The use of social media in Advertising
Introduction
The use of social media advertising as a marketing tool has been on the rise. As of 2019, it was estimated that a total of 3.196 billion people, which is 42% of the global population are active social media users. This is a trend that has been on the rise. This is further projected to rise at an estimated cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.1% to 2023, leading to an expected increase of users to over 17 Billion users (Market Watch, 2019). The above social media use and growth trends have necessitated its use and adoption in marketing. As Whitelock, Cadogan, Okazaki and Taylor (2013) demonstrated, entities are gradually shifting towards the use of social media as not only their supplementary but also their main and core marketing strategies and tools. This is a trend that is projected to rise and expand into the future, as social media use and popularity increases. The proposed study is an investigation of the manner and context of social media use as an advertising tool.
The overall aim of the study is to evaluate how the adoption of social media has impacted on organisations. This will include an exploration of its presented opportunities and emerging challenges. Finally, the proposed study seeks to analyse the level and extent to which the entities can successfully implement social media as a core advertising tool with limited challenges while maximising on the merits.
In particular, the proposed study will focus on
- To investigate the opportunities gained through the use of social media advertising by businesses
- To examine the challenges in adopting social media as a core advertising tool
- Context
- To recommend a framework for successfully adopting social media advertising in organisations
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Literature Review
In developing the proposed study, the focus of the research is on the use of social media and its application as an advertising tool in business. In this analysis, there are two main applicable models, the Technology acceptance model (TAM) and the cost-benefit analysis models.
On the one hand, Evans, Rauniar, Rawski, Yang and Johnson (2014) noted that in the adoption and acceptance to use technology, the variables of the perceived ease of use (PEOU) and the perceived usefulness (PU) are critical. In this case, Hallikainen (2015) and Hansen, Saridakis and Benson (2018) studies indicated that there is a close relationship between the use and acceptance of technology and the index value. Thus, a high PEOU and PU index values indicate a higher acceptance index. This is the case with the use of social media as Ngai, Tao and Moon (2015) demonstrated. It allows for compatibility ease as well as user-friendliness. Hence unlike other technologies that are relatively complex and hard for the customers to use and accept, social media use is relatively easy.
A second applicable model is a cost-benefit model. As Dwivedi, Kapoor and Chen (2015) asserted, the focus in this model is comparing the incurred costs and the accrued benefits. In advertising, the cost is often evaluated in terms of the budgetary allocations, both financial and technical. In the case of social media advertising, Evans, Rauniar, Rawski, Yang and Johnson (2014) noted that there is a minimal investment as the platforms are often available for free. On the contrary, the derived benefits are significant due to the broad reach of social media platforms. This is an indication that the benefits of social media advertising outweigh the costs. Nevertheless, as Clark and Melancon (2013) illustrated, there are challenging risks in social media advertising, including a lack of authenticity, and the risk of fake news, among others. It is based on the above preliminary findings that the need to investigate the variables is proposed in the study.
Research Methodology
The proposed study is an evaluation of the impact of social media as an advertising tool and the basis for entities. In this case, the focus was to examine its merits, challenges and as such, establish an implementation framework recommendation. This is a study focus that requires an in-depth exploration of issues. A framework examination is hedged on the investigation of not only the social media context but also on the entire industry and market variables. The required level of in-depth analysis cannot be realised through a quantitative study that would limit the responses to a pre-determined list of potions (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault, 2015). Thus, the proposed research will sample and collected primary data from industry experts in the Middle East advertising industry.
Additionally, the proposed study will use qualitative data. This is subjective data that allows for flexibility in the responses that the respondents could offer. Such a study approach will ensure that all the possible options and probabilities in developing the proposed framework are offered. The use of experts and business owners will be a basis for ensuring that the used sample is reliable and has an understanding of the evaluated study issues. Overall, the population base is significantly high in the Middle East market. Thus, the study will use a sample base (Bell, Bryman and Harley, 2018). This is a sample base collected through a non-probability convenience sampling strategy. Inclusion will be based on experience in using social media advertising and managing advertisements campaigns in the region. This will include a total of 15 respondents. The required data will be collected through semi-structured interviews that will last an estimated 15 minutes each. Finally, once the required study data is collected, the findings will be transcribed and analysed thematically (Bryman, 2016).
Motivation
The motivation to develop the study is both theoretical and practical. On the one hand, theoretically, an evaluation of the existing findings indicates minimal studies offering recommendations on the best approach and model to apply social media advertising. There I need to bridge this gap. Additionally, in the Middle East region, where the proposed study is based, entities are gradually recognising the value of social media marketing. Developing an implementation framework will ease the application process for the ventures.
Conclusion
In summary, the proposed study focuses on evaluating the feasibility of social media as an advertisements tool. The focus of the research is to establish opportunities and challenges. As such, this will lay out a basis for recommending the best adoption and application framework for social media advertising into the future.