The Extent of Utilization of Social Media by Entrepreneurs as Marketing Strategy
The Extent of Utilization of Social Media by Entrepreneurs as Marketing Strategy.
Abstract
The study examined the extent of utilization of social media by entrepreneurs in Anambra State. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design and used a population of 1450 entrepreneurs out of which 10% sample size was taken. Four research questions were used to guide the study, four null hypotheses were tested.
The questionnaire was used as the main data collection instrument, the mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions. The analysis of data collected was derived using t-test analysis tested at 0.05 level of significance.
Findings made from the study showed that entrepreneurs in Anambra State mostly utilized social media sites which created much traffic for them in marketing their products as compared to those that generated low traffic.
Social media such as Facebook, WhatsApp and blackberry messenger were noted to be highly used by marketers in creating brand awareness.
The findings also showed that the use of social media was considered very effective in creating a business identity as it ensures that marketing is cost-effective.
It further indicated that instant customer engagement and follow-up and instant feedback is one of the reasons why social media is considered effective for marketing purposes.
Findings also showed that social media sites enable entrepreneurs to monitor the progress and failure of brands and create links between businesses and customers among others.
These enable entrepreneurs to measure customer engagement and feedback through the number of retweets a customer makes about a product.
Introduction
1.1 Background To the study
In the old days, the traditional medium of advertising which is also known as a non-targeted advertising via newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and direct mail were the only way to communicate with the audience.
These media make targeting specific buyers with individualized messages very difficult (Scott, 2010).
For a long time commercial media have been used to convey messages designed to develop consumers’ attitudes and feelings towards brands.
Today, many of the messages are designed to provoke audiences into responding, either physically, cognitively, or emotionally, (Baines, Fill and Page, 2011).
Traditional media, also known as old media, has been used in the marketing advertising world for years. Traditional media encompasses that of television, newspaper, radio and magazine advertisements.
Traditional media was the root of advertising till it was found not to reach a broad target audience thus led to the emergence of social media.
References
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