Premium Essay

Social Media as Marketing Tools for Smes

In: Business and Management

Submitted By azyms
Words 5471
Pages 22
Contents

Abstract 2
Introduction 3
Literature Review 7 (A) Social Media 7 (B) Small Medium Enterprise (SMEs) 9 (C) Social Media and SMEs 10
Methodology 12
Findings 13
Discussion 21
Conclusion 25
Recommendation 26
Reference 27

Abstract
The purpose of the study is to determine the effectiveness of social media as marketing tool for Small Medium Enterprise (SMEs) Companies in Malaysia. The objectives of the study are, first, to determine the level of influence social media on customer knowledge towards the Malaysian SMEs companies brand, products and services and second, to investigate the causes and effects of the usage social media as marketing strategies for SMEs companies in Malaysia.
The study was conducted based on a quantitative approach. A set of questionnaire was distributed to 30 random respondents. In addition, the research pointed out that there are a lot of factors influencing the success of social media as a marketing strategy. The conclusion drawn from the research was that internal and external factors are affecting the effectiveness of social media as one of the marketing tools. One of the major limitations encountered in the research was time constraint. Future researchers are advised to conduct this research for a longer period of time in order to collect more data.
Keywords: effectiveness, social media, SMEs in Malaysia, quantitative

Introduction
In today’s technology driven world, social media have become a venue where retailers most of them use it to expand their marketing strategies or campaign to acknowledge their existence in the market.
Many retailers and companies believe the social marketing is the viral new marketing concepts in the industry and most of the co owner wants to know more how social media can generate value for their business. This will facilitates the information flow between the business and the

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Social Media: an Unexplored Marketing Tool by Local Smes

...EG1413 Critical Thinking and Writing Assignment 2: Position Paper Social Media: An Unexplored Marketing Tool by local SMEs E12 Team Members: Anthoni Giam (A0085111U) Chen Ziyang (A0086387M) Ying Chuan Ong (A0074798H) 1. Background Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have always been crucial for the case of Singapore and as seen from Figure 1, they make up about 99% of the enterprises in Singapore (Singstat, n.d.). SMEs here refer to businesses with annual sales turnover of not more than $100 million or employing no more than 200 staff (SPRING, 2011). Moreover, the importance of SMEs in Singapore’s economic landscape is highlighted by how SMEs “form an important pillar of the city-state's economy, employing 56 percent of workforce and contributing 42 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).” (People, 2007) If the SMEs lose their competitiveness, many workers in the SMEs can be adversely affected and even lose their jobs which could destabilize the society. This is also highlighted by Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam who said that the transformation of Singapore's SMEs is also essential to the incomes and living standards for Singaporeans (TodayOnline, 2012). Note: Adapted from “Composition of Enterprise Size,” by Singstat (n.d.). Social media has a huge role in the marketing field today as it allows companies to interact with in a casual manner while publicizing the companies’ products. It is defined to be...

Words: 2862 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Impact of Digital Marketing in Modern Business

...Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Impact of Digital Marketing in Modern Business Background Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria have been seeking a platform they can utilize to establish their brands in order to gain relevance and compete with large firms. With a population of at least one hundred and eighty million citizens, Nigeria has a wide variety of business opportunities. Currently, the country has been experiencing technological growth which has attributed to expansion within social networking sites. Social media is Nigeria is utilized for various purposes including entertainment and acquisition of knowledge. The social media platform can however be used as a powerful platform enabling Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to compete with other large business ventures (Endwell, Jude and Nyekwere 175). According to Kayode Adeola, Nigerian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can target at least forty three million consumers through use of social media (5). They are however reluctant to use the platform despite the country’s fast growth in mobile advertisement. The reluctance develops as they fear testing new ideas and experiencing adverse effects hence, failing to attract and retain a loyal consumer base. They should however acknowledge and embrace the power of social media. This is because social media can enable consumers to get information about products and services through strong analytic and targeted metrics to enhance sales. Consequently, user generated...

Words: 774 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Marketing

...Impact of digital marketing in modern business Introduction Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria have been seeking a platform they can utilize to establish their brands in order to gain relevance and compete with large firms. With a population of at least one hundred and eighty million citizens, Nigeria has a wide variety of business opportunities. Currently, the country has been experiencing technological growth which has attributed to expansion within social networking sites. Social media is Nigeria is utilized for various purposes including entertainment and acquisition of knowledge. The social media platform can however be used as a powerful platform enabling Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to compete with other large business ventures (Endwell, Jude and Nyekwere 175). Discussion Marketing refers to the process of delivering high quality standards of living through an exchange process between buyers and sellers. It is therefore a societal process creating and freely offering or exchanging products and services of value. Social media refers to a platform allowing interactive activities in a controlled, free, and dialogue enabled environment. Social media includes Twitter, Yahoo, YouTube, Facebook and MySpace among others. When social media is utilized to disseminate messages to gain internet traffic, it results into Social Media Marketing (SMM) (AMA 2). Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria should therefore use Social Media Marketing (SMM) to establish...

Words: 704 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Social Media Markeing in Small Business

...Purdue University Purdue e-Pubs Department of Computer Graphics Technology Degree Theses 1-1-2012 Department of Computer Graphics Technology Social Media Marketing in a Small Business: A Case Study Sarah Cox coxsl@purdue.edu Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgttheses Cox, Sarah, "Social Media Marketing in a Small Business: A Case Study" (2012). Department of Computer Graphics Technology Degree Theses. Paper 16. http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgttheses/16 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact epubs@purdue.edu for additional information. Graduate School ETD Form 9 (Revised 12/07) PURDUE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL Thesis/Dissertation Acceptance This is to certify that the thesis/dissertation prepared By Sarah Lynne Cox Entitled Social Media Marketing in a Small Business: A Case Study Master of Science For the degree of Is approved by the final examining committee: Mihaela Vorvoreanu Chair Jonathon Day Judith A. Birchman To the best of my knowledge and as understood by the student in the Research Integrity and Copyright Disclaimer (Graduate School Form 20), this thesis/dissertation adheres to the provisions of Purdue University’s “Policy on Integrity in Research” and the use of copyrighted material. Mihaela Vorvoreanu Approved by Major Professor(s): ____________________________________ ____________________________________ Approved...

Words: 14091 - Pages: 57

Premium Essay

Strategic Management Ideas for Your Project

...Selected Thesis Topics for BScBA students Bachelor´s Thesis 2013-2014 Please use this list of the fields of International Business for thesis work and potential thesis topics when choosing and informing us the field of your thesis + the thesis topic in the form Indication of Interest Area for Thesis 2013-2014. Part 1. Thesis topics for companies and other organizations We have first listed the thesis projects that are available to do for companies and organizations. If you are interested in these projects, please mark the topic to the Indication of Interest Area form the same way than any other topic. It should be noted that the students selected to do the thesis from these topics must be motivated and committed for the work. Please do not contact these organizations yourself before the selection process has been completed for all students. More information on topics can be asked from Mari Syväoja or Tomi Heimonen. Organization: Thesis Biofenno projects for (www.biofenno.fi) companies and organizations Selected Thesis Topics for companies and organizations Internationalization plan Plan how to take and promote product Tuovi Tuotevirtakirjanpito to EU markets. Tuovi Tuotevirtakirjanpito is a stock and feed recording program for organic farmers. It produces necessary stock and feed reports for annual inspection. Also stock balance reporting benefits farm managements. Because Tuovi Tuotevirtakirjanpito complies with all the regulations EU has set for organic farmers, it has...

Words: 1721 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Social Media at a Small Business

...‘Final Essay’ Word Count: 2,561 Social media at small businesses Introduction Social media is defined ‘as the way in which people interact to create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks’ (Katona & Sarvary, 2014). Few of the most common social media platforms are differentiated into social networks (such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, instant messaging), collaboration networks (examples: slideshare, Wikipedia, Prezi, Google docs, Zoho docs, survey monkey), image sharing (Instagram, Flickr, Pinterest and Picasa), blogging (Tumblr, Blogger and Word-press), micro-blogging (Twitter) and video-sharing platform (YouTube, Blip and Vimeo). Apple does not use Facebook or Twitter for social media marketing because it is a multinational corporation, but not every business is as large scale and successful as Apple. Social media now represents a new horizon of marketing opportunities to businesses. Marketing is a practice, which establishes what products or services the customers might be interested in. Social media supports the development of marketing of businesses, to have a different perception about the brand; this allows creative methods to implement basic marketing. Social media marketing provides the tools that the businesses needs to be able to observe discussions through the internet efficiently (Assaad and Gómez, 2011). According to Gamboa and Gonçalves (2014) social media marketing has increased customer loyalty, satisfaction...

Words: 3551 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Marketing Strategies

...Marketing Strategies and the Difference Level of Sales and Profits Performance of the Batik SMEs in Malaysia. Mohd Zulkifli Mokhtar & Wan Nur Syahida Wan-Ismail Faculty of Management and Economics, University Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia Correspondence: Mohd Zulkifli Mokhtar, Faculty of Management and Economics, University Malaysia Terengganu, Mengabang Telipot, 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia. E-mail: zulkifli@umt.edu.my Abstract In this research, the business owners of batik SMEs were analyzed on their marketing strategies. The objective is to examine if the marketing strategies of high performance batik SMEs differently from low performance batik SMEs. The high and low performance batik SMEs were categorized based on their annual sales and profits for three consecutive years. For this purposes, the questionnaires were distributed among 186 batik business owners in Malaysia. The data collected were then analyzed using Mann-Whitney U Test and Chi-Square Test. The result found that the high sales and profits performers are not only focused in local market, but they expand their sales out-of their states. For high sales performers, they are frequently advertised their businesses and using various promotional tools. Hence, efforts should be made by the low performers to find and expand their sales outside of their states, advertise their businesses more frequently and not only depends on personal network as promotional tools. Using various promotional...

Words: 9745 - Pages: 39

Free Essay

Impacts of Social Media

...INTRODUCTION The media trend that is on the tip of everyone's tongue these days: Social Media. It is the hot topic that has people, organizations and businesses divided on its suitability in their marketing plan. Some businesses are being built by using social media. It has given way to the media darlings who built an immediate territory by having a lump of friends on Facebook, tweeting until their thumbs wore blisters and blogging until their eyes fell out. But what is Social Media? Social media is a new practice of networking that permits any individual to become a source of information via new technologies that do not need any preceding experience. Social media permits the audience to be the authors and vice versa. Not only does it allow the audience to become involved, it is an essential part of the involvement. Social media booms on social exchanges from the audience, i.e. - commenting on someone's Facebook status or blog posting, tweeting a disproof to someone's tweet or rating a YouTube video. The whole experience is broad and this is exactly why the medium has caught fire. Anyone can do it and do it for essentially free, as long as they have an internet connection and computer. Popular sites include Facebook, YouTube. Twitter, LinkedIn and many others. These sites all permit users to post information that can then be commented on, followed or possessed by bigger social individuals and peers. Many businesses are exploiting on its use to target market demographic sets...

Words: 1770 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Business Canvas

...VISION AND MISSION 5 4.0 THE OPPORTUNITY 6 4.1 PESTLEANALYSIS…………………………………………………………………….…..6 4.2 SWOT ANALYSIS 123 5.0 MARKET RESEARCH 17 5.1 FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS…………………………………………………………………. 5.2 MARKET ANALYSIS………………………………………………………………………. 5.3 COMPETITORS ANALYSIS………………………………………………………………. 6.0 BRANDING 35 7.0 RESOURCES AND FINANCE 37 8.0 RECOMMENDATION 38 9.0 REFERENCES 43 10.0 APPENDIX 45 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this business plan is to create the image of business potential growth of MH Sinar Resources if they are given the opportunity for expanding it. MH Sinar Resources is a small medium enterprise (SME) business and had operated from 13th of March 2013. Since that, they are practicing a poor performance due to lack of experience, knowledge and expertise. They are operating the business without any proper documentation system. Most of SME business are having the same situation and difficulties to sustain and as well as to expand their business and facing the challenges to compete with the well-established business within the same industry. These will create the huge gap between the ‘newbies’ and the existence business. Among the problems...

Words: 8346 - Pages: 34

Premium Essay

Corsework

...challenges that social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter bring to entrepreneurs/small businesses MICHAEL GOITOM 2924686 London Southbank University 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical Framework/Literature review 3. Methodology & Timescale 4. References 5. Bibliography 1. INTRODUCTION The primary purpose of this research is to examine the challenges that social vehicles such as Linked In, Facebook and Twitter bring to small businesses’. Social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube etc. have made a significant impact on how todays Internet users communicate, search for and share data, this research aim to look at the disadvantages that come along with one of by far the most bewildering and comprehensive enhancement of information technology that has been witnessed in the past decade. A study done in October 2012 by online-Marketing firm Vertical Response showed many small business owners have jumped onto the bandwagon whole hog. But appears many are buckling under the added social media marketing workload. Carol Tice (2012) In the present day everything is about Social Media, some industry gurus claim that if you do not participate in Facebook you are not part of the cyberspace anymore. Social Media allow firms to engage in timely and direct end-consumer contact at relatively low cost and higher levels of efficiency than can be achieved with more traditional communication tools. This...

Words: 1696 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Impact of Social Media on Organizational Culture: Evidence from Pakistan

...Studies ISSN 2224-607X (Paper) ISSN 2225-0565 (Online) Vol.4, No.21, 2014 www.iiste.org Impact of Social Media on Organizational Culture: Evidence from Pakistan Muhammad Arslan (Corresponding Author) M.Phil,Bahria University Islamabad, Pakistan, PO box 44000, E-8, Islamabad, Pakistan Email: MuhammadArslan73@gmail.com Rashid Zaman M.Phil Scholar,Bahria University Islamabad, Pakistan, PO box 44000, E-8, Islamabad, Pakistan Email: Rashidzamantanoli@gmail.com Abstract This paper investigates the impact of social Media on Organizational culture. The approach used in this paper was to give the application and significance of development of Social media for organizations. With an introduction to social media, organizational culture is focused by studying communication, business focus, workplace harmony, workplace behaviors, and business discipline. A self-administered survey is used to collect responses from employees working at different organizations through e-mail and various social media tools. The main result of the research is the validation of the research framework of employees operating in the SME’s of Pakistan. It has been found that organizational culture is considerably affected by development and application of social media for business related activities in organizations. Keywords: Socail Media, Pakistan, organizational culture 1. Introduction The concept of Social Media is top of the agenda for many business executives today. Decision makers, as well as consultants, try...

Words: 3802 - Pages: 16

Premium Essay

The Analysis of Business Decision for the Development Basic of Community Entrepreneurial Training Model at Tenun Ikat Craft Center Bandar Kidul Kediri

...decisions as a development basis model of the society entrepreneurial training. The approach used is a direct survey on the artisans, weavers and surrounded community, using in-depth interviews instrument on the community’s behavior in conducting their business, internal and external aspects which affect Bandar craftsmen to survive, and make business decisions. Based on the results from preliminary survey, it gained about Tenun Ikat craftsmen and workers’ motivation, self-employed business decisions and internal and external aspects. There should be an effort to raise SME artisans Tenun Ikat Bandar as potential SMEs. From the findings, there is a way to empower artisans of Tenun Ikat Bandar, which is: (1) motivating craftsmen and workers of Tenun Ikat Bandar; (2) analyzig the economic decisions in the determination of entrepreneurship, (3) marketing solutions product for Tenun Ikat Bandar through internet marketing; (4) training the entrepreneurs to promote the spirit of entrepreneurship; (5)...

Words: 6167 - Pages: 25

Premium Essay

Strategic Marketing

...BERHAD Marketing Mix, Marketing Strategies and the Tools Prepared by : Mazlina Manshor ID No : 2011566665 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, I would like to give the greatest thanks to Allah S.W.T. For His granted, I am able to complete the individual task which is case study within the specified time. And my million thanks goes to our respected Marketing Management lecturer, Dr. Wan Kalthom binti Yahya for all the knowledge, attention, and times that she had given and spent with me. I also would like to thank my classmates which help me in giving their opinion in order to ensure that this individual project is success. Lastly, I also would like to thank the person who is directly or indirectly involves in the preparation of this individual project. Thank you so much for the support. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In this case study, discussion will be all about SIRIM Berhad which consists of product and services on certification, testing and inspection within the context of marketing. It involves the background of the company including company vision and mission, the marketing mix of the company and the marketing strategies concept. In other words, how the marketing mix roles design and implement the effective marketing strategies in SIRIM Berhad. The marketing tools that currently used by SIRIM Berhad also will be discussed. Finally, the recommendations and conclusions about whether the roles of marketing mix plays in designing and implementing effective marketing strategies...

Words: 6685 - Pages: 27

Premium Essay

The Pros And Cons Of Crowdfundinging

...INTRODUCTION Difficult access to funding is one of the most important constraints to the growth and development of SME’s. Recent developments in our country, the global economic and financial crisis has further degraded the situation in the area and increased the pressure to find alternative sources of funding. Therefore, the search for alternative sources of funding has become increasingly common in recent years. It is based on the close co-operation between investors, intermediaries and entrepreneur. Crowdfunding is solicitation of funds which are collected in small amount from multiple investors through a web-based platform or social networking site for a specific project, business venture or social cause. It allow entrepreneurs to raise...

Words: 7021 - Pages: 29

Premium Essay

Businiss Plan

........ 1 2. Marketing Strategy ……...…..………………………………………………... 1 2.1 Background …….….….……..…………………………………………... 1 2.2 SWOT Analysis .……..………..…………………………………………. 2 2.2.1 Strengths ……………………………………………………….…. 2 2.2.2 Weakness ……………………………………………………….… 2 2.2.3 Opportunity ….…………………………………………………… 3 2.2.4 Threats ……….…………………………………………………… 3 2.3 S.T.P.---- Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning …..….….…………… 4 2.3.1 Segmentation ………..…………………………………………… 4 2.3.2 Targeting ……………….………………………………………… 4 2.3.3 Positioning …………..….…...…………………………………… 5 3. Implementation of the strategy for 4ps …..……..…………………………… 6 3.1 Product……………..…………………………………….………………. 6 3.1.1 Core product ……………….…………………………………… 6 3.1.2 Extended product ……….………………………………………. 7 3.1.3 Branding ……………….…………………………...……………. 7 3.2 Price …………………………………………………..…………………. 7 3.2.1 Payment method …………….…………………………………. 8 3.2.2 Price policy ………………….………………………………….. 8 3.2.2.1 Differential pricing ……………………………………. 8 3.2.2.2 Membership pricing policy …………………………… 8 3.3 Place …………………………………………………………………….. 8 3.3.1 Online channels ………………….……………………………... 9 3.3.2 Offline channels ………………………………………………... 9 3.3.3 Distribution channels ………….….……………………………. 9 3.4 Promotion ………………………………………………………………. 10 3.4.1 Online promotion ………………………………………………. 10 3.4.2 Offline promotion ……………...………………………………. 10 3.4.3 Search engine marketing ………………………………………...

Words: 2402 - Pages: 10