To understand the impact of SM communications on the attraction of new customers.
To examine how important SM communication is on SME’s brand image compared to information from other communication channels or platforms.
To explore the effect of SM communications on local Hairdressers in increasing brand awareness.
The introductory portion of the research is based on introducing the idea on how the presence of advance technology shifting the overall focus and approaches of small medium enterprises in the UK for marketing their goods in a more better way. Because of the technologic changes, the customers are more involved with the marketing communication and they become more aware about the existence of different products and services of organizations (Agresta & Bough 2011). The hairdressing companies of the UK from the recent day scenario also develop the explanation based on introduction of Web 2.0 and use of social media platforms. In the course of explanation, the key problem areas associated with the use of social media will also be identified and discussed critically. Based on the process, the major research questions and purposes will be developed.
The recent day market sees the presence of tough competition where firms from different industries must need to cope up with the changing needs of the demand and technology to facilitate the survival process (Curtis & Giamanco 2010). According to Thorp (2007), the rapid change in the marketing is highly proliferated by the globalisation, changing technologies, and multiple ways of marketing techniques extracted from new locations. In this case, Kumra argued information technology as the primary element to bring change and shifting the power from the marketers to consumers.
Online marketing is seen to be spread rapidly and captured the market including the markets of the UK because of the technologic advancement. The use of social media is the crucial element of the online marketing process, which refers posting some substance in the online, virtual, or mobile element (Doyle 2011). According to Agresta and Bough (2010:12), the process of online marketing for the different companies including the small and medium hair, dressing companies of the UK is based on sharing and communicating key marketing messages to a community developed with friends or followers. With the concept of Web 2.0, the user-generated contents are thus socially interacted with the combination of technology in the social media. Therefore, it is evident that companies involving in the hairdressing business are using social media to communicate effectively with the customers in a mean to promote their business (Evans 2012). In this case, it has been observed that Facebook is majorly use to determine the customer feedbacks and queries, whereas Twitter is used to communicate with the fans and posting different brand information and campaign related news. Considering this vital understanding, it can be acknowledged that social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are providing combined effects to encourage the participation of the users in the marketing process.
It is a major fact that there is the involvement of tough competition among the hairdresser businesses within the country of the UK. In order to cope up with the effects tough competition, these firms are required to develop creative and unique marketing messages in order to communicate with the potential and existing employees. Few years back, creating a blog or a profile in the social networking sites like Facebook was considered something new and creative (Kotler & Armstrong 2012). Now, with the change of time, these processes have converted into normality, if not to say necessity. Therefore, this specifically identified situation has become the major concern for the small medium enterprises in the country.
On the other hand, the presence of large companies from the same industry can also be observed. These firms are also using social media for communicating and attracting new customers. Therefore, actively participating in the digital communication platform has become something essential for the companies within this particular industry in the recent day (Kotler & Armstrong 2012). In this particular situation, the companies related to the lack of control by the involvement of social media encounter critical problems. For an example, McDonalds used Twitter to develop their social media campaign for ensuring the users can share and communicate their favourite moments with the company. Instead of that, many users write about the bad things of the foods offered by the company and their grievance with the company. These particular feedbacks affects negatively to the company image, which is needed to deal by the business.
The primary aim of developing this research is to investigate the effective way on how the social media can be used as the significant marketing tool to achieve fruitful results by the SMEs under the hairdressing industry (Noor Al-Deen & Hendricks 2012). Considering this aim, the objectives of the research will be based on identifying the most useful social media tools from the recent day examples, and how these tools can be utilised in the most viable ways by the local hairdressing companies for developing their advantage.
Complying with the aims and objectives of the research, the key research questions have been developed, which are portrayed below (Zimmerman & Sahlin 2010):
What are the critical factors needed to consider by the small and medium sized hairdressers for successfully incorporating the social media in their marketing strategy?
What are majorly possible challenges during the use of social media as a marketing process?
What are the most effective tools of social media marketing process contributing the hairdressing and fashion industry?
The first and foremost contribution by conducting the research is to the field of marketing and developing marketing strategies. The small and large companies, while not providing emphasis on the hairdressers of local levels in this case developed the previous researches based on utilisation of social media. This particular research investigates how the minor hairdressers in the UK for boosting their growth and financial position (Kotler & Armstrong 2012) can use social media marketing. Furthermore, most of the research works lack the materials relative to the SMEs and their approaches regarding the use of social media from the UK context, and this particular research is dedicated to examine these factors significantly.
Introduction
The existing researches help to learn that small and medium enterprise; especially in economically developed countries are the backbone of country’s economy. From few decades, it has been observed that Social media has experienced a tremendous impact. While discussing the impact of Social media on small and medium enterprise, it is necessary to discuss about management and marketing. It is evident that marketing is so basic that it cannot be treated as the separate function. Many of the researchers have stated that marketing is a social and managerial technique based on which the individual and groups derive what they require through creating, offering and exchanging products. Therefore, with the help of marketing concepts social media has play a big role in contributing to success of small and medium enterprise.
Thus, it can also be added that marketing is art of creating and satisfying customers at a certain profit. However, it has been observed that business management could pose special challenge and vital opportunities for the marketing managers of small and medium enterprise. This particular chapter focuses on the complex forces that are unnatural to the business environment. In addition, while analyzing the existing literature, it has been observed that business management is considered to be the process of planning, organizing, controlling, motivating and leading an organization or business. A critical discussion of business management and marketing has been represented in the following section.
It is evident that changes are occurring at an accelerating rate at the present days and in future, it will be different. Continuing with the present strategies could be risky in marketing; thus, it is necessary for the organizations to implement a new and innovative strategy. The successful organizations in coming future need to focus more on three basic areas such as the global force, which could continue to influence everyone’s business as well as personal life. Another area, which needs more attention, is the technology and the last area considered as the continuing push as economic sector. However, on this context of marketing Rafols et al. (2012) stated that management is the technique of achieving goals and objectives appropriately and effectively with people.
On the contrary Röglinger Pöppelbub and Becker (2012) mentioned that management is particular process of designing and maintain an environment based on which the individuals work together to achieve particular aims. From the above-mentioned definition of business management, it can be added that management is the consistent effort look at building an organization and help to developments. Therefore, it can certainly be added that business management includes multiple aspects of management.
The concept of business management includes different steps and the implementation of those steps contributes to establish an effective business. The business professionals or the entrepreneur should focus on the steps like decision-making, market analysis, segmentation and leadership quality, etc.
From the empirical researches, it has been learnt that marketing deals with addressing and meeting the needs of people. As defined by Bridge and O’Neill (2012), meeting the needs of people profitably is better known as marketing. There have been three different phases through which marketing practices could through are such as entrepreneurial marketing, formulated marketing and Intrepreneurial marketing.
As mentioned by Garay and Font (2012), most of the large organizations are started by the individual who plan a new opportunity and knock each door to derive attention. While discussing marketing it is necessary to analyze the business market. The business markets are considered as the market for products and services domestic to international. On the other side Zortea-Johnston, Darroch and Matear (2012) argued that marketing is consisting of management tasks and decision contributing to meet the opportunities and threats in a changing environment. Thus, the marketing management could create an offering, which in turn may include product, price, distribution and marketing communication.
In addition, from the concept of marketing, it has been learnt that there have been some other types of marketing such as traditional marketing and modern marketing. As stated by Olszak and Ziemba (2012), the traditional marketing is referred to the process of selling goods and services that are produced. Therefore, all activities, which are concerned with persuasion and selling of goods and services, are also called marketing. On this context, Cerrato and Piva (2012) added that the concept of marketing deals with promotion and sales of products and services and likewise, little amount of attention is also given to customer satisfaction.
Garay and Font (2012) stated that social media is one of the major platforms for promoting the business of various small and medium enterprises. This particular study has primarily concentrated on the hairdressing companies. The primary target audience of these kinds of organizations are young generation. Young people are intensely fascinated with the popularity of media. As a result, these companies get a better feedback from the target consumers. Customers generally tend to make comment on the various products of SMEs be it positive or negative. The service providers even get the opportunity to communicate with the customers through public form. As a result, the organization gets the opportunity to change their business strategy as per the demand of the customers (Becker (2012). Moreover, social media can stretch their widespread wings beyond going any geographical boundary. As a result, small and medium enterprises can get the opportunity to promote their brand in the international field even.
At the same time, the impact of social medium is not devoid of some of its negative effects on SMEs as well. Young generation are the primary users of social media. As a result, the company fails to promote their business among various age groups. This is one of the major disadvantages of using social media for the only tool of promotion.
A number of researches have been performed on the issue of using social media for developing the business of small and medium enterprise. As mentioned by Durst and Runar Edvardsson (2012), the social media is referred to the medium of communications among people around the world. Through social media people create, share and exchange information in virtual communications as well as networks. Some of the large social media platforms are such as Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. The recent study helps to learn that due to the influence of these large mediums almost 75% o of the marketers or the business owners turned to social media platforms (Orugsa, O’Donohue and Hecker 2012).
The survey performed in 2013 by LinkedIn and the researches help to know that there is hyper growth in business. The firms have also experienced a considerable revenue growth over last few years. As per the records revealed by SM, the organizations are making a large investment on social media. As stated by Kuivalainen et al. (2012), 65% of high performance small business reveals they have spent more on social media as well as social ads. On the other side 42% of small business did the same but experienced a poor growth. Furthermore, the marketers revealed that fast growing small business find social media as one of the effective marketing tools. On this context, Garay and Font (2012) stated that social media efforts contribute to strengthen the position of business in the market. In order to add a bit of oxygen to the above-mentioned argument, Bridge and O’Neill (2012) stated that social media platforms help marketers to generate new leads.
It has been observed that a small and medium scale could gain a large amount of benefits through social media in diverse ways. The type of benefits, which can be earned are such as productivity benefits, increase in customers, greater knowledge pool, etc (Rafols et al. 2012). It is observed that when business starts to use social media as marketing tool by forming a strong digital presence. The business could gain the productivity as the businesses have the ability to reach a competitive market over internet. In addition, this could help further to bring the increase in business as mentioned by Olszak and Ziemba (2012). Furthermore, Cerrato and Piva (2012) stated that the use of social media could eliminate the nature of slow and expensive production with the help of real time data. Garay and Font (2012) also added that social media platform could provide the insight the organization require to learn about customer’s dynamics and motivations, which could in turn in help in reaching the wide campaigns.
From the existing researches, it has been identified that small and medium businesses have the ability to maximize the number of potential customers as they take the advantages of social media. One of the major example provided by Bridge and O’Neill (2012) stating that when one of the customers hits like button on organization’s page on social site, it is evident that customer’s other friends could see that they are influenced. In addition to this, with the help of social media, the organization could share valuable information about their products and services or the launching of new products. Due to the development of technology, people spend plenty of time on social media. Thus, business organizations find it easy to create awareness among people about a particular product or services with the help of social media.
The social media platform can be used for multiple reasons. However, sharing of information is one of the major purposes the organization focuses on. There are numerous ways of using social media stating from business to consumers, business-to-business, government to citizens, etc. The process of business to consumer helps to learn that business takes the advantages of social media to reach out the customers. This could help the organization to increase the return on investment as mentioned by Garay and Font (2012). On the other side, in government to citizens, the governments could take the advantages of social media to ask its members of the public about their opinion on multiple policies. Through the implementation of this initiative, the social media could help to bring the citizens to share their ideas in forming the nation and maximizing the impact as mentioned by Rafols et al. (2012).
On the conclusion of this chapter, it can be mentioned that social media play an important role in exposing any business to the limelight. On this context, small and medium organizations are a step ahead as by making small investment on promotion they could create awareness among people regarding a particular product and services within a short period with the help of social media. The existing researches also help to learn that there have been certain ways of using social media. The effective use of social media contributes a lot to set up a small business in the competitive market.
Introduction:
The systematic process of research methodology helps to collect sufficient data and information by using appropriate research philosophy, approach and design. Implementing various methods with the research work, the researcher is able to gather necessary data in order to complete the research work systematically (Bryman and Bell 2015). Various sources of data have also been used in this particular chapter. Both the primary and secondary source of data has been collected in this specific chapter. In this assignment, the researcher has utilized appropriate sampling techniques in order to gather knowledge how social media has a greater impact on the small or medium enterprises especially on the hairdressers in Nottingham.
In this particular section, the researcher has clarified about the use research philosophy, approach and design. In order to gather knowledge and information regarding the impact of social media on the small and the medium enterprises, the researcher has used positivism philosophy (Cohen, Manion and Morrison 2013). Apart from that, deductive approach has been used as this particular approach is based on the case study. Descriptive research design has helped the researcher to provide necessary data about how people have showed their reaction on the influence of social media on the different small enterprises.
Research onion is the stage that is consisted with six stages. The six stages include research philosophy, approach, design, strategy, choice, time horizon, techniques, and the procedures. Research onion primarily helps the researcher to conduct the research work systematically. One-step is inseparably related to the other.
Figure: Research onion
(Source: Saunders et al. 2009)
This process likes to follow a systematic path that helps the researcher to increase the information in detailed (Bryman 2015). Applying this particular process of research methodology, the researcher is to know the importance of social media communication such as facebook, twitter in order to know the brand image of small and medium enterprises. Research philosophy is of different kinds that include Positivism, interpretivism, realism, constructivism and participatory.
The researcher has selected positivism philosophy. As per the positivism philosophy, research is based on repeated observation (Eggers et al. 2013). Numerous positivists believe that the observation of a human being is repeatable but the phenomenon is isolated. While conducted the research, the researcher has received the opportunity to directly observe the response of people in general how they have been benefited and facilitated at the popularity of social media (Dahnil et al. 2014). Moreover, the researcher has also pointed out the fact that this particular form of research philosophy is not that much cost effective. This specific philosophy is primarily based on direct observation.
A proper research approach will assist the researcher to carry out the research project effectively. It is able to evaluate various theories and practices regarding the impact of social media for expanding the business process of small enterprises (Brown 2015). Research approach is the primarily constituted with two types that include deductive approach and inductive approach.
For this particular research paper, the researcher has opted for deductive approach and rejected inductive approach. Deductive approach helps the researcher to collect the knowledge in an explicit way (Harrigan and Miles 2014). As a result, this particular process is very much straight to the point. Consequently, the researcher can collect data and information with in brief time. Therefore, the advantages of social media in order to enhance the brand image of small and medium enterprises have been directly highlighted in this particular topic.
Research design is one of the most effective processes of research methodology that helps to increase the evaluation as well as information in the research framework (Heckman and Navarro-Lozano 2014). By applying research design, the researcher is able to collect appropriate data and information regarding the project issue. Research design has primarily been divided into three stages that include exploratory, explanatory and descriptive research design.
Descriptive research design has been selected as the appropriate way of research process due to some advantages. With the help of this particular process, the researcher is able to make sampling methods in order to gather information from the various customers of small enterprises. Customers have provided necessary responses regarding the impact of social media on them (Holloway and Wheeler 2013). Therefore, this particular process allows the researcher to complete the project systematically.
Data collection procedure is one of the most effective techniques of research methodology that helps immensely for gathering sufficient information and knowledge inside the process of work (Kitchin and Tate 2013). Data collection technique has been divided into two parts that includes primary data and secondary.
Primary data collection procedure has been maintained by making an effective survey and interview process. The researcher gets the opportunity to collect an overview on the topic from the primary data collection method (Mackey and Gass 2015). Questionnaires have been formed for the participants. The researcher likes to circulate those questionnaires in order to collect an immediate feedback from the participants. On the other hand, secondary data has been collected from various book reviews, journals, magazines, newspaper and so many.
Primary data has been primarily divided into parts that include qualitative data and quantitative data. Qualitative data has been made through survey and questionnaires. In this research, fifty customers in the hairdressing companies in Nottingham have been chosen. They have been thrown several questions in order to collect an immediate response (Merriam and Tisdell 2015). On the other hand, the researcher has made an interview with the ten local barbers in Nottingham. They have made an effective interaction for ten minutes. The local barbers have expressed their point of view (Meske and Stieglitz 2013). The researcher has come to know the impact of social media for flourishing the business of small and medium enterprises. Moreover, the barbers have also opined the fact that social media plays a major role in order to promote their business as well.
Sampling methods help the researcher to gather information by involving the participants. Sampling methods have been divided into two types primarily that include probability sampling and non-probability sampling. With the help of probability sampling methods, the participants have been chosen randomly (Michaelidou, Siamagka and Christodoulides 2011). A large number of people have been involved in the participation in order to collect their response. On the other hand, non-probability sampling is very much specific. A limited number of people have been involved for expression their opinion.
In this particular project, probability-sampling technique has been selected. With the help of probability sampling technique, the researcher has selected a large number of customers from hair dressing company of Nottingham (Nakara, Benmoussa and Jaouen 2012). The social media as a tool of promoting the business process of small enterprises have played a major role. The researcher is able to collect immense data and information from probability sampling methods and techniques.
The overarching term ethical consideration has mentioned the fact that the researcher has to follow all the ethics and values while conducting the research work. Data that have been collected from the various sources have to be true and authentic. Moreover, the researcher has to maintain data protection act strictly (Ramdani, Chevers and Williams 2013). No data should be disclosed in front of any third party without the permission of the concerned person. Moreover, the researcher should not force any of the participants for providing data. In this particular research, the researcher has tried to follow every ethical consideration strictly (Rauniar et al. 2014). In addition, the data that the researcher has collected so far have been kept protected maintaining confidentiality. While conducting the interview with ten local barbers, the researcher has never intended to force any of them for proving information (Ray 2014). The barbers have willingly expressed their opinion about the impact of social media on the small and medium enterprises.
Time horizon has assured the detailed structure of the activity of a particular research work. With the help of this brief structure, the researcher comes to know how the entire procedure of research has been followed (Robson and McCartan 2016). The timeframe of research activity has been clearly mentioned in the chart.
The entire chapter is endowed with the research process. Different kinds of research methodology have been used in order to conduct the project systematically. Post positivism philosophy, deductive approach and descriptive research design have been used in this specific work (Rutsaert et al. 2013). Moreover, primary source of data collection technique has been used here. The researcher has intended to take the help of both quantitative data and qualitative data. After that, the probability sampling technique has been chosen to collect necessary data and information. Therefore, this particular chapter has provided an in-depth understanding on the various processes of research methodologies in order to complete the project successfully.
Introduction:
In this particular chapter, the researcher has intended to analyse the entire data and information that have been collected so far. Data have been analysed based on the survey and interview. Six questionnaires have been structured for the hundred customers in order to get an immediate feedback. On the other hand, three questions have been formed for the ten local barbers of Nottingham. As a result, the researcher has collected enough information for accomplishing the project successfully.
The questions that have formed for the fifty customers of small business enterprises are as follows:
Question 1: How far do you believe that the small and medium enterprises have been benefited for social media?
|
Option |
Number frequency |
Percentage of people |
Total respondents |
|
Strongly agree |
20 |
40% |
50 |
|
Agree |
10 |
20% |
50 |
|
Neutral |
2 |
4% |
50 |
|
Disagree |
15 |
30% |
50 |
|
Strongly disagree |
3 |
6% |
50 |
Table 1: The level of people who believe that the small and medium enterprises have been benefited for social media
Graph 1: The level of people who believe that the small and medium enterprises have been benefited for social media
Findings:
From this particular data analysis, it has been observed that 40% people have strongly believed that SMEs have achieved a strong platform by using social media as one of the major tools for promoting the business. At the same time 30% customers have denied the fact also.
Question 2: How far do you believe that small and medium enterprises have utilized the popularity of new media in true sense?
|
Option |
Number frequency |
Percentage of people |
Total respondents |
|
Strongly agree |
10 |
20% |
50 |
|
Agree |
3 |
6% |
50 |
|
Neutral |
2 |
4% |
50 |
|
Disagree |
20 |
40% |
50 |
|
Strongly disagree |
15 |
30% |
50 |
Table 2: The level of people who believe that small and medium enterprises have utilized the popularity of new media in true sense
Graph 2: The level of people who believe that small and medium enterprises have utilized the popularity of new media in true sense
Findings:
n this particular question, it has been noticed that 40% people have denied the fact that SMEs are able to utilize the popularity of media properly. 30% people have strongly disagreed the fact. As per their point view, many small enterprises are there which do not intend to utilize the platform of social media.
Question 3: Which kinds of customers are primarily influenced on the impact of social media?
|
Option |
Number frequency |
Percentage of people |
Total respondents |
|
10-15 age group |
10 |
20% |
50 |
|
15-25 age group |
15 |
30% |
50 |
|
25-35 age group |
20 |
40% |
50 |
|
35-50 age group |
2 |
4% |
50 |
|
Above 50 age |
3 |
6% |
50 |
Table 3: The age group of the customers who are primarily influenced on the impact of social media
Graph 3: The age group of the customers who are primarily influenced on the impact of social media
Findings:
In this question, it has been observed that 40% customers who have been influenced with the social media platform are from the age group of 25 to 35. 30% customers are from 15 to 25. The persons who are above 50 ages have not showed their interest to use the platform of social media.
Question 4: How far do you believe that the impact of social media is only applicable for the young generation primarily?
|
Option |
Number frequency |
Percentage of people |
Total respondents |
|
Strongly agree |
20 |
40% |
50 |
|
Agree |
15 |
30% |
50 |
|
Neutral |
2 |
4% |
50 |
|
Disagree |
10 |
20% |
50 |
|
Strongly disagree |
3 |
6% |
50 |
Table 4: The level of people who believe that the impact of social media is only applicable for the young generation primarily
Graph 4: The level of people who believe that the impact of social media is only applicable for the young generation primarily
Findings:
From the forth question, the researcher has found that 40% customers believe the fact that the influence of social media is only applicable for the young generation. Younger generation is very much accustomed with the advancement of technology. On the other hand, only 6% customers have denied the fact.
Question 5: How far do you believe that small enterprises should utilize other mediums as well in order to draw the attention of all kinds of customers?
|
Option |
Number frequency |
Percentage of people |
Total respondents |
|
Strongly agree |
15 |
30% |
50 |
|
Agree |
10 |
20% |
50 |
|
Neutral |
3 |
6% |
50 |
|
Disagree |
20 |
40% |
50 |
|
Strongly disagree |
2 |
4% |
50 |
Table 5: The level of people who believe that small enterprises should utilize other mediums as well in order to draw the attention of all kinds of customers
Graph 5: The level of people who believe that small enterprises should utilize other mediums as well in order to draw the attention of all kinds of customers
Findings:
From the fifth question, it has been observed that 40% people have disagreed the matter that small enterprises should utilize other medium as well. It would help them to promote their business in different geographical areas. On the contrary, 4% people have strongly denied the matter. They still believe the fact that the value of new media has a special preference in order to provide a better platform for the sales promotions of SMEs.
Question 6: To what extend do you believe that customers of SMEs are also facilitated by using the various tools of social media?
|
Option |
Number frequency |
Percentage of people |
Total respondents |
|
Strongly agree |
20 |
40% |
50 |
|
Agree |
10 |
30% |
50 |
|
Neutral |
3 |
6% |
50 |
|
Disagree |
15 |
30% |
50 |
|
Strongly disagree |
2 |
4% |
50 |
Table 6: The level of people who believe that customers of SMEs are also facilitated by using the various tools of social media
Graph: The level of people who believe that customers of SMEs are also facilitated by using the various tools of social media
Findings:
In the last question, the researcher has noticed the fact that 40% people have strongly believed that the customers are also benefited and facilitated using the various tools of social media. Only 4% people have denied the fact. Therefore, most of the customers have accepted the statement thrown by the researcher.
From the above findings, the researcher has analysed the fact that social media have seriously left a major contribution for promoting the business standard of SMEs. The researcher has also noticed the fact that the users of social media are primarily from the young generation. As a result, the people of different age group have to be deprived of beholding the promotional activities of SMEs. Not only the companies but also the consumers have also been facilitated after using the social media platform.
The researcher has noticed that a large number of customers believe electronic media is also one of the biggest platforms to be familiar with the brands and products of the SMEs. Hairdressing companies can promote their various hairstyles and designs with the help of electronic media as well. At the same time, the researcher has acknowledged that most of the young generations show their interest for innovative hairstyles. Therefore, social media has been considered as one of the biggest platforms to draw the attention of the young generation.
Applying qualitative data analysis technique, the researcher has made an effective interview with the ten local barbers in Nottingham. The barbers have shared their opinion how the impact of social media have been used by the SMEs in order to create a demand in the market. Primarily the researcher has thrown three questions to ten barbers. The questions are as follows:
Question 1: What are the critical factors that small and medium sized hairdressers consider for incorporating the social media in their marketing strategy?
In this particular question one of the senior hairdressers has commented that social media is definitely a major platform for increasing the sales promotion of the organization. A large number of people intend to use social media for acquiring knowledge about the products of different small and medium enterprises. Another barber opined that the customers are from beyond any specific geographical boundary. People of different culture and background can get an overview about the brand image of the organization. As a result, the product has been raised to the people of different kind. Consequently, the target audience become vast and wider.
Question 2: What are the challenges that SMEs have to face for using social media as a part of marketing process?
In this particular question, the researcher has collected two different opinions. One of the senior hairdressers has commented that the realm of social media is much wider. The organizations have to face immense challenges while promoting their business. The users of social media are primarily from the young generation. As a result, they have to face immense struggle in order to reach the entire target market. As a result, the brand cannot reach to the people of different ages if the organization becomes dependent only on social media. Electronic media is also a wide platform to reach the target group.
Question 3: What are the tools of social media marketing process that contributes hairdressing and fashion industry?
As per the point of view of an experienced hairdresser, SMEs should utilize the major tools of social media like facebook, twitter, buffer, Instragram, Linkdin for promoting their business in the global market. Customers get the opportunity to behold various brands and products from social media. Promotion is the pillar of success for any kind of business. In order to reach the product to the target group, the organizations have to be responsible to promote the concept of their brand and product to the people. Therefore, SMEs have to take more initiatives to use the platform of social media properly. Only social media can help the organizations to transmit their brand image to the international consumers.
The entire chapter has dealt with the data analysis and findings. Both the qualitative and quantitative sources of data have been chosen for analysing the information properly. The researcher has formed six questions. The feedback from the SMEs customers has been collected in order to analyse the data. Qualitative data analysis has been conducted by taking an effective interview with ten barbers. The researcher has collected sufficient data and information from the response of the hairdressers also.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Conclusion:
The entire research has dealt with the impact of social media on SMEs in UK. Especially the study has focused to highlight the impact of social media on hairdressing companies in UK. Different objectives have been set up in order to conduct the project successfully. Social media is able to stretch its wide spread wings to the people from any geographical boundary. Moreover, the consumers of every culture and background have been entertained to watch the promotional activities of different SMEs (Seidman 2013). In addition, hairdressing companies primarily aims to draw the attention of young generation. As a result, the companies have intended to use the platform of social media for promoting their business (Silverman 2013). Not only the SMEs, but also the consumers of SMEs also have been highly benefited by social media.
They get the opportunity to behold different kinds of new products and concepts of the company through social media. With the help of public forum, the consumers can directly contact with the service providers (Smith 2015). The service providers like to give an immediate response to the customers. As a result, the communication between the customers and the organization providers becomes very strong. In this particular research, the researcher has highlighted how social media helps the SMEs to enhance their entire business process. The researcher aims to find out whether social media is effective for any kind of consumers or for a particular age group (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015). Different research methodologies have been used for collecting sufficient data and information regarding this particular issue. Moreover, the researcher has analysed those data based on the findings. Both qualitative and quantitative source of data collection method have been selected in order to conduct the project successfully (Tesch 2013). In addition, the researcher has maintained all the ethical considerations while conducting the research. The data that have been collected from the various sources are accurate and true.
After dealing with the issue intimately, the researcher has preferred to provide some of the major recommendations (Zhou and Wang 2014). SMEs have been suggested to utilize the popularity of social media properly. As per the point of view of the researcher, many SMEs are still existed in UK, which do not intend to focus in promoting their business properly (Thomas, Silverman and Nelson 2015). As a result, the customers fail to know about the brand and the image of their product (Yin 2013). In order to overcome this kind of situation, the small and medium business enterprises should focus on media (Vatrapu 2013). Especially, Hairdressing Company should focus on the young generation in particular. Therefore, they should fully utilize the popularity of social media so that their business plans and designs can spread in the global market (Wagner, Vollmar and Wagner 2014).
Moreover, the researcher has highlighted on one particular point as well. The promotional strategy of different SMEs should be made in such a way that it can easily attract the international customers (Wamba and Carter 2013). Social media provides the opportunity to interact with the customers of any geographical boundary. As a result, the theme or subject of their promotion should not be biased (Wasike 2013). The subject should be prepared for people of every culture and religion in order to reach the maximum target consumers.
Every research work is possessed with some of the major limitations. This particular study is not exceptional to that. In this particular research, the primary focus of the researcher has remained to discuss on the positive impact of social media in promoting the business of different SMEs. At the same time, the project has not highlighted some of the major disadvantages of social media for the sales promotion of a business. Moreover, the researcher has intended to select only fifty consumers for making a survey. Fifty consumers are not sufficient enough to collect sufficient data and information for a successful research work.
Some of the relevant future scopes of the study have been discussed in the research project in order to make the paper more accurate and systematic. While conducting an interview, the researcher should make an effective interaction from next time. Only ten minutes interaction is not sufficient for collecting proper data and information. Moreover, the negative effects of using social media for the business promotion should also be pointed out in future study. Mentioning only positive sides is not enough to conclude a paper successfully. In addition, at least hundred consumers should be involved in order to collect necessary data and information for the research project. If the researcher can consider these factors, the level of project would definitely create a different standard.
Reference List:
Agresta, S., & Bough, B. 2011. Perspectives on social media marketing. Boston, MA: Course Technology.
Bridge, S. and O’Neill, K., 2012. Understanding enterprise: Entrepreneurship and small business. Palgrave Macmilla
Brown, T.A., 2015. Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. Guilford Publications.
Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015. Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA.
Cerrato, D. and Piva, M., 2012. The internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises: the effect of family management, human capital and foreign ownership. Journal of Management & Governance, 16(4), pp.617-644
Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K., 2013. Research methods in education. Routledge.
Curtis, J., & Giamanco, B. 2010. The new handshake. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Praeger.
Dahnil, M.I., Marzuki, K.M., Langgat, J. and Fabeil, N.F., 2014. Factors influencing SMEs adoption of social media marketing. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 148, pp.119-126.
Doyle, C. (2011). A dictionary of marketing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Durkin, M., McGowan, P. and McKeown, N., 2013. Exploring social media adoption in small to medium-sized enterprises in Ireland. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 20(4), pp.716-734.
Durst, S. and Runar Edvardsson, I., 2012. Knowledge management in SMEs: a literature review. Journal of Knowledge Management, 16(6), pp.879-903.
Eggers, F., O’Dwyer, M., Kraus, S., Vallaster, C. and Güldenberg, S., 2013. The impact of brand authenticity on brand trust and SME growth: A CEO perspective. Journal of World Business, 48(3), pp.340-348.
Evans, D. (2012). Social media marketing. Indianapolis, Ind.: Wiley.
Garay, L. and Font, X., 2012. Doing good to do well? Corporate social responsibility reasons, practices and impacts in small and medium accommodation enterprises. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(2), pp.329-337.
Harrigan, P. and Miles, M., 2014. From e-CRM to s-CRM. Critical factors underpinning the social CRM activities of SMEs. Small Enterprise Research, 21(1), pp.99-116.
Heckman, J. and Navarro-Lozano, S., 2014. Using matching, instrumental variables, and control functions to estimate economic choice models.Review of Economics and statistics, 86(1), pp.30-57.
Holloway, I. and Wheeler, S., 2013. Qualitative research in nursing and healthcare. John Wiley & Sons.
Kitchin, R. and Tate, N., 2013. Conducting research in human geography: theory, methodology and practice. Routledge.
Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. 2012. Principles of marketing. Boston: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Kuivalainen, O., Sundqvist, S., Saarenketo, S. and McNaughton, R., 2012. Internationalization patterns of small and medium-sized enterprises.International Marketing Review, 29(5), pp.448-465.
Mackey, A. and Gass, S.M., 2015. Second language research: Methodology and design. Routledge.
Merriam, S.B. and Tisdell, E.J., 2015. Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. John Wiley & Sons.
Meske, C. and Stieglitz, S., 2013. Adoption and use of social media in small and medium-sized enterprises. In Practice-Driven Research on Enterprise Transformation, pp. 61-75.
Michaelidou, N., Siamagka, N.T. and Christodoulides, G., 2011. Usage, barriers and measurement of social media marketing: An exploratory investigation of small and medium B2B brands. Industrial Marketing Management, 40(7), pp.1153-1159.
Nakara, W.A., Benmoussa, F.Z. and Jaouen, A., 2012. Entrepreneurship and social media marketing: Evidence from French small business. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 16(4), pp.386-405.
Noor Al-Deen, H., & Hendricks, J. 2012. Social media. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books.
Olszak, C.M. and Ziemba, E., 2012. Critical success factors for implementing business intelligence systems in small and medium enterprises on the example of upper Silesia, Poland. Interdisciplinary Journal of Information, Knowledge, and Management, 7, pp.129-150.
orugsa, N.A., O’Donohue, W. and Hecker, R., 2012. Capabilities, proactive CSR and financial performance in SMEs: Empirical evidence from an Australian manufacturing industry sector. Journal of Business Ethics, 109(4), pp.483-500.
Rafols, I., Leydesdorff, L., O’Hare, A., Nightingale, P. and Stirling, A., 2012. How journal rankings can suppress interdisciplinary research: A comparison between innovation studies and business & management. Research Policy,41(7), pp.1262-1282.
Ramdani, B., Chevers, D. and A. Williams, D., 2013. SMEs’ adoption of enterprise applications: A technology-organisation-environment model.Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 20(4), pp.735-753.
Rauniar, R., Rawski, G., Yang, J. and Johnson, B., 2014. Technology acceptance model (TAM) and social media usage: an empirical study on Facebook. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 27(1), pp.6-30.
Ray, D., 2014. Overcoming cross-cultural barriers to knowledge management using social media. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 27(1), pp.45-55.
Robson, C. and McCartan, K., 2016. Real world research. Wiley.
Röglinger, M., Pöppelbuß, J. and Becker, J., 2012. Maturity models in business process management. Business Process Management Journal,18(2), pp.328-346.
Rutsaert, P., Regan, Á., Pieniak, Z., McConnon, Á., Moss, A., Wall, P. and Verbeke, W., 2013. The use of social media in food risk and benefit communication. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 30(1), pp.84-91.
Seidman, I., 2013. Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences. Teachers college press.
Silverman, D., 2013. Doing qualitative research: A practical handbook. SAGE Publications Limited.
Smith, J.A. ed., 2015. Qualitative psychology: a practical guide to research methods. Sage.
Stanley, L. ed., 2013. Feminist praxis (RLE feminist theory): Research, theory and epistemology in feminist sociology. Routledge.
Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
Tesch, R., 2013. Qualitative research: Analysis types and software. Routledge.
Thomas, J.R., Silverman, S. and Nelson, J., 2015. Research Methods in Physical Activity, 7E. Human Kinetics.
Vatrapu, R., 2013. Understanding social business. In Emerging Dimensions of Technology Management (pp. 147-158). Springer India.
Wagner, D., Vollmar, G. and Wagner, H.T., 2014. The impact of information technology on knowledge creation: An affordance approach to social media.Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 27(1), pp.31-44.
Wamba, S.F. and Carter, L., 2013. January. Twitter adoption and use by SMEs: An empirical study. In System Sciences (HICSS), 2013 46th Hawaii International Conference on, pp. 2042-2049.
Wasike, B.S., 2013. Framing news in 140 characters: How social media editors frame the news and interact with audiences via Twitter. Global Media Journal, 6(1), p.5.
Yin, R.K., 2013. Case study research: Design and methods. Sage publications.
Zhou, L. and Wang, T., 2014. Social media: A new vehicle for city marketing in China. Cities, 37, pp.27-32.
Zimmerman, J., and Sahlin, D. 2010. Social media marketing all-in-one for dummies. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Pub., Inc.
Zortea-Johnston, E., Darroch, J. and Matear, S., 2012. Business orientations and innovation in small and medium sized enterprises. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 8(2), pp.145-164.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download