An Assignment on Research Methods & Methodology

By

Mr. Tage Nobin

Roll No- 48 MBA (II Sem)

Faculty of Management Studies Banaras Hindu University

Research- Social Media Marketing Industry Report: How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow Their Businesses. Executive SummaryThis research set out to understand how marketers are using social media to grow and promote their businesses. The scope of the study is as follows: The top 10 social media questions marketers want answered: We analyzed nearly 700 open-ended responses and summarized all the major questions that marketing pros want answered. The time commitment: We examined the weekly hours marketers invest in their social media efforts. This analysis will be helpful for marketers just getting started. The benefits of social media marketing: This rather beefy section reveals all the major advantages marketers are achieving with their social media efforts. We also looked at how time invested and experience enhances the achieved benefits. Commonly used social media tools: Wondering which social media tools marketers are using the most? Those questions are answered, along with an examination of what the most experienced folks are using. Social media tools people want to learn more about: In this section, we examine the up-and-coming tools that marketers are most interested in learning about. Other analysis: We also analyzed how age, gender, experience, business type and weekly time commitments impact all of the above findings.

Approach- Inductive Key words: Social Media: The communication tools that help in socialising the target audience. Social Sites: Websites which are used as a platform for socialising of human beings. Blogs: A shared on-line journal where people can post daily entries about their personal experiences and hobbies. Tweets: The various updates that are posted in the social site Twitter. Target Audience: A person or a group of person for which the message is intended for. Traditional Media: Consists of long standing tools of communication like TV, Radio, Newspapers. Time Commitment: The time duration spent on using the social media tools. Critical AnalysisThe research has been conducted by an industry expert namely Michael A. Stelzner. Although the research stands to be almost complete but there always stands a scope of improvement. 1. Marketers Queries Answered. This is related to the various questions that marketers have got as per the social media is concerned. This study has evaluated only 10 such questions whereas, there stands to be many more. Of course not all the questions can be evaluated but then not answering the remaining queries can lead to incomplete study. Solution: Include more of such queries regarding the social media which affects the marketers to a great extend.

2. Survey Participants. The participants were randomly selected via email process. In this case the reliability of such response cant be deduced. Some of the participants may answer the questionnaire just for the sake of fun and provide false answers. Finally this will lead to a false reading of the study. Solution: The credibility of the participants should be checked. This can also be infused by rewarding the participants with some rewards and inculcating the questionnaire with some cross checking questions. 3. Participant Demographics The survey participants mainly consisted of small business owners (70%). Among the small business owners, only 12% of the participants were sole proprietors. Whereas the findings say sole proprietors are more concerned with the social media effect on their business, their small percentage of inclusion doesnt reflect the true picture. Solution: More chunks of sole proprietors should be included in the survey. Also the number of unemployed participants can be reduced as the survey pertains only to the business currently operating. This research has aptly covered all the technical elements of the subject and its part. Also the structure of the research has been designed keeping in mind the current scenario of the marketing environment. This research will be very beneficial for the marketers who are ready to switch on the new channel of marketing so called social media.