testing and evaluation of the social marketing strategy

testing and evaluation of the social marketing strategy

The step is the one that considered sharing the content of the brand and the services at a planned time. It is advisable that the social media calendar to provide small businesses with the time that could be used to interact with the customers. The businesses need to have time in which the customers get an understanding of the brand. The business managers understand the needs of the consumers. The calendar also provides the lists of dates in which the type of content should be published to the customers. The content of the information that is published should reflect the mission statement. The calendar ensures that the different posts that are posted at different times maintain the organizational ration that is planned.

Step 8: Test, Evaluate, and adjust your Strategy

The last step is testing and evaluation of the social marketing strategy. The process involves tracking data of what has been achieved through the implementation of the policy. The data can be used to test the impacts of different posts, campaigns, and their effects on the sales and profits of the company. Testing should be continuously done to enhance the improvement and growth of the small business. The social media strategy should be updated so that it can meet the goals of the organization.

Customer Engagement

Customer engagement refers to a particular behavioral construct, which goes beyond buying and purchase. Eltayib et al., (2018) described the element of customer engagement as satisfying and repeated interactions between customers and a brand, product, company, or the communications that improve the emotional connection of the customers with the brand, product, or company. Customer engagement can be described as the intensity with which the consumers tend to engage in the content of the marketing message generated by small firms on the social media network. Moreover, customer engagement must be high enough as it is considered a predictor of the business performance and the driver for sales growth (Eltayib et al., 2018). Hence, it can be expected that customer engagement can mediate the association between business performance and marketing message traits.

It must be noted that social media has a vital role in improving customer engagement. Businesses who sell products online can even post the products on social media platforms, thereby attracting a large audience. There is a need to understand that customer engagement can eventually drive the sales growth as it enables the customers to send their queries and any questions regarding the products and services (Eltayib et al., 2018). For small businesses, resolving questions through social media is another effective way of winning the trust of customers. Those consumers who face issues in accessing the services of the company can generate a query or pose questions. The questions can be answered conveniently by the customer support agents who should remain active 24/7. Customers’ social media engagement is associated with the following benefits to the business.

One of the benefits of social media customer engagement on the business is that it helps in building audience and customer base. The potential existing customers are able to share the posts about the brand to others, and this enhances the growth of the small business. The other benefit that is mentioned is that through customer engagement, small businesses are able to boost their reputation. Compared to big firms in the market, extra effort is needed by these businesses to ensure the achievement of the company goals. Engaging with the customers helps the organizations to portray the image of the company and not only the name. The advertising budget of the organization is highly reduced through the use of social media marketing. The savings made through online marketing is used to establish more stores in the market and coming up with ways to reach more consumers in the market. Customer engagement also has the benefit of saving time and money that would be used to reach the customers. In some companies, agents are employed to get to the company and hence consuming a lot of time. Through social media, the customers are able to get access to the product at the expected time and at reduced costs. Customer engagement should, therefore, be enhanced by the management to reach the customers.

Marketing Challenges

Researchers have agreed to the aspect that marketing, which is practiced in SMEs is quite distinct as compared to big firms. Eltayib et al. (2018) pertinently pointed out that in small companies, marketing tends to be utilized for urgent requirements, and limited attention is paid to strategies and plans. SMEs are focused on directing their attention to sales for the purpose of surviving. For every problem apart from advertising, including customer satisfaction improvement and measurement and design of customer support and service, the sales function tends to have a greater impact. A prevalent domain in which SMEs face issues is related to marketing. This is because of the incapability of employing a specific marketer to conduct marketing activities for the company.

Eltayib et al., (2018) further observed that “marketing as tactics/methods focuses on the use of marketing mix (4 p’s: product, place, price, promotion); in other words, on the implementation of marketing strategy“. It is evident that marketing definitions usually interpret the marketing conducted by big firms; there is no proper marketing definition in SMEs. One proper solution to the challenges of marketing faced by SMEs is the element of social media. It allows SMEs that they overcome the problems of restricted budget, positioning against bigger firms, and lack of expertise. Based on budgeting, small businesses lack enough resources that could be used in marketing. For instance, the positioning of the stores requires the firms to establish a marketing strategy. The small business loses to big firm competition, and it becomes hard for them to get to potential customers. SMEs tend to be unequal as big firms and hence, may not be expected to possess the same resources (marketing). Various marketing models are present, which are able to deliver guidelines for the companies to grow and survive.

Also, small businesses lack the expertise that could be used in marketing and hence lose to the competition. Small businesses lack enough capital that could be used to recruit individuals with enough knowledge. The big firms, on the other hand, have compensation benefits that are used to ensure that skilled expertise is recruited. These skilled individuals are used for marketing the brands and services of the companies. The issue of the lack of skilled personnel has highly affected small businesses, and others have diminished. The big firms have the capital required for professional training of the employees and hence enhancing competence for improved results. The small businesses suffer the challenge of lack of the resources required for personnel training, and therefore the expected impacts are affected.

Nevertheless, the marketing theory that a big firm utilizes cannot be completely implemented to a small firm that has distinct requirements and characteristics. As a result, SMEs tend to be moving from basic marketing practices towards more integrated, interactive, and affordable marketing. There is a need to understand that social media marketing may also come with a considerable cost; however, it depends on the firm to develop a proper marketing budget that can be spent on social media marketing. The budget for social media marketing can be overwhelming, especially if a huge audience is targeted. Some small businesses lack proper planning, and this reduces the capabilities to achieve the goals of social media marketing. As mentioned earlier, the goals that are mentioned should be time-bound and attainable. Without enough resources, small businesses fail to meet these goals, and sales are influenced.

Effects of Social-Media Marketing

There is a need to understand that social media marketing has mostly positive effects on a firm. It is vital to note that social media marketing has been successful since its onset during the past years. These positive impacts have resulted in the drastic growth of small businesses. The growth of these small businesses highly contributes to the economic growth of the United States. The following are the impacts of social media marketing, and the managers of the small businesses should accommodate them in their daily activities.

Less-Expensive Advertising

One of the most positive effects of social media marketing is that it comes with less-expensive advertising. For the advertising features, small businesses need to pay social media platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (Prasastyoga et al., 2018). However, it must also be noted that advertising is not expensive and the company can spend even a small budget for marketing activities. Social media tends to be a unique advertising tool without making payment for the extra features. The marketers have the option to update the followers on new products, sales, promotions, or event information related to the firm (Prasastyoga et al., 2018). The regular posting of photos and content further assists the customers to see what the company offers.

Less-expensive advertising further assists small businesses to expand on different operations and activities. In some cases, the companies have the option to even market the products totally free of charges. Through content posting and engaging with the audience, there is a chance to avoid high costs that may consume the whole budget in a short span of time. Social media marketing has been proven to save small business resources. These resources are then used for penetration into the potential global market. The funds can be utilized for the establishment of new markets. Also, money saved through social media marketing can be used to train the personnel to ensure expertise in the organizations. Expertise can be utilized by the organization to promote technological inventions that can be used to enhance marketing. The technological invention improves social media marketing hence helping small businesses to achieve the company goals.

Online Presence

One of the benefits of social media marketing is an online presence. Through the use of marketing, the online presence of the business can be boosted significantly. It eventually helps in reaching a large audience and further assist in replying to queries (Hassan et al., 2018). A small business should have a strong emphasis on providing 24/7 customer support so that they are able to engage with the audience effectively. Through regular posting of content, blogs, articles, photos, and videos, a business is able to market the products and services effectively. Hence, there is a need to understand that an online presence can help the firm reach a large audience worldwide. Also, online presence ensures that the management can access the feedback of the customers. Customers provide feedback about the product, which could be positive and negative. The management then corrects the negatives and emphasizes on the positives so that the needs of the customers can be met. The management should, therefore, ensure that there is enough personnel to meet the online needs of the customers. Some customers make orders through online social media channels. Once the orders are made by the customers, they should be met so that many customers can be attracted.

In the case of global expansion, a small business can reach the international audience through the use of social media (Hassan et al., 2018). Hence, it can assist in providing services to the people who can only reach the company through social media. If the target audience is young adults, then it is quite easy for the company to engage with the customers and provide different promotions and offers on services. The small business can expand the market and increase sales in the global market.

Personalized Attention

Small firms have a significant association with personalization. For some customers, shopping at SMEs is an aspect of having a good buying experience. Adegbuyi et al. (2015) argued that 54% of customers desire to shop at SMEs as they are fond of the personal service they get. When the consumers are at the business, the management can consume time to connect with people. The business is able to answer where the products come from, how long the company has been around, and where the firm gets the inspiration to initiate the business. Personalized attention has contributed to enhancing the loyalty of the customers. The customers will always visit the small business to receive services and brands and hence gaining a competitive advantage.

The element of personalized attention is not applicable just to customers who tend to be present at the physical location of the business. On social media platforms, the SMEs are able to provide quality and sufficient responses (scripted) to the customers (Adegbuyi et al., 2015). A big firm, which sells the products nationwide, does not get enough time to provide a personalized reply to every customer. On the contrary, a small business is able to provide a proper response in order to address the situation of the customer directly. This particular connection or association between the brands and customers provides firms the advantage of social media marketing.

Public Face

CEOs tend to demand more of social media for the purpose of becoming a public face for small firms. They tend to project personal and charismatic appearances (Karimi & Naghibi, 2015). Apart from the duties of a CEO, this is significant for marketing through proper active engagement on social media platforms. Research has demonstrated that CEOs are quite reluctant to show performance on social media, and not more than 50% tend to have a minimal presence (Karimi & Naghibi, 2015). There is a need to understand that social media offers certain benefits on personal levels and also on the firm levels for companies. It focuses on ensuring brand building, connection, trust, and authenticity perception. Customers are influenced easily if CEOs effectively communicate with the audience through the use of social media. We can consider the example of firms like Amazon and Walmart in which CEOs produce short videos and post them on social media.

Big Advertising

Some big firms tend to hold events, which small firms are able to leverage in their marketing (social media) techniques. ‘Small Business Saturday (SBS),’ a day created in the year 2010 by American Express, focuses on the promotion of the small business nationwide. (Karimi & Naghibi, 2015). If the firm is not familiar with the SBS, it is a holiday (shopping) meant for encouraging customers to shop small. SBS focuses on taking place on the ‘Saturday after Thanksgiving.’ Through social media, organizations can educate society about this big event. Customers can ask queries about the day, and through the social media channel, they can obtain the responses. Many consumers can be reached and hence the penetration to new markets through advertising the big sales events.

‘Small Business Saturday’ businesses are able to associate with social media marketing due to American Express. It focuses on making huge strides for advertising the day and convinces customers to purchase from small businesses. Due to this, customers now have knowledge about SBS. During the year 2016, 114 million customers went shopping on SBS. Since the customers focus on recognizing the event, it is quite easier for small businesses to use social media. Large firms may dole out the big cash amounts for advertising. With SBS, the firms are able to avail of the benefits of big advertising just through ensuring that the business would participate.

Joint Marketing Efforts

Various small firms are able to collaborate on marketing strategies (social media). As an owner of a small business, the small firm is able to work with neighboring companies (not rivals), which are able to target individuals within the company’s niche (Tuten & Solomon, 2017). For example, the firm is able to post on the Twitter account that customers are eligible to receive a 20% coupon to other businesses if they purchase from this company and vice versa or partner with another firm for a social media contest or giveaway (Tuten & Solomon, 2017). Winners are able to receive a prize, which includes different products from both the firms. The firm can showcase even the partner’s promotions on social media platforms for showing camaraderie. By making the team, small businesses, along with the partner firm, are able to create brand awareness. The firm is able to increase presence within the customers and motivate people to purchase from both companies.

Joint social-media campaigns have the potential to increase engagement with the audience. It is a useful way to improve marketing activities and eventually contribute to the company’s success in terms of marketing products and services. It also helps in achieving the desired marketing goals and objectives (Tuten & Solomon, 2017). One of the potential benefits of the joint marketing campaign is that it boosts the presence of both businesses. It can further help in improving the presence of businesses worldwide. Hence, there is a need to understand that such marketing efforts are able to engage with the audience effectively.

Fake Identity

There is a need to highlight the negative aspect associated with social media marketing. In today’s digital era, it is not difficult to create fake IDs in the name of the company. For example, a hacker observes that a small business is generating sufficient revenue through marketing products and services online. He creates a fake ID and lures customers into buying the products and charging them online (Rash, 2018). In this way, it becomes easy to fake the identity of the business and provide damage to the firm. It is vital to note that this practice has become common, which is a negative side of social media marketing. In such a case, the cybersecurity of a small firm should be strong enough to deal with attackers and detect any potential fake IDs that may damage the profitability and revenue of the firm.

Budget

One of the negative aspects is related to the requirement of a high budget. It has been explained previously that inexpensive advertising can be done through social media. However, if a company is unable to reach the desired audience, then it would have to pay a considerable amount of money to reach the customers and provide valuable services (Rash, 2018). Hence, it can be said that social media marketing may consume a high amount of money in case the company desires to target various regions of the world. There is a need to understand that if a company goes out of budget, then it can result in financial loss. Hence, professional marketers should have knowledge regarding what amount of budget should be spent on social media marketing. It is critical to note that a higher budget may be required if the company has to run the campaign for a long period of time. Based on the issue of the increased budget, the management of the organization, especially human resource management, can ensure proper allocation. Proper allocation guarantees the company enough resources that can be utilized for social media marketing.

Conclusion

Small businesses have a strong emphasis on spending a sufficient budget for marketing activities. The marketers are now focused on utilizing social media channels to market distinct products and services. Social media has emerged as one of the most powerful tools to market products and services online. It further assists in gaining access to a large audience and even expands the services at the global level. The strategies and tools for communication with customers have changed, and social media tools assist firms in communicating with the individual consumers that are able to assist in establishing a long-term association. One proper solution to the challenges of marketing faced by SMEs is the element of social media. It allows SMEs that they overcome the problems of restricted budget, positioning against bigger firms, and lack of expertise. The effects of social media marketing on small business have been explained, which include less-expensive advertising, personalized attention, increased online presence, big advertising, public face, fake identity, the requirement of a high budget, and joint marketing efforts. It can be concluded that social media marketing has mostly positive effects on small businesses. However, there are also negative aspects, including the creation of fake IDs by rivals and the need to spend a high budget that can consume a considerable amount of money. It is further concluded that small businesses should necessarily have an online presence on social media in order to respond to customers on time, market products and services, improve the brand name, and compete at the global level effectively.