Modern University for Technology & Information

Faculty of Management

Research Paper

Student and Course Information

Student Name: Islam Mokhtar Abdel Hafez Atia
Student Code: 83092
Course Code: MIS310en
Course Name: E-Marketing

Research Title
(Social Media & E-Marketing)

Spring 2020

1
 Introduction
Social media is today known as one of the most popular and powerful E-marketing tools in
the current time. Social media helps customers to identify and know their interests and needs
as well as affecting their purchasing decisions. Social media is defined as the websites that
connect millions of people from different parts over the world who have same interests,
hobbies, ideas and thoughts. YouTube, Instagram and Facebook are the best examples of
social media platforms that are popular for very large number of consumers. People today are
consuming a lot of social media, spending thousands of hours on social media apps and
websites, this is has made it possible for businesses and sellers to target users, showing them
products that they have interest in to purchase and consume.

Social media is considered now as one of the most modern electronic marketing tools,
which is different from other means of traditional marketing strategies. therefore
marketing through social media nowadays is the most efficient, fastest, affordable, and
effective way for product marketing and selling, where also the targeted consumer can get
options and information of goods and products easily and pay electronically for the service or
product. Social media is having a huge impact on the way people purchase and consume
goods, as companies and business are using different techniques to attract people to buy their
products.

The objective of this research is to demonstrate the big impact of social media as a
marketing tool on consumer’s purchase choices and decisions and how businesses can
benefit from that to market and promote their products. The research will include
evidences why and how the social media are having a huge influence on people’s product
consumption and purchase choses, and why it’s important for traders and businesses to
use the social marketing platforms as a main way and technique to market their products for
consumers and satisfy consumer needs through this tool as it is the most predominant
marketing tool today.

2
1- The definition of social media
To define social media the term (media) must be explained first. Media is a tool of
communication, like a TV or newspaper, so social media is a social tool of communication
between people. In Web 2.0 terms; this is a website that doesn't provide you information, but
it does interact with you as a user and at the same time it provides you information. This
interaction is as simple as when you comment or write a post or a status. Social Media sites
are main designed to build user communities of real people as a form of electronic virtual
world so they can connect together and share different ideas and life issues. The basic concept
of Social Media is to establish chat and conversion lines between two party of users.
In general terms, social media provide users the tool to share information and interact with
each other to create web content and use it. User’ activities, behaviors and browsing happen
through media by sharing information, thoughts, ideas and opinions.

2-The Science of Marketing

Marketing is a science that is an advanced method that is always changing its basics as the
needs and advancements take place in around the world. The Marketing has started to create
the new methods of virtues to come to terms with the new frontiers of business. The role of
marketing in the development of business is that it can give a better idea of the language
customers use to describe their needs and interests. Marketing can create a line of messaging
strategy that uses events, stories, content and messaging through the entire sales process to
find, capture, and supply targets more effectively. Traditional media such as television,
newspapers, radio and magazines are all the same means of the contemporary technologies.
Its now easy for everyone to create and easily share their content through the internet
technology, create their own content. Advertisers can show their ads on publisher’s content
using the advanced ad network system to show the relevant ad to the most targeted customer.
This can be done easily using the digital advertising technology. Publishers and intermediate
hosting social media websites get paid from the advertisers as a fee of the ads they show.
.

3
3-Technology of Social Media and its effect on business
The spread of personal computers and tablets, the internet, and e-commerce are having a huge
impact on how businesses work and being promoted. Millions and Millions of users around
the world are spending more and more time on the internet now. This is has been leading to
many researches about and how people behave when they use the social media website and
spend time on their phones. As new technologies are advancing, businesses learn how to use
smart technologies to increase great returns. Some of the best-known examples include
technology-driven companies such, eBay, Microsoft and Google. The huge growth of the
smartphone market and mobile, and Tablets is affecting the, as social media connectivity is
becoming easier and is helping social media to grow even faster

4-Importanceof Social Media Marketing for Businesses

Social media marketing is one of the most important types of online marketing where
businesses and traders are showing their products/services and Market them. A new
scientific study confirmed the importance of social media networks in marketing products and
services Social media is important because it allows traders and product sellers to reach
people locally, regionally, nationally and even internationally. If you understand the
characteristics of your target audience, you will be able to personalize your messages to get a
reaction from that targeted audience positively. For example, how you try to grab the
attention of baby mother online isn’t the same tune you would use with a teenager. You have
the ability to reach your marketing targets so easily. A new released study by (Yes to
Digital) site specialized in the digital content, made sure that 71% of social media
network users around the world buy products they knew about through these platforms
that attracted hundreds of millions of internet users around the world. The estimated number
of Facebook users in 2013 is almost 1.15 billion users, "YouTube" is used by one billion
visitors monthly, while "Twitter" network estimated users are around half billion users.
This is shows how powerful those platform are for you to get a profitable sales return from
your targeted audience!

Social media marketing can generate more sales and revenue

Social media marketing plays an important role in generating returns and hence increasing
sales and income. A survey by Social media today revealed that 71% of social media users
are more likely to purchase products from brands that they see on social media websites. A
study by HubSpot revealed that social media produces almost double the marketing target
than any other marketing method and lead-to-close rate is 100% higher on social media.
4
Social media makes a direct customer Engagement
Customers and audience can be attracted directly. businesses can attract customers by
showing them some interactive activities, which will bring the user’s attention.

Social media is less costing and effective

Social media marketing is very important for small businesses because of its
affordable prices and possibility to reach large number of targeted audiences within less time
and little efforts.

Branding is vital on social media

Social media marketing is the best tool for small businesses for branding. According to Social
media today, 83% of customers prefer to connect to the brand on Facebook and 53% on
Twitter.

Customer acquisition is easy on social media

As more than half of world's population is using different social media platforms, the
possibility of gaining users and customers on social media websites is really high. There are
approximately 1.74 billion social media users according to Emarketer and social media
websites play a crucial role in acquiring customers to the businesses. In 2013, 36% of
marketers acquired customers via Twitter, 52% via Facebook and 43% via LinkedI

5-The Benefit of Social Media Marketing

.You can increase the popularity and the recognition of your brand and trade mark through
social media platfroms .You can use the social media channel or network as a direct line or
tool to promote and get people to know and understand your brand. This is important because
it makes it easier to gain new customers clients, and makes you more familiar and flexible
with your current customers. For example, a frequent Twitter user could hear about your
company for the first time only after stumbling upon it in a newsfeed. Or, an otherwise
apathetic customer might become better acquainted with your brand after seeing your
presence on multiple networks.2.Improved Brand Loyalty According to a report published by
Texas Tech University, brands who engage on social media channels enjoy higher loyalty
from their customers. The report concludes ―Companies should take advantage of the tools
social media gives them when it comes to connecting with their audience. A strategic and
open social media plan could prove influential in morphing consumers into being brand

5
loyal.‖ Another study published by Convince & Convert found that 53% of Americans who
follow brands in social are more loyal to those brands.3.More Opportunities to Convert Every
post you make on a social media platform is an opportunity for customers to convert. When
you build a following, you’ll simultaneously have access to new customers, recent customers,
and old customers, and you’ll be able to interact with all of them. Every blog post, image,
video, or comment you share is a chance for someone to react, and every reaction could lead
to a site visit, and eventually a conversion. Not every interaction with your brand results in a
conversion, but every positive interaction increases the likelihood of an eventual conversion.
Even if your click-through rates are low, the sheer number of opportunities you have on
social media is significant.

5.Higher Brand Authority Interacting with your customers regularly is a show of good faith
for other customers. When people go to compliment or brag about a product or service, they
turn to social media. And when they post your brand name, new audience members will want
to follow you for updates. The more people that are talking about you on social media, the
more valuable and authoritative your brand will seem to new users. Not to mention, if you
can interact with major influencers on Twitter or other social networks, your visible authority
and reach will skyrocket

6.Increased Inbound Traffic Without social media, your inbound traffic is limited to people
already familiar with your brand and individuals searching for keywords you currently rank
for. Every social media profile you add is another path leading back to your site, and every
piece of content you syndicate on those profiles is another opportunity for a new visitor. The
more quality content you syndicate on social media, the more inbound traffic you’ll generate,
and more traffic means more leads and more conversions.7.Decreased Marketing Costs
According to Hubspot, 84% of marketers found as little as six hours of effort per week was
enough to generate increased traffic. Six hours is not a significant investment for a channel as
large as social media. If you can lend just one hour a day to developing your content and
syndication strategy, you could start seeing the results of your efforts. Even paid advertising
through Facebook and Twitter is relatively cheap (depending on your goals, of course). Start
small and you’ll never have to worry about going over budget—once you get a better feel for
what to expect, you can increase your budget and increase your conversions
correspondingly.8.Better Search Engine Rankings SEO is the best way to capture relevant
traffic from search engines, but the requirements for success are always changing. It’s no
longer enough to regularly update your blog, ensure optimized title tags and meta

6
descriptions, and distribute links pointing back to your site. Google and other search engines
may be calculating their rankings using social media presence as a significant factor, because
of the fact that strong brands almost always use social media. As such, being active on social
media could act as a ―brand signal‖ to search engines that your brand is legitimate, credible,
and trustworthy. That means, if you want to rank for a given set of keywords, having a strong
social media presence could be almost mandatory.9.Richer Customer Experiences Social
media, at its core, is a communication channel like email or phone calls. Every customer
interaction you have on social media is an opportunity to publicly demonstrate your customer
service level and enrich your relationship with your customers. For example, if a customer
complains about your product on Twitter, you can immediately address the comment,
apologize publicly, and take action to make it right. Or, if a customer compliments you, you
can thank them and recommend additional products. It’s a personal experience that lets
customers know you care about them.10.Improved Customer Insights Social media also gives
you an opportunity to gain valuable information about what your customers are interested in
and how they behave, via social listening. For example, you can monitor user
Walid Nabil Iblasi et al.International Journal of Managerial Studies and Research
(IJMSR)Page | 19comments to see what people think of your business directly. You can
segment your content syndication lists based on topic and see which types of content generate
the most interest—and then produce more of that type of content. You can measure
conversions based on different promotions posted on various social media channels and
eventually find a perfect combination to generate revenue. (www.forbes.com)

The Impact of Online Social Networks on Consumer Purchase Decision Consumers belong
or admire different online groups generally and those groups are able to change their
purchasing decisions behavior. According to Evans, et al (2009) joint decision-making is
defined as; consumers are taken their decisions within the environment around them such
as environment of family, friends, and coworkers. In traditional way, consumers make their
purchase decisions base on information that they received through mass media (e.g.
advertising, newspaper, television comment), but nowadays, online social networks can
have power to affect consumers’ purchase decision (Solomon, et al, 2010).Consumers are
able to search for the information they need and share their own experiences about
products or services with other consumers. This fact(sharing opinions with others regarding
previous experiences with products or services) is one of the reasons why social media
influences purchasing decisions Consumers are also buying based on recommendations from

7
social media. (Leon, Sebastian, 2014)Virtual communities that affect on consumer purchase
decisions:There are different forms of virtual communities that affect consumers’
purchase decisions in different ways:Multi-user dungeons (MUD):where people have
social relationship with each other in terms of game playing. Rooms, rings, and
lists:rooms (chat rooms), rings (organizations that is related to the home pages), and
lists (group of individuals that sharing information via email). Board:online communities,
which can be related to music, movies, cars, even restaurants that allow individuals
post messages.Blogs:weblogs or blogs are personal journals and are form of online
communities that growing dramatically fast. Users of common interestcan follow
Blogs.Online social networks have become more credible and relevant information
source than direct information from companies, therefore consumers seek products and
companies on online social networks .Since consumers enjoy the interaction
andcommunication with each other and like to receive advice either positive or
negative about different products or services, virtual communities have an impact on
consumers’ purchasing decision (Ayda.D& Wei Li, 2012)

5-Social Media Technology

Social media helps conversations to reach a wider audience leveraging the "long tail"
concept, which means conversations that can be conveyed to different forums. There are
several communication channels in an organization that include meetings, phonecalls, and
emails. These communication channels have their own limitations such as forgetting a
message, missing to take notes during a meeting, and searching for information in a huge list
of emails which can be challenging. Use of social media web siteshas increased the channels
of communication and its effectiveness in the organization. Now people need not waste their
time as it has become easy for a person to send messages through an instant messenger or a
tweet and get the response really quick. Social media has also improved collaboration
between team members in an organization, which has resulted in a better outcome. When a
team is encouraged to work as a team allowing them to share their workload, the outcome
will be tremendous compared to what an individual could have created. At such situations,
the social media acts as a source to allow people to generate and share their ideas. Through
communication and collaboration, one can increase the overall effectiveness of a team.
Companies must allow their employees to leverage their networks if they have a well-built

8
social profile. This will result in professional gains as these social media will enable
collaborating without leaders in their respective industries. Moreover, this will help the
employees stay up to date with the latest developments in the industry and also stay
connected with the top leaders.

7-The Characteristics of Social Media Marketing

Tone :Social media is about honesty and being authentic. Marketers need to ensure
that the message to the audience is credible and reliable Converation:Social media marketing
generates two ways conversation where the customer is an integral part of the marketing
department. Customer opinions matter and impact on marketing
strategyValidation:Buyer and consumer reviews are as influential as the marketer’s claims
of the brands features and benefits. This sets the stage for the brand to meet consumers
expectationsReach:Social media marketing allows marketers to reach a wider
audience with more dramatic results in far less time and at lower costsControl:Control is
the single biggest challenge in social media marketing.The internet allows the entire world to
report what they see as they see it (in real time).All testimonies, opinions, customer
experiences (positive and negative) and customer messages are able to go live at any
time.These messages are not always accurate nor are they in the control of the marketer and
the challenge to the marketer is to respond to these messages in a professional manner.
(monica,2011)

Influence on user purchase choice

As time is changing and technology is constantly improving, companies need to stay in the
game and use any new opportunity to improve sales, marketing and customer loyalty.
9
Technology gives consumers the power to investigate products to label themand criticize
them equally, and more. Therefore many companies todayhave pages on social networks to
supplement information held about products.Consumershave the tendency to relate much
more with a company after they read various reviews and comments of the consumers who
have already purchased these products. Moreover, by using social media, consumers have the
power to influence other buyers through reviews.For example, instead of buying a product
that he knows very little, consumers have become new researchers. Before making a
purchase, many consumers read what other people think about a particular product by logging
in to an account on a social networking site. Social media users trust in what believe their
friends, family and even strangers on these networks. Many online buyers consider the social
sites as being valuable and a reliable source for researching products and services. This
research tries to offer answers to some usual questions as: What is the role of social media
versus the role of company websites where consumers researching products and services? Are
the consumers appreciating the opportunity to link with an online brand? Is social media
playing a role in purchasing decisions? Therefore, aims to study the impact of social media on
consumers and the choices they make in the online environment. Research objectives The
present research aims to observe whether social networks in any way influence their decisions
whether or not consumers purchase from online. The present research aims 6
objectives:1.Measuring the degree of consumer confidence in purchasing products
online2.Identifyingthe consumer profile that purchase products from online3.Determining the
reasons for which consumers purchase products online4.Consumer attitudes study
towardother consumer feedback from online5.Defining the categories of products that
consumers buy online;6.Identifying the maximum amount that consumers are willing to pay
online.We started from the hypothesis that all the respondents are as cyber-consumers, mainly
young people aged 25-29 years,having as reasons for buying convenience and paying a lower
price than the one from the shelf, increased confidence in the feedback left by other online
consumers, among preferenceswerethe products of electronics and appliances category, most
of them willing to make online orders under 100 lei.It was used the snowball sampling
method, being an online research held on 10 to 19 April 2013, the questionnaire was hosted
on www.esurveyspro.com platform. In this period there were registered 116 respondents
(each respondent in his turn recommended or accessed from the post on personal page T

10
Conclusion

11