SOCIAL MEDIA AS AN EFFECTIVE BRANDING TOOL: PERSPECTIVE OF

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN KERALA

Nayana S
Asst.Professor, Adi Shankara Business School
Mattoor P O, Kalady, Ernakulam District
Kerala, Pin 683574
Ph: 9745588845
nayana.mba@adishankara.ac.in
Abstract
Digital marketing gained momentum in India since last decade.Social media serve as an
important platform in digital marketing. Previous studies have clearly stated that social media
provides a marketing opportunity for entrepreneurs who cannot take the financial burden of
promoting through traditional media. This study focuses on women entrepreneurs in Kerala
and how far social media has been effective for them in branding their business venture. The
relevance of this study is in the rapid penetration of social media as a marketing tool among
women entrepreneurs. Data was collected from six women entrepreneurs in Kerala who owns
formal or informal business ventures. These women entrepreneurs have been using social
media to promote their business. This paper examines why women entrepreneurs create
business pages / consumer groups in social media, how they use their business page and what
outcomes they expect. Qualitative study approach has been used for this research by using semi
structured interviews for data collection. This methodology helped this research since it deals
with an individual’s own perception, feelings and experience. The major findings of this pilot
study are that women entrepreneurs are using social media platforms because of its deep
penetration among customers. This helps them to make their business easily visible among
customers. Social media platforms have helped them to showcase their products, increase brand
awareness, to develop brand identity, to acquire new customers and to maintain customer
relationships.
Keywords: Social media, women entrepreneurs, branding, customers
1. Introduction
Entrepreneurship is synonymous to innovation, which contributes directly to the
economic growth of a nation. Every developing country like India needs more emphasis
in identifying and motivating entrepreneurs and there by fueling economic growth. The
context of this research is in Kerala a state in Southern India with a very high female
literacy rate of 92.07% (Census details 2011). However according to data gathered in
1987, the state constituted of only 6.2 % women out of 1.6 million small scale
entrepreneurs. The data published by DCMSME in 2019 shows a 20% increase in the
number of women entrepreneurs in Mizoram, Orissa, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu
and Pondicherry. This shows that in the last few decades there has seen a rise in the
number of women entrepreneurs in Kerala but still figures are low as compared to men.

Social media platforms with its dynamic nature and intensive reach have helped many
women entrepreneurs to identify new business opportunities and sales leads online for
developing their business. The idea of “Minimum investment, Maximum profit” in E-
commerce business is helping women entrepreneurs to start their businesses while
working from the comfort of their homes. Thousands of women are selling products
around different categories like jewellery, home furnishing, handicrafts, home utility
products, fashion apparel and accessories, etc through E-commerce platforms. Without
stepping out of their home, they are generating business through Whatsapp, Facebook,
Instagram and many other platforms. Even women entrepreneurs with formal registered
business also extensively use social media for deeper customer reach and developing
their personal brands. This study is about understanding the role of social media
platforms as a branding tool for women entrepreneurs in Kerala and how these social
media platforms have helped them in establishing their own personal brands

2. Review of Literature

2.1 Social media as a Branding tool

One of the most valuable assets a company has is the reputation of its brands (Keller,
1993) and social networks offer an almost free tool for maintaining the brand reputation
and for organically attracting potential clients to the brand.
Social media is multidirectional and real-time, and it enables necessity-based
communication and use of content, in the desired moment in time and in the desired
quantity. The internet and social media contravene the traditional media
communication model and change the rules of communication markets. (Juslén 2009).
On social media users can engage in direct conversation with brands and with each
other, which makes it a good platform for relationship and word-of-mouth marketing
Social media has shifted the paradigm of brand creation. Traditionally, company
information was available internally and the company controlled information
dissemination. However, today company information can be exploited by consumers
through social media by either posting comments, opinions, or sharing information with
peers (Kaplan and Heinlein, 2010).
Mangold and Faulds [5] defined that “Social media is a hybrid element of promotion
mix because in traditional sense it enables companies to talk their customers while in a
non-traditional sense it enables customers to talk directly to one another
 Microblogs and social networks are the most commonly used means - Sites managed
by the firm itself have better results - The use of social media is still restricted in some
sectors/organizations, such as health, tourist destination management organizations,
and in B2B, where this often depends on the individual and private use of social media
by professionals in these sectors/organizations - It is very easy to begin using social -
Ashley and Tuten (2015), Chan and Guillet (2011), Enli and Skogerbø (2013), Hays,
Page, and Buhalis (2012), Keinanen ¨ and Kuivalainen (2015), Koumpouros, Toulias,
and Koumpouros (2015), Mackey and Liang (2013), Michaelidou et al. (2011), and
Ubeda et al. (2013)
Social media sentiment has a stronger impact on firm performance than conventional
media - Word-of-mouth messages are adapted by the senders according to the receiver
- Consumer buzz and online traffic explain part of the company’s value - Social media
can be used to generate increased sales, return on investment, word of mouth, and
spread information about brands - Kozinets et al. (2010), Kumar and Mirchandani
(2012), Kumar et al. (2013), Luo and Zhang (2013), and Yu et al. (2013)
Messages on social media contribute to increased consumption of the products targeted
- Alhabash et al. (2015), Hoffman et al. (2014), and Hong (2012)
Opinion leaders search for and share more information in social media - Participation
and sharing of information varies according to the demographic and behavioral
characteristics of social media users - Strategies of social media marketing for utility
products cannot be based on the same mechanisms as hedonic products - The most
popular smartphone applications are those that allow the uploading of photos and their
personalization - The popularity of a post influences its sharing - Bilgihan et al. (2014),
Chang et al. (2015), Lorenzo-Romero et al. (2012), Ozg ¨ uven and ¨ Mucan (2013),
Schulze et al. (2014), La Torre, Miccoli, and Ricciardi (2014), and Workman and Gupta
(2013)
Messages on social media contribute to improved attitudes toward the brand, increased
word of mouth and customer equity - Positioning the brand post on top of the brand fan
page enhances brand post popularity - Vivid and interactive brand post characteristics
enhance the number of likes - The share of positive comments on a brand post is
positively related to the number of likes - People with different levels of trait reactance
respond differently towards the same marketing attempt - Cambria, Grassi, Hussain,
and Havasi (2012), Chen et al. (2015), De Vries et al. (2012), Kim and Ko (2012), Lee
et al. (2015), Lee, Xiong, and Hu (2012), Leung, Bai, and Stahura (2015), Rishika et
al. (2013), Smith, Fischer, and Yongjian (2012), and Zadeh and Sharda (2014)

2.2 Social media and women entrepreneurs

Social media can open up new opportunities for female entrepreneurs, and encourage
the creation of new businesses run by women, thanks to their flexibility and attributes.
Moreover, social media can support women in business to express their capabilities in
networking by building virtual communities. Finally, it can also be seen as a means to
take care of personal relationships, which can be relevant for women in business that,
in most cases, have to balance their private life responsibilities with work commitments
(Perrons, 2003; Drew and Murtagh, 2005; Emslie and Hunt, 2009)
 Arrival of social media has undoubtedly opened up windows of new opportunities for
women (Mukolwe&Korir, 2016). A new breed of online women entrepreneurs has
surfaced who are not only encouraging new startups on social media, but are also using
the platform to enhance the existing businesses and create networks of customers like
never before (Fischer &Reuber, 2011). There is no adequate information, on how many
women are registering their businesses on social media annually, or how are their
businesses performing. However, many researchers exploring the field of women
entrepreneurship, disclose that social media has made new ways of doing business and
networking possible for women (Genç and Oksüz, 2015; Cesaroni et al., 2017;
Mukolwe&Korir, 2016; Upkere et al., 2014; Melissa et al., 2013; Oke, 2013). Some of
the mutual benefits have been extracted from the findings of researches conducted on
the relationship between social media and women entrepreneurs in the developing
countries (Melissa et at., 2013; Upkere et al., 2014; Vivakaran&Maraimalai, 2016;
Cesaroni et al., 2017), which are mentioned as follows:
 Social media has allowed women to recognize entrepreneurial opportunity
through selling online and realize that their idle time can be used productively
to earn profit.
 There is low investment and operating costs involved in a social media start-up
that eventually motivates women entrepreneurs.
 Since, many women can run their businesses from home and at their own
convenience; this has helped them to have a better work-life balance, where
they can effectively manage both their professional and personal lives
simultaneously.
 The new source of earning has provided the women with greater financial
resources and thus autonomy.
 Women entrepreneurs have been able to make contributions to the family
income, which eventually empowered them to participate in decision-making.
 It is an advantage that in the majority of the businesses on social media, the
women do not require high level of technological literacy, which reduces the
start-up complication.
Some other benefits common for all genders include cost effective promotion; access
to a wider target audience; product development and enhancement; establishment of
external communities of customer who would share their experiences; and the scope of
better educating customers (Baghdadi, 2013; Brengman&Karimov, 2012; Cesaroni et
al., 2017).

3. Research Design

The aim of this study is to understand whether social media has been effective as a
branding tool for women entrepreneurs in Kerala. The objectives are
 To understand the social media marketing strategies used by these women
entrepreneurs.
 To examine whether these entrepreneurs could use social media platforms to
build their brand
 To what extend these women entrepreneurs could build a strong brand
relationship with their customers
  To understand the benefits of social media as a marketing tool compared to
traditional media
In this research it is found most appropriate to apply semi-structured interviews, a
qualitative approach (Walliman, 2006) since it deals with entrepreneurs’ own feelings
and perceptions about their use of social media. The sample consisted of six women
entrepreneurs. All six participants make use of social media platforms for their
business. Three of them work alone whereas the other three had formal business
ventures and had other salaried staff supporting them.
The first three among them have officially registered business and the next three have
informal home based ventures. A mix of women entrepreneurs doing business in varied
areas helps in comparing their perception and experience in using social media in
promoting their business. It also helps to understand the objectives of the study better.

4. Findings
4.1 Social media marketing strategies by women entrepreneurs
All participants of this research use social media platforms to promote their business.
All of them use Instagram and Facebook for showcasing their products. Whatsapp is
used by these women entrepreneurs to maintain one to one relationship with customers.
Instagram is a type of social media that allows its users to load their accounts with so
many pictures. All these women entrepreneurs have Instagram pages for their business.
These women entrepreneurs use Instagram as a photo album or catalogue presenting
their products and services. Linda, CEO of RCM Wellness feels Instagram helps her to
reach younger generation of consumers whereas Gen X consumers are friendlier with
Facebook. Linda also posts her products in various communities in social media based
on product suitability. She also uses paid promotions in Facebook. She has a small team
managing the social media business pages. Ms. Linda answers personally to customer
enquire through social media. She says “Social media platforms give a personal connect
to her customers and that adds to authenticity. She also uses other platforms such as
Twitter, blogs, YouTube and Google SEO. She finds Facebook stories as an excellent
avenue to create awareness about her brand among consumers. Ms. Priya, CEO Sankalp
Event Ventures has been doing her business for the past ten years. She uses Instagram,
Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp for promoting her brand. She has a Business page in
Facebook and Instagram. She hosts her events on these pages. She posts pictures and
live videos, banners and posters of her events in these pages. She also uses her personal
social media page to reach to more of her consumers. Ms. Priya maintains Whatsapp
group for the participants of her events and connect to vendors through that Ms. Deepa
who is in business and has her own store since last twelve years uses Facebook and
Instagram to display pictures of her products in store. She says “Social media platforms
have helped her to have a global reach. She felt the content and pictures displayed on
Social media platforms are important to draw attention of consumers. All three of them
use their logo as the display profile picture of their business pages. They also felt that
social media helps them to establish their personal branding. That gives more
authenticity for their business. The other three participants of the study are home based
entrepreneurs. Ms. Elsa a jewellery maker uses Whatsapp as a platform to sell her
products. She has number of customer groups in Whatsapp. She uses Facebook and
Instagram for increasing brand awareness and brings her customers across the world.
Ms. Anjaly a student and a home baker have business pages in Instagram and Facebook.
She also displays her products through various baking communities in Facebook. She
has established her brand over the last three years only using social media platforms.
She also has her blog to promote her venture. Ms. Sreedevi is also a home baker and is
doing her baking business since one year. She says “Facebook has been my platform to
display my completed products and thereby I could establish a brand Identity”. She uses
Whatsapp to maintain a relationship with her customers
4.2 Brand building through social media by women entrepreneurs
Promotional tool used by any business has a lot of impact on brand building. All the
participants of the study agreed that social media is an excellent promotional platform
for women entrepreneurs to do brand building activities in an effective way. According
to the participants social media platforms help them to keenly interact with their
customers based on the enquiries they receive and interactions through chats. This helps
them to know their over scattered audience better and tone their product portfolio
according to the needs of their target audience. Knowing their audience helps them to
post content specific and relevant towards their target audience.
Ms. Priya says “Posting videos and photos of the events and exhibitions I organize has
helped me to create a brand value. Hence there are customers who relate to my business
page and logo and look forward to the exhibitions. Social media has helped me to create
a brand identity in Kerala. Recently I introduced a new Brand of lifestyle exhibition by
opening pages in Facebook and instagram. I also posted the first teaser banners to the
whatsapp groups of my participating clients”
Facebook and Instagram has been platform for brand awareness for the home bakers.
They post the photos of their work done in these social media platforms. They are able
to increase their customer reach by inviting people to like their Facebook page. Anjaly
said that, “Facebook reviews and ratings by customers help to increase a brand trust for
others visiting the page. The number of followers for my page in Instagram helps to
make my brand Fairy Bakes popular”
All these women entrepreneurs feel that consumers today are spending over an hour
each day on digital media, with a major chunk being on social media alone. Therefore,
why not entrepreneurs use social platforms for placing their brands to consumers. Ms.
Elsa doing her jewellery business on mainly whatsapp said “Social media connects me
with my customers at a higher engagement level, thus it was really easy for me to build
my business only by using social media. I don’t use any other promotions”
Ms. Linda said “Using customer feedback posts and pictures in instagram of customers
enjoying the services and facilities create a brand assurance in the prospective
customers mind”
Ms. Deepa an established entrepreneur in her home town with her own boutique said
“Facebook and Instagram has helped me establish my boutique brand beyond my
geographical region. I started getting lot of personalized designed dress orders from lots
of customers after I started posting on my social media business pages”
4.3 Benefits of Social media as a marketing tool compared to traditional media
All the entrepreneurs were of the opinion that Social media is the most economical
platform to promote products/brands compared to traditional media. The frequency of
posts in social media increases brand visibility there by reaching more customers. Ms.
 Linda said “Once visibility is done opportunities are immense”. All the respondents felt
that social media gives direct access to customers. It helps them to avoid the hassles of
third party distribution network.
According to Ms. Priya “Social media posts stay for longer time compared to the
traditional media which last for a day or few hours”. All the home based entrepreneurs
said that they ventured into their own business just because they had such easy and
economical platforms to reach customers and sell products.
The three entrepreneurs who have formal business feels that social media is the best
marketing platform for women entrepreneurs in nascent stages of their business. But as
they establish they should have a mix of both social media and traditional media. They
said “Newspaper articles, television programme about business will definitely build up
the credibility of business”.
All home based entrepreneurs thinks whatsapp is the most beneficial tool for them.
They are able to display and sell products to their identified target segment. They use
face book and instagram for product display, by sharing photos of products done by
them.
All participants said in order to create a brand image through social media it is important
to maintain a proper profile for their business. It is also important to post continuously
on the business page and make the prospects feel that something is happening all the
time. Customers should feel the contents in the social media page interesting, instead
they will lose interest on the brand
According to the participants another major advantage of using social media is
regarding the quick feedback and reviews from customers. Positive reviews and ratings
on the social media page can increase trust on the brand as well as serve as a word of
mouth promotion for the business. Every participant said that they will continue to use
social media in future.

5. Discussion and Conclusion

Social media has had a major effect on the world and business. Starting from big
companies or a small startup, everyone is adopting Social Media Marketing to make
their brand or services visible. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram,
Whatsapp, Twitter etc., show an opportunity for women entrepreneurs to grab the
attention of the customers while simultaneously building a brand image. This increased
attention on social media platforms to initiate a business by women entrepreneurs has
made this study necessary.
According to research findings social media platforms are used by women
entrepreneurs as it is the most economical promotional tool. It has revamped the way
of doing business with wider reach, instant chat facilities, posting pictures and contents
relevant to business.
Women entrepreneurs in Kerala are mainly using Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and
Twitter for promoting their business. During interviews participants emphasized certain
disadvantages of social media platforms. Although social media gives a wide reach to
customers, it could make ground work for competitors easier. Imitating products,
designs and business ideas were possible and also competitors have an open access to
their customer portfolios. The entrepreneurs doing formal business ventures felt that
women could even do business on social media without even having stock in hand. This
led to unfair pricing methods. Two the participants felt that it is difficult to find out the
relevant customers in social media as a lot of fraud enquires are encountered. The way
women entrepreneurs communicate with customers is also important. Otherwise it
could get these women into wrong business and wrong people.
From this research it can be concluded that social media as a branding tool has a lot to
contribute to success of women entrepreneurs. It’s not enough to have a brand name,
logo and product line alone but an economical platform to promote the business is
important for every business. Social media helps women entrepreneurs to develop their
own brand of business as well as help them to maintain a personal connect with their
customers. This would develop an identity for their brand beyond the product or service.
All the respondents of this survey agreed that social media is an effective branding tool
and it would help more enterprising women to begin their own ventures.
This study examined perspectives of six women entrepreneurs through six face to face
interviews. While the research is not without its limitations, particularly as related to
the context of women entrepreneurs in Kerala, there is scope of further research by
including more participants from various other geographical locations across the state
and across the country. Future research could also be focused on constructing a brand
identity through social media for women entrepreneurs.

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Appendix

Following women entrepreneurs were interviewed for this study

1. Ms. Anjaly Kaimal, Home baker and Post graduate student, Fairy Bakes
2. Ms. Deepa, Owner, Dipali Boutique
3. Ms. Elsa Mariya Joy, Home based jewellery maker, Lizbeth’s Galleria
4. Ms. Linda Rakesh, CEO, RCM Wellness
5. Ms. Priya Menon, CEO, Sankalp Creative Ventures
6. Ms. Sreedevi, Home baker, ChocoCakes by Sreedevi Sooraj