BUSN20016: RESEARCH IN BUSINESS HOW SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISEMENT IMPACTS ON SALES ASSESSMENT 1: PROJECT OUTLINE Submitted by: BUSN20016: Assessment of Assignment 1 Criteria Total marks Marks Obtained 1. A brief statement of the problem 15 2.Research aim and objectives 3. A brief methodology 4. Accurate referencing, use of correct English and logical sequences between sentences and paragraphs 5. Topic presentation (for on-campus students)/ topic discussion on the unit Moodle side (for distance mode students) 5 Total = 20 Penalty for late submission (5% reduction for each day of late submission) Penalty for high level of Turnitin similarity (Marker/UC decides) GRAND TOTAL = 1. Introduction Advertisement is one of the important components in marketing. According to Philip Kotler, “Advertising is any paid form of nonpersonal presentation & promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.” Advertisement can be in form of radio, television, news paper etc. However, social media advertisement is leading in today’s context. (“72 Marketing Definitions-Heidi Cohen”,2011). Social media marketing which is internet based marketing is a new concept in the modern marketing which utilizes social networking sites as a marketing tool Social media marketing or advertising depends upon the communication with the customers and users with the help of social networking websites as a dominant new selling tool. Among all of the advertising strategy social media is one of the costs efficient tactics. These social networking sites can be Facebook, twitter, blogs, you tube, linkeld etc. The goal or objective of this kind of advertising is to increase the immense exposure of products and also expand customer reach which will increase the sales of any business and assists in accomplishing its goals. This can be done by sharing the posts, advertisement or also by updating status, blog spots or tweets. This attracts new customers and also the advertisements are viewed by millions of people in an instance. (Ellison, 2007). Moreover, Data were collected from 1,699 business-to-business salespeople from over 25 different industries where it proved to be fruitful for their business. Thus, Using structural equation modelling, the findings support that social media has a positive relationship with sales processes (creating opportunities and relationship management) and relationship sales performance. (Sashi, 2012) The appropriate use of social media marketing strategy leads to numerous benefits such as: increase in brand awareness which helps in improving brand loyalty as customers see these as a channel of service where they can directly communicate with the business which subsequently results in high customer satisfaction. (Hensel and Deis, 2010). Also, it is a form of direct marketing and leads to higher conversion rates which mean every blog spot, image, comment may lead viewers to Visit Company’s website and increase traffic which shows that there is huge potential for social media advertising to increase level of sales. Previously, companies’ enables to talk to their customers but now customer directly talk to business firms which is possible with social media advertising. (Mangold and Fauld, 2009). Despite of having number of benefits, this kind of advertising also have some problem. Considering the fact, that social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, twitter the information are shared in a second and there can be millions of views, shares, likes and comments when used in proper and right manner the sales can boost up. But if the information is misinterpreted the sales can fall drastically also with the wrong information the goodwill or brand of the business can go down as it is the quickest medium to spread the news about the product. This might lead the business in heavy loss. Therefore, the report outlines how advertising on social media networking sites can boost up sales minimising the problems of misinterpretation of information. (Nadaraja and Yazdanifard, 2013). 2. Aim and Objectives The project aims to investigate the impacts of social media advertising on sales. The following objectives will help to achieve this aim. - To explore the impacts of social media marketing on sales. - To formulate a framework to identify the problems and risks involved in the social media advertising and make strategy to minimize those problems. 3. A Brief Methodology In order to effectively analyse the aim of the project the following methodologies are taken into consideration. • Literature Review: A detailed and thorough study and analysis of relevant articles, literature, and information available on the journal articles, Google scholar and books by different authors are taken into consideration to identify the extent to which the advertising on social media networking sites has affected the sales. • Data series and surveys: All the necessary and valuable information from the surveys and series of data will be taken to provide idea about the change in sales by the use of networking tools such as facebook, YouTube, blogs etc. For instance, questionnaires will be prepared and will be given to business firms in order to measure how they use social networking sites to advertise their products to make their sales. • Observing key indicators of social media advertising: Different major indicators such as shares, inbound traffic, follower growth etc are analysed and observed thoroughly to determine the change in sales. Nevertheless, the qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection will also be used. Quantitave analysis uses numerical values, graphs, charts, diagrams whereas qualitative uses online forums and surveys. 4. References. 72 Marketing Definitions - Heidi Cohen. (2011). Heidi Cohen. Retrieved 6 April 2016, from http://heidicohen.com/marketing-definition/ Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer‐Mediated Communication, 13(1), 210-230. Hensel, K., & Deis, M. H. (2010). Using social media to increase advertising and improve marketing. The Entrepreneurial Executive, 15, 87. Mangold, W. G., & Faulds, D. J. (2009). Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix. Business horizons, 52(4), 357-365 Nadaraja, R., & Yazdanifard, R. (2013). Social media marketing: advantages and disadvantages. Center of Southern New Hempshire University. Sashi, C. M. (2012). Customer engagement, buyer-seller relationships, and social media. Management decision, 50(2), 253-272.