our audiences do to interact with our brand online, whether it be through comments,
shares, likes, checking in at your location, etc. This is how the fans engage with us. In
order to engage back, several things can be done as well. Of course, we can comment
back to any comments that a particular person leaves, but you can also return the
favor. For instance, if they like or share some of your content, we can like or share
something of theirs. One can even take it a step further by going and commenting on
some of their things once have noticed that they have liked some of ours. The point
here is to let those that are engaging know that they are noticed and we are interested
in them and their wants and needs as well.
Engagement in social media means the ability to reach out to and get response from a
company (as a consumer) or an audience (as a company). For instance, if one go onto
Twitter and post a question to a specific company (@Ebay, for example), one hope to
receive a response. That is engagement instant human.
Engagement is a conversation that is authentic and relationship-oriented. It is more
than just dialogue, as it creates a forum for multiple voices. Critical to engagement is
that it should be free of hidden agenda like any good relationship it needs to be
honest.
Today, companies are investing heavily on social media to keep in touch with target
customers as well as provide quick information about available products and other
related offerings.
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Social media engagement is very important whether one is running a political
campaign, starting a business or pushing a certain cause. Many companies have
grown significantly by investing in social media networks.
Compared to Traditional Advertising
Traditional advertising is still effective but if one wishes to address our target market
in the most unique way, we have to try social media.
Social media engagement can instantly improve the relationship between companies
and followers or clients. Before, one may only communicate with clients through
telephone, email, posters, TV or radio. Today, the process has become much easier
since you can instantly relate with individuals and keep them informed by using the
various tools and features available on social media.
5.2 Importance of engagement in social media
 It is a way to maintain and foster relationships with the existing fan base.
When they see that we have taken the time to notice them and hear what they
have to say, they will realize that they are important to us and we value them,
making them more likely to remain happy with our company.
 Once the fans realize that we are engaging with them, they are likely to give
you further insight on what you are doing well and what you could improve
on since you have made it clear that they have your attention. This is
especially helpful for you because learning genuine pieces of information
from your consumers is always important.
 It gives a better idea of where we stand and what we could do differently.
 It will help to maintain the fan base, and spread our word even further.
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 Encouraging a feeling of belonging.
 Helping to create trusted relationships in an increasingly digital, distributed
study environment.
Not only will engagement help us to maintain our fan base, it will help to spread our
word even further. This can be done through word of mouth, when a person expresses
their satisfaction after hearing back from the brand, or simply by someone seeing the
interaction on their own news feeds. When someone likes or comments on something
of ours, someone who may not necessarily be following us will see this interaction,
making them more inclined to want to see more, especially if they see a response from
us. People are easily influenced by their friends, so this is very important.
Clearly, these thoughts as applied to a corporate communication come with many
constraints, but if engagement can be maximized within these constraints, a company
can distinguish itself to a great degree. There are enormous unspecified and
unforeseeable benefits to such participation.
Engagement is more than just a channel. It is a dialogue; it is the ability to choose
how and when to engage; it is the value each channel represents; it is whether or not
expectations were met.
Social networks are like socializing in real life, if we want to talk to someone, we go
talk to them, or give them reason to talk to us. If we want engagement, we talk, we
listen and listen and listen, then respond. The ‘social’ part of ‘social media’ is just
that, and one cannot forget it. If we look at the evolution of communications from a
very basic perspective, it is quite obvious why social media has become so important.
Think back to the 70’s, when our parents were watching TV. They had no remote
control. They had to sit through advertisements. Ads were forced onto them, exposing
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them to your brand was, in relative terms, easy, because they had to watch or get up
off the couch and switch the station. Then came the remote control, a revolution in
TV viewing. People could switch channels if the ads weren't appealing. Brands had to
work that bit harder, TV ads got more entertaining, incorporated more storytelling
elements because if they did not, viewers would just switch. Then came cable TV, no
ads. Brands had to work harder again, better quality ad campaigns, increased
storytelling. Now hardly anyone watches TV advertisements. The next generation of
consumers do not know anything about 'the old days’. They are used to switching off
if they do not like the message. You tweet something they do not agree with, they
follow you. They are not interested in what is on TV, they go to YouTube. Everything
is immediate and they are used to creating a world of their own, where they only have
to see and hear what they choose. And you need them to choose your brand. This is
where the importance of brand identity comes in. Product alone, price alone these
things most likely would not be enough. The brand needs to be accepted, sought after.
The audience needs to know who we are and what we stand for. And with more and
more people active on social media, getting their news, their updates, participating in
more and more of their daily interactions online, this is where one need to be to
connect with them. This is why content is crucial in social media. This is why
engagement is crucial. Because it is YOU. Who you are is as important as what you
do. It is your way into their world. The power of engagement cannot be understated as
a means of strengthening relationships and trust in the brand, and social media is the
best platform to facilitate this. It is immediate, it is accessible, it is where the audience
is already at.
Social Media Engagement: The Surprising Facts about How Much Time People
Spend on the Major Social Networks:
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People adopt newer social networks, and people’s social activity becomes
increasingly fragmented, other measures of social network activity become more
important, especially for businesses trying to determine where to best allocate time
and resources. How much time users spend on each social network and how engaged
and interactive they are with content there are increasingly important ways of
evaluating the sites. In a new report, (BI) Business Insider Intelligence calculates an
Engagement Index for top major social networks and compares their performance in
terms of time-spend terms per-user, on desktop and mobile. It also looks at how the
different top activities on social media - photo-sharing, status updates, etc. are
indexing in terms of activity, and which sites drive the highest volume in each
category. This report complements popular reports on social media demographics and
global audience sizes.
Findings of report:
Social is now the top Internet activity: People spend an average of 37 minutes daily
on social media, a higher time-spend than any other major Internet activity, including
email.
Social-mobile rules: 60% or so of social media time is spent not on desktop computers
but on smartphones and tablets.
Facebook has a monster lead in engagement: Facebook is a terrific absorber of
audiences’ time and attention, 114 billion minutes a month in the United States alone,
on desktop PCs and smartphones. By comparison, Instagram commands 8 billion
minutes a month, and Twitter just 5.3 billion.
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Facebook attracts roughly seven times the engagement that Twitter does, when
looking at both smartphone and PC usage, in per-user terms.
Pinterest, Tumblr and LinkedIn have made major successful pushes in 2013 to
increase engagement on their mobile sites and apps. The new race in social media is
not for audience per se, but for multi-device engagement.
Multi-device social media: Analysis is based on BI Intelligence's social media
Engagement Index, which compares the effectiveness of social networks in keeping
individual users engaged across smartphones and desktop PCs. Here are PC-
smartphone Engagement Index scores for five platforms:
Table 5.1 : PC-Smartphone Engagement Index
Facebook 50.7
Instagram 13.5
Twitter 7.4
Snapchat 6.6
WhatsApp 4.6
Source: businessinsider.com,socialmedia engagement statistics 2012-13
5.3 Popular Social Media tools and Engagement methods
Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg founded the Facebook while studying at Harward
University. MrZuckerberg is a computer programmer and starts "The facebook", in
February 2004.Features of Facebook:
Basic feature, Create new account, advance features, to create a page, group, or event
for your business.
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Navigation Bar: Clicking the word in the navigation bar will take right to current
newsfeed.
Icons: Facebook user to start the send friend request and messages, little numbers to
appears this icons indicating that news friends to approve and new message to read.
Bar Search: Find friends, places or things on Facebook
Your Page: Profile Image and Your name. It can be seen by others too.
Find Friends: Find friend’s option available on the top of Navigation bar.
Home: In the home we can find personal navigation menu and updates all the people,
pages, and groups connected to.
Setting/Admin Menu: This feature will appear to as a little arrow on the right side of
page wherein one can adjust what to share with others.
Account Settings: In the general account setting you can adjust the information by
visiting the Account setting. This is where manage the security, notification, apps and
more.
Privacy Setting: This setting can control who can find you, as well as who can see
your updates, photos, and other information.
Facebook has completed monthly visitor 900,000,000.
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Table 2.2: Facebook Statistics
Facebook Statistics Data
Total number of monthly active Facebook users 1,310,000,000
Total number of mobile Facebook users 680,000,000
Increase in Facebook users from 2012 to 2013 22 %
Total number of minutes spent on Facebook each month 640,000,000
Percent of all Facebook users who log on in any given day 48 %
Average time spent on Facebook per visit 18 minutes
Total number of Facebook pages 54,200,000
Facebook Demographics Data
Percent of 18-34 year olds who check Facebook when they wake up 48 %
Percent of 18-34 year olds who check Facebook before they get out
of bed 28 %
Average number of friends per facebook user 130
Average number of pages, groups, and events a user is connected to 80
Average number of photos uploaded per day 205
Number of fake Facebook profiles 81,000,000
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Global Facebook Reach Statistics
Number of languages available on the Facebook site 70
Percent of Facebook users who are outside the United States 75 %
Number of users who helped translate Facebook 300,000
Facebook Platform Statistics
Average number of aps installed on Facebook each day 20 million
Total number of apps and websites integrated with Facebook 7 million
Every 20 Minutes on Facebook
Links shared 1 million
Friends requested 2 million
Messages sent 3 million
Facebook Company Statistics Data
Total number of Facebook employees 4,619
Total 2012 Facebook revenue $5,090,000,000
Total 2013 Facebook revenue $6,150,000,000
Source: Facebook, 1/1/2014
According to a survey conducted by The Creative Group, more than 50% of
advertising and marketing executives said they expect companies to increase their
investment in Facebook this year. Facebook page tested engagement methods:
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 Add featured stories to the company’s Timeline – Stories running across the
width of company’s profile to highlight company milestones is done for
engagement to generate more interest than standard posts.
 Ask engaging questions once a day – Leading question asked once a day, so
that visitors get in the habit of engaging with the brand profile.
 Post shareable pictures – People love to share pictures, so either create their
own or find interesting, royalty-free images for the visitors to share.
 Offer incentives to like the Page – An application is created that leads visitors
to a special discount code or free giveaway product in exchange for a
Facebook “Like.”
 Advertise for “Likes” on Facebook – Instead of running Facebook ads that
lead to the website, advertisements that encourage users to “Like” the page are
posted.
 Rotate the Facebook ads daily – Facebook Ads suffer from high burnout rates,
so rotating the ads every day to keep engagement high is tried.
 Add a “Follow Us on Facebook” link to your email newsletters – Any time
when reaching out to the customers, an encouragement and a link back to the
profile is included.
 Add social sharing icons to the blog posts – Considering visitors to be busy
people, social sharing icons on each post are shared by including the content
for them to be easy.
 Connect your Facebook profile to the blog to auto-post new content – The new
“Facebook for WordPress” plugin is made to ensure that Facebook fans are
able to connect with all the new content.
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 Customizing Timeline application graphics – Own custom images are added to
the timeline of Facebook to create a consistent brand image and a greater
connection between the brand and the audience.
 Post exclusive video content to the Page – Unique content is shared with the
Facebook fans to keep them coming back for more.
 Ask fans to share brands profile with others – Sometimes, a direct request is
made to leverage the existing subscribers as one of the best way to build the
fan base.
 Respond to follower comments on the Page – All comments left on the profile
are responded to demonstrate interest in what the fans have said.
 Develop our own social engagement Facebook app – Fan engagement is taken
to the next level by offering unique, interactive application that provide
additional value to users.
 Update the profile and cover pictures regularly – Keeping things fresh on the
Timeline shows the readers the commitment of maintaining brands social
networking presence.
 Experiment with promoted posts – Facebook’s promoted posts is done in
Twitter: Twitter is the type of social networking site than registered for user to send
and read tweets. Unregistered user can only read text. Text message limited to 140
character. Twitter is the most popular social networking site but it began as a another
micro blogging platform created by the programmers who work as a podcasting
company Odeo Inc. Sanfrancisco, California. Twitter name was inspired by the photo-
sharing site, Flicker, and considerations were FriendStlker and Dodgeball. The
Twitter message limit was set 140 characters because 160 characters was the SMS
Carrier limit and they wanted to leave for the username. Twitter has changed political
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communication inveterately. Twitters is very effective for business as brands and find
a new way to reach their fans and where they are social media on their smart phones.
Twitter has a tool to use business large and small to reach their target. It is way to
touch every day to fans who connected to the Twitter. In the present day Twitter had
200 million users and 4, 60,000 user joint the Twitter every day. And more than 140
million tweets every day. Twitter engagement methods:
 Follow new people every day using authority figure follower lists – Lists of
people are browsed to know who are following brands authority figures to find
new people to follow.
 Pre-load tweets to launch throughout the day – Even if one cannot be on
Twitter every day, pre-loaded posts through services like the Buffer
Application are deployed to keep engagement high.
 Use Tweriod to uncover the followers most active times – Instead of wasting
effort when the visitors are not active, services like Tweriod are used to find
the best times to engage.
 Set up follower lists –Twitter followers can be segmented into lists so that
unique messages to each group can be deployed, resulting in higher levels of
engagement.
 Change the profile picture from the logo to face – The size of Twitter profile
picture makes it better suited to faces than logos so as an added bonus, people
naturally tend to engage better with faces than with any other type of image.
 Create a custom profile background – Twitter’s stock backgrounds are fine,
but a custom background shows the committed to engaging with your network
on the service.
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 Seek out opportunities to answer audience questions – The questions posted
by the followers are browsed and answered as many as possible.
 Update bio regularly – Twitter bio has a major impact on how many people
decide to follow you, so it is updated regularly to keep it fresh and engaging.
 Build a custom Twitter landing page on your website – A page is added to the
website that provides a special welcome to Twitter visitors and link to this
page is from within Twitter profile.
 Search for mentions of brand name – Twitter is searched periodically for any
mentions of brand name that are posted without username or hashtag in order
to find opportunities to engage.
 Regularly clean up following list – The list of people followed is kept fresh by
periodically weeding out inactive or closed accounts.
 Host a tweetup or Twitter chat – A tweetup or Twitter chat is hosted a great
way to boost engagement with the brand.
 Use bit.ly to “split test” different Twitter promotions – To test how well
different promotions are received by the audience by similar announcements at
the same time using two different Bit.ly links are posted.
 Capitalize on top tweets – The “Top Tweets” feature on Twitter is used to find
good tweets to re-tweet to the audience.
 Create posts based on tailored trends – An eye is kept on Twitter’s new
tailored trends feature, which creates unique trend announcements based on
your location and who you follow, to find engaging topics of discussion for
the profile.
Google+: Google + is a Social Networking site. Google +was launched on June 28,
2011. Google + was created by the Google. It is the second highest social networking
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site in the word after Facebook. 540 million monthly active user are part of the
Google+. Google + estimate monthly visitor 120,000,000.
Top Five features of Google plus
Redesigned Stream: Google plus Provide the features of re-designed stream. In this
features provide the multi-column design this allows users to scan more post at once.
Related Hashtags: Google plus provide the Hashtags features. This feature helps
people to find and join conversations about a particular topic.
Hangouts App: Google Plus also provides the feature of Hangouts App. This feature
displays the list of conversation. On the bottom icon of the screen indicate when
friends are typing and how long they’ve been in the conversation.
Cloud Integration: Google plus provide the Cloud Integration features. In this features
Google unveiled photo improvements that will be implemented in to Google Plus,
including auto enhancement and cloud integration.
Photo Editing Tools: Google Plus provides the Photo Editing Tools features. In this
features to edit the photo.
Google + engagement methods:
 Set up all relevant Google+ properties – Google+ Page, is set up for the
business qualified for it. If not, as much information as possible is built within
personal profile.
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 Update your Google+ “rel author” settings – Follow the steps listed here to
connect your Google+ profile to your published content in order to claim your
“rel=author” benefits.
 Add the Google+ Share Button to your website – Recently, Google+ launched
a new share button to make distributing content on this social network even
easier. Check it out if you aren’t already using a social sharing tool on your
blog.
 Optimize your Google+ profile images – Google+ profiles and Pages offer
several different places to add your own images. Take advantage of all of
these options to make your profiles more visually appealing.
 Make use of Google+ enhanced photo and video albums -- Google+ now
supports full-bleed photos and videos, so the content for the followers is
displayed.
 Follow industry leaders in related niche – The thought leaders in related niche
are followed and engaged as a part of the conversation within industry.
 Participate in industry hangouts – Whenever possible people try to join in
hangouts hosted by related industry, in order to engage with new people on
Google+.
 Host own Google+ hangouts -- Own Google+ hangouts are hosted regularly to
give followers access to your knowledge and experience.
 Run Google+ Hangouts On Air – To quickly and easily build a following on
both Google+ and Youtube, Hangouts are run on Air.
 Curate content recommendations on the profile – Regularly scan through top
articles in the industry are scanned and shared regularly on Google+ profile in
order to increase engagement with followers.
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 Comment on other peoples’ content – Other peoples interesting post are
commented on Google+ and shared it with own followers to boost perceived
authority.
 Cross promote your business with other Google+ users – Other Google+ users
are partnered up in order to share each other’s content and recommend each
other to the followers.
 Become funny – People like to read and share funny things,so jokes and
comments to Google+ profile are tried to when appropriate.
 Share product reviews – Product reviews are posted to Google+ profile in
order to minimize the amount of research for busy followers do on their own.
This being a quick way to build a fan base.
 Solicit feedback for future product or service developments – The care for
follower’s contributions can be demonstrated by soliciting and implementing
their advice on future product or service developments.
 Encourage followers to “+1” your content – Because the number of “+1” votes
your content receives may impact your SERPs placement, ask followers to
vote for the articles you share on your profile.
 Stay on top of popular memes -- A funny new meme is shared in a great way
to demonstrate to the followers the engagement with current popular culture.
 Use Google+ to promote customer surveys – Surveys to gather customer
feedback are set up to conduct cheap, effective market research. Once done
the survey, Google+ profile is used to promote them to followers.
 Monitor Google+ activity using Google Analytics and Google Webmaster
Tools – Both of these Google products are reviewed to report various social
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networking performance metrics, to find new opportunities to engage with the
audience.
Linkedin: LinkedIn is another social networking site. This site is founded in
December 2002 and uploaded on May 5, 2003. LinkedIn founders Reid Hoffman,
Allen Blue, Guericks, Konstantin. In 2006 there are 20 million users. In present days
225 million members, and its growing more than two members per second.
LinkedIn Features
Mentions: It is very similar to facebook and very useful to conversation with
someone.
LinkedIn Search: LinkedIn Search Option is very important feature to use and very
helpful to Professional and their businesses. In LinkedIn you can discover new people
and companies with that you build relationships.
Company Pages: This is very important feature. A business starts a company page of
its own. With this feature business tends to reach more people and get more
engagement. HP Company first to cross the 1 million follower’s line.
Get Introduced: Get Introduced is the feature with this feature, connection can be
searched to find someone who would like to be connected. This feature can really
help of one’s business.
LinkedIn Signal: LinkedIn Signal is a great feature to find out what one wants to.
This feature is not limited to search just keyword, but location, topics, others adding
up to ten filters can be used.
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Groups Liked: Groups are great tools for meeting, new people and establishing
relevant connection, and establishing oneself.
LinkedIn Recommendations: LinkedIn Provide Recommend features, basically one
can recommend each other user and also the user can see that endorsement.
Common Interest: In this feature everything common in another users can be seen. So
when handled carefully potential connections that count turn in to potential clients.
Rich Media Tool: In this tool one can now add different, types of media, such as
video and presentation, to summary, Experience and Education Fields.
Sharing Bookmarketlet: In the Sharing Bookmarketlet, webpage can be shared
without connection even if not on LinkedIn. It is very easy to share anything one
might find on the web in just second.
LinkedIn Ads: LinkedIn Ads mentions that the business can be advertised on their
website. Another thing is that Ad Campaigns are highly targeted and they can be very
cheap.
LinkedIn Engagement methods:
 Keep In Touch
LinkedIn is a social network and a two way communication venue. Other peoples
profiles can be perused as others can check as well. People try to maximize the
established connection by sending messages to a set of individuals regularly. Status
updates are used to provide useful information to those in the industry to explore the
expertise of the brand.
 Become the Resource
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Brand strives to learn about your niche industry, target audience and trends. The more
one knows, the more is shared and help others, thus try to act as resource provider to
trust with the business. Insights in on-and-offline conversations are shared, and also
consider to send clients tidbits of information as found them online. Specific
individuals are tagged those getting benefit from the information. For example,
organization compiled client case studies, and posted them on LinkedIn via Slideshare
and tagged specific individuals they know who will benefit from your report.
 Inspire Trust
Since LinkedIn is a platform where professionals can interact with and ask questions,
to build trust in the brand the time taken to answer questions, interact with
connections and consistently post valuable information. Over time people recognize
you as an expert in your field and that you can be trusted to get the job done.
 Becoming Transparent
Transparency becomes necessary as it assists in making prospective clients feel
comfortable. People are wary. They fear being scammed or spending money and time
on an inferior product or service. So to make them feel secured the offerings and
testimonials from those who have benefited from the services are showcased.
In the context of the social web, engagement means that customers and stakeholders
are participants rather than viewers. Social media in business allows anyone and
everyone to express and share an opinion or an idea somewhere along the business’s
path to market. Each participating customer becomes part of the marketing
department, as other customers read their comments or reviews. The engagement
process is then fundamental to successful social media marketing as trust is
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imperative to the success of any business. If trust in your brand is lost, then you lose
business and, if you lose business, then you’re out of business.
Pinterest: Pinterest was launched in 2010. Pinterest is the third most popular social
networking site in the word, behind facebook and Twitter. It is one of the fastest
growing social networking site today. Pinterest is all about collecting and sharing the
different things one finds on the web. Pinterest a short of digital bulletin board or
scrapbook for collecting the things found online. Pinterest make it easy to save and
organize it. It can also be seen some of its largest growth is from retailers and
businesses. In Pinterest companies are excited to see Pinterest users pinning their
products. Retailers have also been able to use Pinterest to develop a brand identity.
Women account of Pinterest is 65% on the world. Pinterest sees over 11 million
unique visitor every month. In US 70% people to buy an item to find the Pinterest.
Pinterest is winning the hearts and pocketbooks of today’s consumer. It is one of the
most popular and visual social networking channels in use today.
Pinterest Engagement methods:
 Create unusual pinboards
For example. A bakery adds pinboards for cupcakes, wedding cakes and other baked
goods. But more unusual topics, like the world’s oldest pastry recipes, campground
baking or ways to dress up products attracts the customers which help stand out from
the crowd.
 Develop visuals in languages other than English
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Inspiring quotes, brief tutorials and advertising taglines all make great pins that let the
international customers know they are cared. Before pinning anything, it is run past a
native speaker of the language to make sure the wording is accurate.
 Ask people to show the things
People love to talk about themselves, so customers are asked to pin images of
something related to the industry. Example: A fitness club asked followers to post
pictures of favorite workout gear, while an office supply company invited followers to
share photos of their workspaces.
 Tell a story
A dedicated storyboard to unfold a tale over several days or weeks. A mascot is send
on a journey around the major landmarks of the town or share a series of pins that
demonstrate how a customer used the product to solve a problem. Example: UNICEF
captivated over 1,600 followers by creating a pinboard for an underprivileged young
girl in Sierra Leone and pinning pictures of things she might wish she had access to,
like running water and shoes. A story that tugged at heart strings to encourage viewers
to donate to a cause.
To conclude Pinterest can be a perfect format for telling captivating stories that keep
followers coming back to see how those stories turns out.
Engagement has easily become one of the most important aspects of social media
marketing, and it is something that definitely should not be ignored.
Page | 103
CHAPTER VI
Page | 104
DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
I] DATA ANALYSIS OF MICRO AND SMALLBUSINESS:
1. Users of Social Media
Table 6.1 Small Businesses using Social Media for Business
Small Businesses Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
using Social Media Percent
for Business
No 35 35.4 35.4 35.4
Valid Yes 64 64.6 64.6 100.0
Total 99 100.0 100.0
Source: Researchers Analysis
The above table indicates that out of 99 online respondents 35 were found not to be
using social media for business and 64 were using social media and the same is
represented through chart as shown below:
Figure 6.1 Small Business Using Social Media
SMALL BUSINESSES USING SOCIAL MEDIA

FOR THEIR BUSINESS
35%
No
65% Yes
Page | 105
2. Types of business using the social media
Table 6.2 Type of business

Type of business Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative
Percent Percent
Customer
48 48.5 48.5 48.5
service
Distribution 11 11.1 11.1 59.6
Valid
Manufacturing 8 8.1 8.1 67.7
Retailing 32 32.3 32.3 100.0
Total 99 100.0 100.0
The above table indicates that out of the 99 respondents 48 pertained to customer
service, 32 pertained to retailing and so on which indicates the use of social media is
maximum in service industry and minimum in distribution.
The same is represented in Pie Chart below :-
Figure 6.2 Types of Business

TYPES OF BUSINESS
Customer service
32%
Distribution
49%
Manufacturing
8%
Retailing
11%
Page | 106
3. Average customer prior to use of social media
Table 6.3 Average customer prior social media
Average customer prior Frequency Percen Valid Cumulative

social media t Percent Percent
more than 200 38 38.4 38.4 100.0
150 – 200 7 7.1 7.1 7.1
100 – 150 4 4.0 4.0 11.1
50 – 100 16 16.2 16.2 27.3
Valid
less than 50 34 34.3 34.3 61.6
Total 99 100.0 100.0

The above table shows 38 respondents had customers more than 200 and 34
respondents had customers less than 50 which indicates the variance in the scale of
business may be due to various factors such as type of business, start up or any other
reason. The same is represented in Pie Chart below :-
Figure 6.3 Average Customers Prior using Social Media

AVERAGE CUSTOMERS PRIOR TO SOCIAL MEDIA
7%
4% 100- 200
39% 16% 150 - 200
50 - 100
less than 50
34%
more than 200
Page | 107
4. Use of Engagement tools:
Table 6.4 Use of Engagement tools
Sr. no Type of social media Yes No Total

1 Facebook 60 4 64
2 Twitter 33 31 64
3 Youtube 20 44 64
4 Linkedin 31 33 64
5 Blog 20 44 64
6 Others 15 49 64
Figure 6.4 Use of Engagement Tools
USE OF ENGAGEMENT TOOLS

70
60
60
Number of respondents
49
50 44 44
40 Yes
33 31 31 33
30
20 20 No
20 15
10 4
0
Facebook Twitter Youtube Linkedin Blog Others
Page | 108
5. Initial Investment
Table 6.5 Initial Investment
Initial Investment Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent
00-05 lakhs 40 62.5 62.5 62.5
05-10 lakhs 6 9.4 9.4 71.9
Valid 10-15 lakhs 4 6.3 6.3 78.1
15-20 lakhs 14 21.9 21.9 100.0
Total 64 100.0 100.0
The above table shows that 40 respondents have made initial investment between 0-5
lakhs and 14 respondents have invested 15-20 lakhs, which indicates that majority of
the micro and small businesses have made very less investment and at such scale also
they are promoting their business by social media.
The pie- chart below also indicates the same.
Figure 6.5 Initial Investment

INITIAL INVESTMENT
22% 00-05 lakhs
05-10 lakhs
6%
10-15 lakhs
63%
9%
15-20 lakhs
Page | 109
6. Objective of Using Social Media
Table 6.6 Objective of Using Social Media
Objective of Using Social Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Media Percent
Build community 2 3.1 3.1 3.1
Customer service 6 9.4 9.4 12.5
Generate leads 7 10.9 10.9 23.4
Platform to highlight
Valid
brand 44 68.8 68.8 92.2
development/news
Research 5 7.8 7.8 100.0
Total 64 100.0 100.0
The above table shows that 44 respondents are using social media for highlighting
brand and 7 respondents for generating leads which indicates the main purpose of
using social media is highlighting all the information about their product or service
and increase brand awareness and visibility.
Figure 6.6
OBJECTIVE OF USING SM
8% 3% Build community
9%
11% Customer service
Generate leads
69% Platform to highlight brand

development/news
Research
Page | 110
7. Frequency of using Social Media
Table 6.7 Frequency of Using Social Media
Frequency of using Social Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulativ

Media e Percent
No 1 1.6 1.6 1.6
Sometimes 22 34.4 34.4 35.9
Valid Yes 41 64.1 64.1 100.0
Total 64 100.0 100.0
The above table shows that 41 respondents are using social media frequently and only
one respondent has denied it which clearly indicates that the frequency to engage with
social media tools is more and thus it can be used to spread brand visibility
Figure 6.7 Frequency of Using Social Media

FREQUENCY OF USING SM
2%
No
34%
Sometimes
64%
Yes
Page | 111
8. Use of other media along with Social Media
Table 6.8 Other Media used along with Social Media
Other Media used Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent
No 31 48.4 48.4 48.4
Valid Yes 33 51.6 51.6 100.0
Total 64 100.0 100.0
The above table shows that 31 out of 64 respondents do not use other media and 33
out of 64 use other media supplementing social media which shows that almost 50%
respondents use traditional media along with social media
Figure 6.8 Other Media Used
OTHER MEDIA USED
No
48%
52%
Yes
Page | 112
9. Use of Organized Promotional deals
Table 6.9 Organized deals promotion
Organised Promotion Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

deals Percent Percent
May be in
29 45.3 45.3 45.3
future
Valid No 10 15.6 15.6 60.9
Yes 25 39.1 39.1 100.0
Total 64 100.0 100.0
The above table shows that 29 respondents said that they might organize deals and
promotion in future and close to these 25 respondents have said yes which indicates
that it is the oldest and tested method to attract customers.
Figure 6.9
ORGANISED DEALS PROMOTION
39% May be in future

45%
No
Yes
16%
Page | 113
10. Use of Social Media for Campaigning
Table 6.10 Campaign using social media
Campaigns Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

using social Percent Percent
media
No 33 51.6 51.6 51.6
Valid Yes 31 48.4 48.4 100.0
Total 64 100.0 100.0
The above table shows 33 respondents have not used social media but its closest 31
respondents have used social media for various campaigns may be some cause or
promotion
Figure 6.10 Campaign Using Social Media
CAMPAIGN USING SM
48%
52%
No Yes
Page | 114
11. Frequency of Updates
Table 6.11 Frequency of updates
Frequency of updates Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent
1 post a day 28 43.8 43.8 43.8
1 post every 1-2 days 23 35.9 35.9 79.7
Valid 2-3 posts a day 6 9.4 9.4 89.1
More than 3 posts a day 7 10.9 10.9 100.0
Total 64 100.0 100.0
The above table indicates that 28 respondents post updates everyday and near one 23
respondents post it in 1-2 days which indicates that people regularly engage
themselves with social media to update about the brand, news, resolving queries,
answering comments and many more reasons
Figure 6.11 Frequency of Updates
FREQUENCY OF UPDATES
11%
1 post a day
9%
1 post every 1-2
44% days
2-3 posts a day
36% More than 3 posts

a day
Page | 115
12. Increase in Revenue
Table 6.12 Increase in Revenue
Increase in Revenue Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent
10% 18 28.1 28.1 28.1
No 4 6.3 6.3 34.4
Not measured 21 32.8 32.8 67.2
Valid
upto 25% 17 26.6 26.6 93.8
upto 50% 4 6.3 6.3 100.0
Total 64 100.0 100.0
The above table shows that 21 respondents have said they have not measured the
increase in revenue and 17 respondents have said by 25 % which indicates that it
difficult to give actual credit only to social media only for increase in revenue as
there can be be other factors also, but 25% increase is the big thing to get noticed.
Figure 6.12 Increase in Revenue
INCREASE IN REVENUE
6% 10%
28%
No
27%
Not measured
6%
upto 25%
33% upto 50%
Page | 116
13. Benefits to Business
Table 6.13 Beneficial to Business
Beneficial to Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

business Percent
May be 22 34.4 34.4 34.4
No 4 6.3 6.3 40.6

Valid
Yes 38 59.4 59.4 100.0
Total 64 100.0 100.0

The above table indicates 38 people found social media beneficial and only 4
respondents have denied it which indicates there is majority to believe social media
benefits their business though actual reasons are difficult to gauge
Figure 6.13 Beneficial to Business
IS SOCIAL MEDIA BENEFITIAL TO BUSINESS?
May be
35%
No
59%
Yes
6%
Page | 117
14. Measurement of Success
Table 6.14 Measurement of Success
Measurement of Success Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent
Brand visibility 9 14.1 14.1 14.1
Change in sentiment 2 3.1 3.1 17.2
Generating leads 5 7.8 7.8 25.0
Sales 25 39.1 39.1 64.1
Valid Specific parameters viz.
Likes, People Talking
23 35.9 35.9 100.0
about this, Comments,
Impressions, views, etc.
Total 64 100.0 100.0
The above table shows 25 measure the success by increase in sales and 23
respondents talk about likes, comments, talking about this, views as the measurement
of success.
Figure 6.14 Measurement of Success
Measurement of Success
Brand visibility
14.1
3.1 Change in sentiment
35.9
7.8 Generating leads
Sales
39.1 Specific parameters viz. Likes, People

Talking about this, Comments,
Page | 118
15. Social Media Investment
Table 6.15 Social Media Investment
Social Media Investment Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent
Upto 10% 7 10.9 10.9 10.9
Upto 20% 12 18.8 18.8 29.7
Valid Upto 5% 27 42.2 42.2 71.9
zero investment 18 28.1 28.1 100.0
Total 64 100.0 100.0

Above table indicate that out of total 64 respondents 7 respondents have invested upto
10%, 12 respondents have invested upto 20%, 27 respondents have invested upto 5%
This information is presented using pie diagram as shown below.
Figure 6.15 Social Media Investment
SOCIAL MEDIA INVESTMENT
Upto 10%
11%
28%
Upto 20%
19%
Upto 5%
zero investment
42%
Page | 119
Testing of Hypothesis
 H01: There is no association between use of social media and type of
business.
 H11: There is association between use of social media and type of business.
To test above hypothesis bivariate frequency table is obtained and presented as shown
below.
Crosstab Count
Type of business Use social media for Total

business
No Yes
Customer service 18 30 48
Distribution 9 2 11
Manufacturing 3 5 8
Retailing 5 27 32
Total 35 64 99
Source: Researcher’s Analysis
Results of chi-square test are as follows.

Chi-Square Tests
Value Df p-value
a
Pearson Chi-Square 15.954 3 .001
Above table indicate that p-value is 0.001 which is less than standard value 0.05.
Therefore Chi-square test is rejected. Hence Null hypothesis is rejected. Alternate
hypothesis is accepted.
Conclusion: There is association between use of social media and type of business.
Page | 120
 H02: There is no association between frequency of use of social media and
 H12: There is association between frequency of use of social media and
Benefit to the business
Crosstab count
Frequency of using Beneficial to business Total

social media May be No Yes
No 0 0 1 1
Sometimes 11 3 8 22
Yes 11 1 29 41
Total 22 4 38 64
Chi-Square Tests
Value Df p-value
Pearson Chi-Square 10.652a 4 .040
Above table indicate that p-value is 0.040 which is less than standard value 0.05.
Therefore Chi-square test is rejected. Null hypothesis is rejected. Alternate hypothesis
is accepted.
Conclusion: There is association between frequency of use of social media and
Page | 121
 H03: There is no association between organization deal promotion on social
media and Benefit to the business.
 H13: There is association between organization deal promotion on social
Crosstab count
Organized deals Beneficial to business Total

promotion May be No Yes
May be in future 13 3 13 29
No 3 1 6 10
Yes 6 0 19 25
Total 22 4 38 64
Chi-Square Tests
Value df p-value
Pearson Chi-Square 6.524a 4 0.163
Above table indicate that p-value is 0.163 which is greater than standard value 0.05.
Therefore Chi-square test is accepted. Null hypothesis is accepted.
Conclusion:There is no association between organization deal promotion on social
Page | 122
 H04: There is no association between frequency of updates and increase in
customer base
 H14 There is no association between frequency of updates and increase in

customer base
To test above hypothesis bivariate frequency table is obtained and presented as

shown below.
Frequency of updates and Increase in customer post social media
Frequency of updates Increase in customer post social media Total

100 - 200 50 - 100 less more
than than
50 200
1 post a day 4 10 10 4 28
1 post every 1-2 days 3 6 9 5 23
2-3 posts a day 1 2 0 3 6
More than 3 posts a day 1 3 2 1 7
Total 9 21 21 13 64

Chi-Square Tests
Value df P -value
Pearson Chi-Square 6.263a 9 .713
Above table indicate that p-value is .713 which is greater than standard value 0.05.
Therefore Chi-square test is accepted. Hence Null hypothesis is accepted. Alternate
hypothesis is rejected.
Conclusion: There is no association between frequency of updates and increase in
customer base
Page | 123
To Study the Influence of Consumer on Online Buying Behaviour
Demographic details
1. Use of Social Media Sites

Figure 6.16Use of Social Media Sites
Male 82 60%
Female 54 40%
Other 0 0%
The above pie chart indicates that out of the total number of participants 60% of the
respondents were men while remaining were females. This may indicate that men
may be active on the social media sites that women. This finding is consist with
findings by other marketing researchers (see for example NM Incite, State of Social
Media Survey (2011), available at - http://goo.gl/gN1FAi ).
Page | 124
2. Age Distribution
Figure 6.17 Age Distribution
18 to 24 years 58 43%
25 to 34 years 49 36%
35 to 44 years 22 16%
45 to 54 years 7 5%
55 to 64 years 0 0%
Age 65 or older 0 0%
The above figure shows a strong preponderance of youth and middle aged population
on social networking sites. Out of the total population, 43% of the respondents
belonged to the age group of 18 to 24 years followed by 36% of the respondents who
are from the age group 25 to 34 years. This unequal access could be explained on the
basis of the fact that younger population may be more comfortable with using
internet based services including social networking sites.
Page | 125
3. Education Level
Figure 6.18 Education Level
No schooling completed 0 0%
Nursery school to 8th grade 0 0%
Some high school, no diploma 11 8%
High school graduate, diploma or the equivalent 15 11%
Trade/technical/vocational training 1 1%
Bachelor’s degree 49 36%
Master’s degree 45 33%
Professional degree 13 10%
Doctorate degree 2 1%
Out of the total number of respondents, 36% of the respondents held some bachelor’s
degree followed by 33% of the respondents who were holding master’s degree. This
indicates that more of the educated people are active on social media sites, this is
easily explained as some sort of basic educational orientation may be necessary for
using internet based services like social networking sites.
Page | 126
4. Marital Status:
Figure 6.19 Marital Status
Single, never married 74 54%
Married or domestic partnership 62 46%
Widowed 0 0%
Divorced 0 0%
Separated 0 0%
The above figure indicates that the people active on social media sites were more or
less equally distributed in terms of their martial distribution. Out of the total number
of participants, 54% of the respondents were single/never married while the rest 46%
were married or in a domestic partnership.
Page | 127
5. Employment Status
Figure 6.20 Employment Status
Employed for wages 57 42%
Self-employed 20 15%
Out of work and looking for work 3 2%
Out of work but not currently looking for work 0 0%
A homemaker 9 7%
A student 47 35%
Retired 0 0%
Unable to work 0 0%
The above figure indicates that majority of respondents were either
employed/working (42%) followed by students 35%. This may indicate that the
working class or students may be more active on social networking as compared to
others.
Page | 128
6. City
Based on the responses obtained, it was observed that most of the respondents were
based in metropolitan cities. Most participants indicated that they were either based in
Mumbai and satellite cities. This unequal distribution may be because of the fact that
the researcher is also based in Mumbai and did not access to people residing in far off
places. However the finding is consistent with the fact that internet penetration in
India, though is fast growing, it is still in its infancy. Many villages still are not
connected by internet hence the presence of population residing in these areas may be
missing from the conventional social networking sites.
7. Social media/networking website Account holding status
Figure 6.21 Social media and Website account holding status
Yes 127 93%
No 10 7%
About 93% of the respondents were holding their accounts on social media sites. This
may indicate that most people active on the internet are active on social media sites.
Page | 129
8. Social media - Usage Pattern
Figure 6.22 Social media – Usage Pattern
Less than 1 month 1 1%
1 – 6 months 2 2%
6 months – 1 year 5 4%
1 – 2 years 13 10%
2 – 3 years 16 13%
More than 3 years 90 71%
Out of the total number of participants 71% of the respondents were using their
current account on social media sites for more than 3 years and 13% are using for 2-3
years. This may indicate that most people in the study were aware of the social media
sites for considerable period of time.
Page | 130
9. Login Patterns
Figure 6.23 Login Patterns
Always connected 32 25%
Several times a day 41 32%
Once in a day 26 20%
Every three days 11 9%
Once in a week 8 6%
Occasionally 9 7%
Out of those active on social media about 32% of the respondents used their social
media sites several times in a day and about 25% were almost always connected to the
social media via internet. This indicated that the usage of social media sites amongst
the participant pool was fairly high.
Page | 131
10. Social media sites followed
Figure 6.24 Social media sites followed
Twitter 34 12%
Facebook 123 43%
Linkedin 50 18%
Google plus 38 13%
Blogs 10 4%
Pinterest 7 2%
Foursquare 6 2%
Other 15 5%
Results of collected data clearly indicated that some of the social media sites are more
preferred and favourite over others by the participants. For example, 43% of the
respondents were holding account on Facebook, followed by LinkedIn at 13%.
Page | 132
11. Confidentiality and Privacy
Figure 6.25 Confidentiality and Privacy
Strongly Agree 42 33%
Agree 54 43%
Neutral 25 20%
Disagree 6 5%
Strongly Disagree 0 0%
Data from this study indicated that in general concern over the confidentiality and
privacy of the personal information is fairly higher amongst the users of social media.
Out of the total number of participants, 43% agree and 33% strongly agree and are
concerned regarding confidentiality and privacy of the personal information.
Page | 133
12. Purpose of using social media/networking sites
Figure 6.26 Purpose of using social media sites
Connecting with family and friends 118 24%
Playing games and contests 29 6%
Exchanging views about the product and services 37 7%
For online offers and discounts on products and services 40 8%
Updating profile on social media/networking sites 44 9%
Unspecified fun 17 3%
Sharing/consuming content 31 6%
Time-killing 29 6%
Debating 13 3%
Information 71 14%
Socializing 68 14%
Other 2 0%
Above figure indicated that 24% of the respondents used social media sites for
connecting with family and friends, followed by 14% of the respondents using it for
gathering information and another 14% used exclusively for socializing. This
Indicates that amongst the participant pool more people were on social media sites for
Page | 134
connecting to friends and family but the after that the reasons are widely distributed
and it can be concluded that people used social media for varied reasons .
13. Influence of opinion/reviews posted on social media/networking sites on
buying decisions
Figure 6.27 Influence of opinion/reviews posted on social
media/networking sites on buying decisions
Very important 29 23%
Important 57 45%
Neutral 29 23%
Somewhat not important 7 6%
Not important at all 5 4%
It is clear from the above figure that for 45% of the respondents, social media was
important for social life followed by 23% who feel that it was very important and
another 23% who were neutral. This may indicate a slow and steadily rising trend of
using social media sites.
Page | 135
14. Influence of opinion/reviews posted on social media/networking sites on
buying decisions
Figure 6.28 Influence of opinion/reviews posted on social
media/networking
Always 14 11%
Most often 27 21%
Sometimes 52 41%
Rarely 30 24%
Never 4 3%
From the above figure it is clear that online opinions and reviews did not affect the
buying decisions of the participants. About 41% of the respondents indicated that they
were sometimes influenced followed by only 21% who were more often influenced
than others. This may also indicate that more participants may get influenced by the
opinions/reviews posted on social media/networking sites in the future.
Page | 136
15. Reason for brand attraction through social media/networking marketing
Figure 6.29 Reason for brand attraction through social media/networking

marketing
Promotional offers such as discounts and coupons 79 27%
Brand information 71 24%
Facts and factoids 62 21%
Brand invitation 15 5%
Friends invitation 35 12%
Loyalty towards brand 27 9%
Other 3 1%
Analysis indicates that more people are attracted to a brand/advertisement because of
promotional offers. Out of the total participants about 27% of respondents were
attracted by promotional offers, 24% of the respondents were attracted by brand
information followed by 21% of the respondents for facts & factoids.
Page | 137
16. References for online retailer
Figure 6.30References for online retailer
Social networking/media 86 28%
Blogs 7 2%
Friends/family members 87 29%
Google or through other search engines 57 19%
TV/ Radio advertisements 48 16%
Banners/Posters 16 5%
Other 2 1%
Results indicate that Friends and family members are more likely to influence
shopping from online retailers as against other sources. About 29 % of the
respondents reported to be influenced by Friends/Family members and 28% of the
respondents are influenced by social networking/media.
Page | 138
17. Level of trust on information about online marketing (Family and
friends)
Figure 6.31Level of trust on information about online marketing
Very low 3 2%
Low 9 7%
Average 79 62%
High 34 27%
Very high 2 2%
Above results indicate that majority of participants may not have a strong belief/trust
over information offered via advertisements through online marketing. The above Pie
Diagram shows that 62% of the respondents showed average level of trust, followed
by 27% showing a high level of trust.
Page | 139
18. Level of trust in information on online marketing from outside sources
(community, brand profiles)
Figure 6.32 Level of trust
Very low 7 6%
Low 21 17%
Average 83 65%
High 14 11%
Very high 2 2%
The above figure shows that 65% of the respondents showed average level of trust,
followed by 17% showing a low level of trust. This indicates that majority of the
participants believed and trusted the information about online marketing shared by
outsiders as well but the trust is not very high.
Page | 140
19. Relevance of social media advertisements
Figure 6.33Relevance of social media advertisements
Strongly agree 5 4%
Agree 47 37%
Indifferent 46 36%
Disagree 24 19%
Strongly disagree 5 4%
About 37% of the respondents agreed that the advertisements shown on their social
media home pages were relevant to them followed by 36% of the respondents who are
indifferent about this (neither agree nor disagree). This may indicates that most of the
participants were not looking at the advertisements with interest or carefully.
Page | 141
20. Frequency of clicks on the social media advertisements
Figure 6.34Frequency of clicks on the social media advertisements
Always 0 0%
Most often 15 12%
Sometimes 40 31%
Rarely 48 38%
Never 24 19%
From the above figure it is clear that about 38% of the respondents were rarely
interested in clicking on the advertisements seen on the social media home pages
followed by 31% of the respondents who clicked only sometimes. This may indicate
that most of the times the advertisements were ignored or seen with much less
interest.
Page | 142
21. Frequency of purchasing products/service based on the advertisement
clicked
Figure 6.35Frequency of purchasing products/service based on the

advertisement clicked
Always 0 0%
Most often 8 6%
Sometimes 43 34%
Rarely 43 34%
Never 33 26%
The above results strongly indicate that the buzz about the online purchases is more
but the actual sale/purchase happening online still has a long way to go. About 34% of
the respondents purchase articles online sometimes, followed by another 34% who
purchase only rarely.
Page | 143
22. Experience of shopping online
Figure 6.36Experience of shopping online
Highly satisfied 8 6%
Satisfied 72 57%
Neutral 35 28%
Not so satisfied 8 6%
Dissatisfied 4 3%
This above indicated that 57% of the respondent were satisfied with their online
purchases and while rest were either neutral (28%) while a small fraction indicated
dissatisfaction. This may hint that the people who made online purchases were overall
satisfied with their choices.
Page | 144
23. Mode of payments
Figure 6.37 Mode of payments
Credit Card 42 23%
Debit Card 36 20%
Shopping Cards 0 0%
Net Banking 29 16%
Cash on delivery 74 41%
The above figure indicates that 41% of the respondents prefer cash on delivery as
mode of payment followed by 23% respondents who preferred Credit Card. This
indicates that most participants were more comfortable making payments only on
receipt of the product further indicating less trust on the retailer.
Page | 145
24. Satisfaction level with product purchase/services availed online
Figure 6.38Satisfaction level with product purchase/services availed online
Highly satisfied 9 7%
Satisfied 75 59%
Neutral 33 26%
Not so satisfied 7 6%
Dissatisfied 3 2%
Above figure indicates that about 59% of the respondents were satisfied and 26% of
the respondents were neutral. This indicates a higher level of satisfaction and more
participants seemed happy with the products and services offered online.
Page | 146
25. Satisfaction level with the aftersales services on online purchases
Figure 6.39 Satisfaction level with the aftersales services on online purchases
Always 10 8%
Most often 45 35%
Sometimes 48 38%
Rarely 18 14%
Never 6 5%
The above figure shows that 38% of the respondents were sometimes satisfied with
the aftersales services followed by 35% of the respondents who were satisfied most
often. This indicates that there is still a scope for improvement in the aftersales
services provided by the online retailers for the products sold.
Page | 147
26. Grievances/complaints on the retailer’s website/ social networking page
Figure 6.40 Grievances/complaints on the retailer’s website/ social networking

page
Always 3 2%
Most often 7 6%
Sometimes 21 17%
Rarely 37 29%
Never 59 46%
The above pie diagram shows that 46% of the respondents had never complaint
against the online retailer followed by 29% of the respondents having rarely
complained. This may indicate that most of times people don’t have complaint or the
same have not been reported.
Page | 148
27. Effect of social media marketing on frequency of purchases made
Figure 6.41Effect of social media marketing on frequency of purchases made
Strongly agree 8 6%
Agree 72 57%
Indifferent 23 18%
Disagree 22 17%
Strongly disagree 2 2%
The above results indicate that Social Media had increased the frequency of the
products being bought online. The above Pie diagram shows that 57% of the
respondents agreed followed by 18% who are indifferent and did not have any effect
on their overall purchasing.
Page | 149
Findings
Micro and Small Businesses
1. Awareness of social media is certainly very high among small businesses –
ithasbecome the “talk of the town.” As it was found that nearly 70% of respondents
use social media for their businessand to increase their visibility.
2. Butsimultaneously, on the other side ofthe coin nearly 30% of the respondents are
still not using social media and hence are missing out on a tremendous opportunity to
connect and engage with potential customers.
3. Small businesses have been slower to adopt, mainly because they feel social media
is not significant for their type of business.
4. Many respondents perceive their customers base do not use social networks or not
suitable for their type of business. In fact, this sentiment wasechoed by 30% of
respondents in a recent survey which mostly included distributors and manufacturers.
6. Majority of the respondents found social media marketing very important for their
business and were certain about its bright future potentials, when asked for their
opinions about social media.
7. It was found that majority of micro and small business had done initial investment
from zero up to 5 lakhs of budget to engage in social media for business.
8. The main reason for social media marketing was to create a platform for
highlighting their brand and create brand awareness as it would be difficult for the
small business to advertise their product by other expensive and paid mediums with
limited resources.
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9. The brand highlighting was done through various social media tools like facebook,
twitter, pinterest, linkedin by using various engagement methods.
10. Majority have responded that they have not measured the increase in the revenue
afterthe inclusion of social media as a marketing tool, as there can be numerous other
factors which have an impact on the revenue generation of businesses.
Consumers
1. Social media in today’s times,is the number one activity on the web, as majority of
the respondents of the study have been found to be using social media for more than 3
years and spend on a average 4-5 hours on it a day.
2. People of all ages are not actively using social media. Respondents of the age
group from 15 to 35 arethe most active while respondents above age group 45 are
generally not engaged in social media for buying decisions as they prefer traditional
method of shopping.
3. Demographic details can be surmised as the respondents of the age group15-35
lead the survey, indicating that the younger generation is spending more time on
social media sites as they are logged in quite frequently.
4. Majority of the respondents found that social mediais important for their social life
and they engage in it mostly for connecting with family and friends, socializing and
collecting the information.
5. Facebook is the most favored and popular social networking site of the respondents
followed by linkedin and twitter , thus information on these social networking sites
seems to be relevant and of matter of interest to them.
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6.Majority of the respondents hardly got influenced by the views and reviews of the
family and friends and also the external source, this may indicate that thedecision
making is influenced to the extent of procuring information.
7. Respondents do find the relevance in the advertisement they see on social media
sites and also click on them sometimes indicating they get attracted towards the brand
and want to collect information about the same though it may not convert into a
purchase.
8. They find contests, promotions, pictures, offers interesting and like to participate,
which shows that brand information do influence the respondents.
9. As far as the shopping experience is concerned, majority of the respondents who
have shopped online responded positively and were satisfied with the overall
experience.
10. The level of trust for shopping online is building gradually as majority
respondents agreed to have shopped sometime or the other after clicking on the
advertisement.
11. Respondents are satisfied with the after sales serviceprovided by the companies
selling online and they have rarely addressed the grievance, which can be a step
towards trust building and relationship management for shopping online.
12. Overall, the factors help to conclude that the consumers do get influenced by
social media marketing to some extent for making purchase decisions.
Consumers interact with businesses or brands via social media, for getting discounts
or coupons, reading reviews as part of purchasing process as customers research
product information before deciding to transact. Consumers are willing to interact
Page | 152
with businesses if they believe it is to their benefit, help create trust for the company
and decide social media is the right channel to use to get the value they seek. That
value could be in the form of a coupon or specific information. Engaging with a
company via social media may result in a feeling of connectedness for consumers – an
emotional, intangible gain – but the wish for intimacy is not what drives most of
them. For most consumers, social media is about engaging with friends and family
and accessing news and entertainment – not interacting with brands. When asked why
they go to social media or social networking sites, most of consumers chose,
connecting with network of friends and family, In fact, most of consumers surveyed
say they do not engage with brands via social media at all. Businesses are betting that
social media interactions will engender increased customer loyalty. However, many
consumers say they need to be passionate before they will engage, and they are split
regarding how much influence they think these interactions will have.
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CHAPTER VII
Page | 154
CONCLUSION
Social media marketing is important because it aligns with the way consumers make
purchasing decisions. Study indicates that increasing numbers of consumers are using
internet services and research to carry out preliminary product and price research
before making final decisions. Social media marketing enables to build relations with
customers and prospects through regular, low-cost personalized communication,
reflecting the move away from mass marketing. Marketing products through social
media costs less than marketing them through a physical retail outlet. Social media
marketing enables to personalize offers to customers by building a profile of their
purchasing history and preferences. Most entrepreneurs use social media marketing to
build communities around there businesses. These communities are then used as
owned media to spark conversations, spread awareness, increase following, reward
fans and on the whole have a better relationship with their online audience. These
active and loyal communities fit right into company’s online/offline marketing and
communication campaigns. Facebook is still the most used social network in India
and advertisers love it. It gives them accesses to segment, reach and advertise to over
96,000,000 active Facebook users. Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus are a
few fast growing social platforms brands have an eye on. As these networks grow
brands are more likely to use these emerging platforms to connect, advertise and
nurture social relationships. Compelling generic content which people like to
consume and share with their friends is what businesses crave and love to post
multiple times a day to keep their communities active, interesting and fun to hang out
at. Businesses measure results from social network specific metrics like followers, re-
tweets, likes, shares, comments, etc. More than half of the businesses surveyed find it
difficult to measure results from their social media efforts. On the brighter side there
Page | 155
are businesses that are continuously measuring sales or leads generated from social
traffic, brand visibility on social platforms, user engagement and more. Businesses
usually spend zero or mostly around 1 to 5% of their marketing budget on social
media advertising. This most likely will go up as marketers figure out how to
optimize their social media efforts in a way that they contribute to a business
objective and how to measure conversions or other useful metrics from social media
marketing campaigns. With many affordable smartphones in the market and the
mobile penetration rate ever increasing, it is likely that internet and social media will
be accessible to many more in urban as well as rural India. The growth of social
media is inevitable and early adopters are already driving profits and brand exposure
from social relationships. Consumers who engage already have an affinity for that
brand or company, and mere participation via social media may not necessarily result
in increased loyalty or spending. But a recommendation from a friend or family
member could make a difference. The power of the social community’s endorsement
and influence can be felt each time someone “likes” a company on Facebook or re-
tweets a company’s message on Twitter. Companies can take advantage of this
dynamic by designing social media programs with the explicit goal of touching
customers emotionally and motivating them to share their experiences with others.
Organizations need to carefully consider how they can create a social media
experience that is unique to their brand, offers customer value and exploits the power
of the social community. Thus it can be concluded:
1. Social Media has become an important part of our lives. All businesses big or
small, one man or large scale organizations are using the power of Facebook, Twitter
etc. to engage with their customers, its impact is unprecedented.
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2. ‘High popularity does not imply high influence and vice-versa’ Social media
is an emerging industry and like any other industry it is going through a churn before
best practices. At this point of time, there are several tools which give an automated
influence score but accuracy of these is still a question mark for several reasons.
3. There are no credible ways to measure return on investment in social media.
They also contend there is no definitive data showing that social media creates
business, or that the number of followers you have on Twitter or friends on Face book
translates into revenue.
4. Both traditional and social media have strong effects on marketing
performance, though a single unit of social media has a much smaller effect than a
single unit of traditional media. However, because social media is created in larger
volumes than traditional media, it has a sizeable effect on performance (i.e., social
media is high-volume, low-margin, whereas traditional media is low-volume, high-
margin).
5. Social media isn’t about statistics of hard numbers (likes, posts, comments,
number of visitors, links). It’s about good, old-fashioned relationship building.
6. With social media evolving at an incredible speed, it’s vitally important for
micro and small businesses to stay on top of the changes in order to get the most value
from their social marketing initiatives and investments.
It is understandable why companies want to use social media to interact with
customers. The benefits are real and deep. First, there is the social interaction itself,
which can provide direct value to the business through revenue from social commerce
and cost savings when used for customer care or research, in addition social
Page | 157
networking enables rapid, viral distribution of offers and content that may reach
beyond what could be done in traditional channels – all with endorsement from
connections people trust. But that is just the beginning Companies also can use social
platforms to mine data for brand monitoring and valuable customer insights, which
can spark innovations for improved services, products and customer experiences. In a
constant cycle of listen-analyze-engage-evolve, organizations can optimize their
social media programs to continually enhance their business. With so much to gain,
companies need to invest the effort to understand how to break through the noise and
offer current and potential customers a reason to reach out to them via social media.
Businesses, eager to get closer to customers, are building pages on social networking
sites, posting videos and microblogging; however, if they don’t focus on what the
majority of their customers value in social media, they may be missing the boat. In
fact, offering tangible value to consumers may be the strongest incentive to attract the
casual participants who need a good reason to interact. For companies that have been
taking a “build it and they will come” approach to social media, these consumer
findings are a wake-up call that much more needs to be done if they want to attract
more than the most devoted brand advocates. Social media is ultimately about
interacting with others with an expectation of getting something in return. Even if that
“something” is intangible, such as a feeling of connectedness or affection, participants
are actively, purposefully seeking value. For businesses, the challenge is unlocking
what their customers care about and creating social media experiences that deliver
that value. But first, companies need to understand the dynamics of consumer growth
and activity on social sites and take stock of consumer attitudes and the triggers that
compel them to seek out for the company.
Page | 158
CHAPTER VIII
Page | 159
SUGGESTIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
Social media has matured to the point where marketers are no longer asking whether
it should be part of their marketing mix but how and where they should participate. A
clear strategy for the channel is now necessary. The low external costs of doing social
media can lull business owners into creating their own solutions. However, taking into
account the time spent debating, formulating, managing and executing social media
campaigns and creating contents makes it clear that money is at stake and a well-
thought-out plan is necessary. Instead of researching the best ways to engage in the
social networks and/or reaching out to an experienced person in the marketplace,
many businesses just start creating accounts and putting out content without much of
a plan or purpose. That is a recipe for spending a lot of time and not getting much for
it. An important part of an effective social media plan is deciding the following:
1. The brand message to be known through the social media space.
2. The competitive differences and unique qualities and capabilities that are
worthy of communicating about business via the social networks.
3. Integrate social media into other marketing efforts.
These important elements and working with a knowledgeable person, one can avoid
the pitfalls many small businesses have experienced thus far, save some time and/or
money, and learn how to succeed doing social media marketing. Following ideas can
help to achieve the success desired:
1. Social Media Marketing is a very effective way of nurturing relationships and
maintaining them with new and existing clients, which will bring in more work.
2. Online search queries focused on local businesses continues to accelerate with
people using social media, with an even greater growth in local search via mobile
Page | 160
devices. It is imperative that small businesses stake their claim now on basic local
channels, like Google Places, and populate those sites with the types of information
consumers are most likely to search for -- products and services, hours of operation,
contact phone number, physical address, etc.
3. To better increase business results, micro and small business owners must
understands their digital needs or take help from expertise to save time and help
achieve success online -- all start within a small budget.
4. Micro and Small businesses must deliver some value-added services, like
online shopping, booking or electronic billing and lead to the direction of ecommerce.
5. Presence on Facebook, and other social media channels such as Pinterest,
Twitter, etc., is highly recommended to micro and small businesses to increase
awareness among prospects, create and strengthen personal relationships with current
and potential customers and for a stronger brand recall too.
6. As the portion of a URL to the right of the dot (.com, .org, .net), specialized
TLDs, such as ".florist," ".cakes" and ".library," will have a significant impact on
where small businesses can be found on the web. It is an opportunity to cut through
the clutter of the usual ".com," ".net" or ".org" domains and convey an immediate
description of a business.
7. Social media has come to the point where marketers are no longer asking
whether it should be part of their marketing mix, but how and where they should
participate-- a clear strategy for the channel is nowpertinent.
8. Social media can be effective, but in order to work its magic, small businesses
have to choose the kinds of social sites they use wisely for their business.
Page | 161
9. It can be suggested that small businesses can tie up with online marketing sites
for bolstering their business as creating their own websites and other social media
engagements alone cannot make market soon.
Page | 162
CHAPTER IX
Page | 163
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QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CONSUMER
Studying the influence of social media on online buying decisions Informed
Consent Form
Purpose of the Study: This is a study in marketing and social networking that is
being conducted by Ms. Shilpa Chheda, M.Phil Research Scholar, at D.Y. Patil
Management Institute, Mumbai. The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of
marketing on social media and networking sites on purchasing decision of customers.
What will be done: You will complete a survey, which will take around 10 minutes
to complete. The survey includes questions about your social media and networking
history. Other survey questions will address your perceptions of shopping online via
online retailers. We also will ask for some demographic information (e.g., age, marital
status, number of children, education level) so that we can accurately describe the
general traits of the group of participants participating in the study.
Benefits of this Study: Though you will not gain any direct advantage through the
participation in this study, you will be contributing to knowledge about consumption
of online marketing through social media and networking. Risks or discomforts: No
risks or discomforts are anticipated from taking part in this study.. If you decide to
quit at any time before you have finished the questionnaire, your answers will NOT
be recorded.
Confidentiality: Your responses will be kept completely confidential. We will NOT
know your IP address when you respond to the Internet survey. Only the researchers
will see your individual survey responses. After we have finished data collection and
analysed the collected data we will destroy after a period of 7 years. Decision to quit
Page | 170
at any time: Your participation is voluntary; you are free to withdraw your
participation from this study at any time. If you do not want to continue, you can
simply leave this website. If you do not click on the "submit" button at the end of the
survey, your answers and participation will not be recorded.
How the findings will be used: The results of the study will be used for scholarly
purposes only. The results from the study will be presented in educational settings and
at professional conferences, and the results might be published in a professional
journal in the field of marketing/management studies.
Contact information: If you have concerns or questions about this study, please
contact Ms. Shilpa Chheda at [email protected] or Dr. R. Gopal- the supervisor
of the study at +9122 27565618
*Required
1. By beginning the survey, you acknowledge that you have read this information and
agree to participate in this research, with the knowledge that you are free to withdraw
your participation at any time without penalty.
* Select only one.
a. Yes, I would like to proceed
b. No, I would not like to participate in this study. Stop filling out this form.
Section A
Demographic details
2. Please indicate your gender
a) Male
b) Female
c) Other
Page | 171
3. What is your age?
a) 18 to 24 years
b) 25 to 34 years
c) 35 to 44 years
d) 45 to 54 years
e) 55 to 64 years
f) 65 or older
4. Please indicate the level of education you achieved
a) No schooling completed
b) Nursery school to 8th grade
c) Some high schoolno diploma
d) High school graduate, diploma or the equivalent (for example: GED)
e) Trade/technical/vocational training
f) Bachelor’s degree
g) Master’s degree
h) Professional degree
i) Doctorate degree
5. Marital Status: What is your marital status?
a) Single, never married
b) Married or domestic partnership
c) Widowed
d) Divorced
e) Separated
Page | 172
6. Please indicate your current employment status
a) Employed for wages
b) Self-employed
c) Out of work and looking for work
d) Out of work but not currently looking for work
e) A homemaker
f) A student
g) Retired
h) Unable to work
7. Please indicate the city of your residence
__________________
8. Do you have an account on any social media/networking website?
a) Yes
b) No Stop filling out this form.
Section B
(Information about your social media/networking participation)
9. For how long have you been using social media sites?
a) Less than 1 month

b) 1 – 6 months
c) 6 months – 1 year
d) 1 – 2 years
e) 2 – 3 years
f) More than 3 years
Page | 173
10. How would you describe your log in pattern on social media/networking sites?
a) Always connected
b) Several times a day
c) Once in a day
d) Every three days 4
e) Once in a week
f) Occasionally
11. Which social media sites do you explore? (Select as many as applicable) * Tick all
that apply.
a) Twitter
b) Facebook
c) Linkedin
d) Google plus
e) Blogs
f) Pinterest
g) Foursquare
h) Other: _________________
12. Do you experience concern regarding the confidentiality and privacy of your
personal information?
a) Strongly Agree
b) Agree
c) Neutral
d) Disagree
e) Strongly Disagree
Page | 174
13. What is the Purpose of using social media/networking sites? (select as many as
applicable) * Tick all that apply.
a) Connecting with family and friends
b) Playing games and contests
c) Exchanging views about the product and services
d) For online offers and discounts on products and services 4
e) Updating profile on social media/networking sites
f) Unspecified fun
g) Sharing/consuming content
h) Time-killing
i) Debating
j) Information
k) Socializing
l) Other: _______________
14. How important do you think social media is for your social life?
a) Very important
b) Important
c) Neutral
d) Somewhat not important
e) Not important at all
Page | 175
Section C
(Impact of social media marketing on your buying decisions and your experience
of online purchasing)
15. How often do you consider opinion/reviews posted on social media/networking
sites for buying decisions?
a) Always
b) Most often
c) Sometimes
d) Rarely
e) Never
16. What attracts you towards brand through social media/networking marketing?
(select as many as applicable) * Tick all that apply.
a) Promotional offers such as discounts and coupons
b) Brand information
c) Facts and factoids
d) Brand invitation
e) Friends invitation
f) Loyalty towards brand
g) Other: ____________________
17. Which online retailer do you prefer to shop from? (Select as many as applicable) *
Tick all that apply.
a) Myntra.com
b) Flipkart.com
Page | 176
c) Amazon.in
d) Junglee.in
e) Yebhi.com
f) Freeculture.com
g) 100bestbuys.com
h) Ebay.in
i) Small scale non-branded sellers
j) Snapdeal.com
k) Zovi.com
18. From where did you hear about the online retailer you selected in the above
question?(Select as many as applicable) * Tick all that apply.
a) Social networking/media
b) Blogs
c) Friends/family members
d) Google or through other search engines
e) TV/ Radio advertisements
f) Banners/Posters
g) Other: _____________
19. What is the level of trust you have in information on online marketing from
personal sources (family, friends and their connections)?
a) Very low
b) Low
c) Average
d) High
e) Very high
Page | 177
20. What is the level of trust in information on online marketing from outside sources
(community, brand profiles)?
a) Very low
b) Low
c) Average
d) High
21. Do you think advertisements appearing on your social media profile are relevant
for you?
a) Strongly agree
b) Agree
c) Indifferent
d) Disagree
e) Strongly disagree
22. How frequently do you click on the advertisements seen on social media (in terms
of accessing the site or buying the product)?
a) Always
b) Most often
c) Sometimes
d) Rarely
e) Never
Page | 178
23. How frequently do you purchase products/service based on the advertisement
clicked?
a) Always
b) Most often
c) Sometimes
d) Rarely
e) Never
24. How would you rate the experience of shopping online?
a) Highly satisfied
b) Satisfied
c) Neutral
d) Not so satisfied
e) Dissatisfied
25. What mode of payment do you commonly use? Tick all that apply.
a) Credit Card
b) Debit Card
c) Shopping Cards
d) Net Banking
e) Cash on delivery
26. Are you satisfied with product purchase/services availed?
a) Highly satisfied
b) Satisfied
c) Neutral
Page | 179
d) Not so satisfied
e) Dissatisfied
27. Are you satisfied with the aftersales services on products purchase online?
a) Always
b) Most often
c) Sometimes
d) Rarely
e) Never
28. How many times have you posted your grievance/complaints on the retailers
website/ social networking page?
a) Always
b) Most often
c) Sometimes
d) Rarely
e) Never
29. Please indicate your agreement/disagreement with the following statement -
“Social networking/media has increased my frequency of buying products online or
use of online services.”
a) Strongly agree
b) Agree
c) Indifferent
d) Disagree
e) Strongly disagree
Page | 180
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR RETAILERS
Impact of Social Media Marketing on performance of Small

Businesses Informed Consent Form
Purpose of the Study: This is a study in marketing and social networking that is
being conducted by Ms. Shilpa Chheda, M.Phil Research Scholar, at D.Y. Patil
Management Institute, Mumbai. The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of
Social Media Marketing on performance of Small Businesses.
What will be done: You will complete a survey, which will take about 10 minutes to
complete. The survey includes questions about your social media and networking
history. We also will ask for some basic information pertaining to your business (e.g.
type of business, no. of employees, investment done etc) so that we can accurately
describe the general traits of the business group with respect to social media.
Benefits of this Study: Though you will not gain any direct advantage through the
participation in this study, you will be contributing to knowledge about impact of
Social Media Marketing on performance of Small Businesses. Risks or discomforts:
No risks or discomforts are anticipated from taking part in this study. If you decide to
quit at any time before you have finished the questionnaire, your answers will NOT
be recorded.
Confidentiality: Your responses will be kept completely confidential. We will NOT
know your IP address when you respond to the Internet survey. Only the researchers
will see your individual survey responses. After we have finished data collection and
analysed the collected data we will destroy after a period of 7 years. Decision to quit
at any time: Your participation is voluntary; you are free to withdraw your
Page | 181
participation from this study at any time. If you do not want to continue, you can
simply leave this website. If you do not click on the "submit" button at the end of the
survey, your answers and participation will not be recorded.
How the findings will be used: The results of the study will be used for research
purposes only. The results from the study will be presented in educational settings and
at professional conferences, and the results might be published in a professional
journal in the field of marketing/management studies.
Contact information:
If you have concerns or questions about this study, please contact Ms. Shilpa Chheda
at [email protected] or Dr. R. Gopal- the supervisor of the study at +9122
27565618
*Required
1. By beginning the survey, you acknowledge that you have read this information and
agree to participate in this research, with the knowledge that you are free to withdraw
your participation at any time without penalty.
a) Yes, I would like to proceed
b) No, I would not like to participate in this study. Stop filling out this form.
Basic information about your business
2. Please indicate the type of business you own * (select as many as applicable) Tick
all that apply.
a) Manufacturing
b) Distribution
Page | 182
c) Retailing
d) Customer service
e) Other: ___________________
3. Please indicate the initial investment done in the business
a) 00-05 lakhs
b) 05-10 lakhs
c) 10-15 lakhs
d) 15-20 lakhs
4. Do you use social media/networking for marketing/promoting your
products/services?
a) Yes
b) No Skip to question 27.
Section 1a
5. Since how long are you using social media / networking for business promotion
and marketing?
a) less than 6 months
b) 6 months - 1 year
c) 1 year - 2 years
d) 2 years - 3 years
e) more than 3 years
Page | 183
6. State the average number of customers prior participation in social media
marketing
a) less than 50
b) 50 - 100
c) 100 - 150
d) 150 - 200
e) more than 200
7. What is the objective of your social media engagement? (Select as many as
applicable) Tick all that apply.
a) Research
b) Platform to highlight brand development/news
c) Customer service
d) Generate leads
e) Build community
f) Other: ______________
8. Which are the platforms you used for your social media marketing efforts? (select
as many as applicable) * Tick all that apply.
a) Facebook
b) Twitter
c) YouTube
d) Blog
e) Linkedin
f) Other: _________________
Page | 184
9. Do you regularly engage with customers/influencers?
a) Yes
b) Sometimes
c) No
10. Do you include information about your social media campaigns in your print/TV
advertising campaigns?
a) Yes
b) No
11. Have you organised any exclusive deals/promotions for online fans online?
a) Yes
b) May be in future
c) No
12. Have you run a campaign using only social media or has social media been the
leading component in any campaign?
a) Yes
b) No
13. Have you speeded up processes, or shown a special favour to any of your online
fans, followers that you would normally not do for your customers who are not
online?
a) Yes
b) No
Page | 185
14. What are the topics related to your brand that you post on your Social Media /
Networking Sites vis-à-vis totally unrelated topics? * Tick all that apply.
a) Interesting pictures
b) Videos
c) Factoids
d) Quiz
e) Industry news
15. What is the average frequency of updates you have on your Social Media /
Networking Sites
a) 1 post a day
b) 1 post every 1-2 days
c) 2-3 posts a day
d) More than 3 posts a day
16. What is your average response time with which you attempt to reply to a fan
query on Social Media / Networking Sites
a) 1 to 30 min
b) 30 min to 60 min
c) More than 60 min
d) Within 6 hrs.
e) Within 12 hrs.
f) Within 24 hrs.
g) More than 24 hrs.
Page | 186
17. On Social Media/ Networking Sites, how often on an average necessary to have
contests/giveaways, promotions for fans, besides the regular day to day interaction?
a) Every week
b) Every fortnight
c) Every month
d) Once in a quarter
e) Once in 6 months
18. What is the type of contest you have found to be the most successful on your
social media platform? * select as many as applicable Tick all that apply.
a) Picture game
b) Quiz contest
c) Game
d) Video contest
e) Other: __________
19. What has been the average value of the prize you have offered ever for your
online contests? This is the prize that one individual winner get, and not the overall
amount
a) Less than Rs. 1000
b) Rs. 1000 - Rs. 2000
c) Rs. 2000 - Rs. 3000
d) More than 3000
e) I have never offered online prize
Page | 187
20. Have you conducted any social media research for your organisation? Can you
share what kind of research have you conducted? * Tick all that apply.
a) To understand customer behavior
b) Competitive Benchmarking
c) To get customer feedback
d) Other: ____________
21. Are you finding social media advertising beneficial for your business
a) Yes
b) May be
c) No
22. How do you measure your success/ ROI on social media? * Tick all that apply.
a) Specific parameters viz. Likes, People Talking about this, Comments,
b) Sales
c) Change in sentiment
d) Brand visibility
e) Generating leads
f) Other: _______________
23. State the average number of customers post participation in social media
marketing
a) less than 50
b) 50 - 100
Page | 188
c) 100 - 150
d) 150 - 200
e) more than 200
24. Are you able to see increase in revenue from your social media engagements? *
Mark only one oval. Not measured No Maybe 10% upto 25% upto 50% more than it
25. How much percentage of your marketing budget do you spend on your social
media initiatives?
a) zero investment
b) 1 to 5 %
c) 5 to 10 %
d) 10 to 15 %
e) more than 15%
26. Comments on future of Social media in few lines *

_________________________
_________________________
Stop filling out this form.
Section 1b
27. State the number of Average number of customers without engaging in social
media
a) less than 50
b) 50 - 100
c) 100 - 150
d) 150 - 200
e) more than 200
Page | 189
28. Please indicate the reasons that prevent you from using social media/networking
for marketing/promoting your products/services (Select as many as possible) Tick all
that apply.
a) Not aware of social media/networking sites
b) Cost factor
c) Too much time required to maintain the page/ads
d) I don't think marketing on social media/networking sites work
e) Lack of expertise to use social media/networking sites
f) Plans to use social media/networking sites in the future
g) Social media/networking is not effective for the type of business I run
h) My customer base is not familiar with social media/networking sites
i) Other: ______________________
Page | 190

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IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ON

PERFORMANCE OF MICRO AND SMALL BUSINESSES

I, hereby declare that the thesis titled IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA

MARKETING ON PERFORMANCE OF MICRO AND SMALL BUSINESSES

at D. Y. Patil University,Navi Mumbai, Department of Business Management is my

degree, associateship, fellowship or any other similar titles.

any, detected later on

Date: Signature of Student

Enrolment No. DYP-M.Phil-11001

This is to certify that the dissertation entitled “IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA

MARKETING ON PERFORMANCE OF MICRO AND SMALL

student of Master in Philosophy (Business Management), at D. Y. Patil University,

Navi Mumbai, Department of Business Management, in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the award of the Degree of Master in Philosophy (Business

of any University or Institution.

Place: Mumbai _____________

Date: Signature of the Guide

I am indebted to the D.Y.Patil University, Navi Mumbai, Department of Business

opportunity to carry out this research project and enhance my erudition.

not have materialized the way it has.

and indirectly in the completion of this study.

List of Figure VII

List of Abbreviations VIII

1.1 Introduction to Micro and Small Business 1

1.2 Introduction to Social Media 6

1.3 Statistics of Social Media Use in India 12

1.4 Introduction to Concept of Social Consumer 17

Chapter II REVIEW OF LITERATURE 21

2.2 Research Gap 43

Chapter III OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH 44

3.1 Purpose of the Study 44

3.2 Objective of the Study 44

3.4 Methods of Data Collection 46

3.5 Research Instrument 47

3.6 Sample Description 47

3.7 Data Analysis 48

3.9 Future scope of the study 49

Chapter IV SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING 50

4.2 Rise in Social Media Marketing 51

4.3 Social Media Marketing for Small 53

Chapter V ENGAGEMENT METHODS 57

5.2 Importance of Engagement Methods 59

5.3 Engagement Techniques of Social Media 64

Chapter VI DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 79-127

Chapter VII CONCLUSION 128-131

Chapter VIII SUGGESTIONS AND 132-134

References (Bibliography) 135

Sr. No. Table No. Title Page No.

2. Table 1.2 India : Internet Indicators 12

Sr. No. Figure No. Title Page No.

 B2B – Business To Business

 B2C – Business To Consumer

 CEO – Chief Executive Officer

 CRM – Customer Relation Management

 eWoM – Electronic Word Of Mouth

 IAMAI – Internet And Mobile Association Of India

 IIM – Indian Institute Of Management

 IMRB – Indian Media Research Bureau