“STUDY OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR”

(BBA-Minor Project)

Submitted to

CHAUDHARY CHARAN SINGH

UNIVERSITY, MEERUT
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE DEGREE
OF BACHELOR IN BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION

––

SESSION (2021-2024)

Under the guidance of : Submitted By:

SHRESTHI DUBEY Roll NO:

Assistant Professor
BBA-GLBIM
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that has undertaken this project report

work entitled “STUDY THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR" for the partial fulfillment of the award of
Bachelor of Business Administration degree from GL BAJAJ INSTITUTE
OF MANAGEMENT, GREATER NOIDA. As per best of my knowledge this
project report work is an original piece of work and has not been submitted or
published elsewhere.

I SHRESTHI DUBEY wish him/ her all the best for his/her bright future ahead.

(ASSISTANT PROFESSOR)
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project is the outcome of sincere efforts, hard work, and constant guidance of not only me
but several individuals. First and foremost, I would like to thank G.L. Bajaj (Department of
Management Studies) for giving me the platform to work with such a prestigious company in the
sales organization. I am thankful to my guide Mrs. SHRESHTHI DUBEY (Assistant Professor) for
providing me with withing me with help and support throughout the Dissertation Research
period.

I owe a debt of gratitude to my faculty guide who not only gave me valuable input about the
industry but was a continuous source of inspiration during these months, without whom this
Project was never such a great success.

Last but not least I would like to thank all my Faculty members, friends, and family members who
have helped me directly or indirectly in the completion of the project.

1
 DECLARATION

The research project on Studying the effect of Social Media Marketing on Consumer

Awareness. has been undertaken as a partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the

degree of Bachelor of Business Administration of CHAUDHARY CHARAN SINGH, Meerut.

I at this moment declare that this Project is my original work and that the analysis and findings

are for academic purposes only. This project was not submitted by the student earlier to any

other institution/ university.

2
 PREFACE

Theoretical knowledge without practical exposure is of little value. Theoretical study in

the classroom is not sufficient to understand the functioning and nature of research.
Therefore, it becomes necessary to undergo project work.

The research survey in business, organization infuses among students senses of

critical analysis of the real managerial situations to which they are exposed. This allows
them to apply their conceptual, theoretical, and imaginative skills to real-life situations
and evaluate the results thereof.

The concept of research report, which is there in the curriculum of Business

Management Schools, serves two important purposes. Firstly, it gives the student a fair
amount of insight into the problem faced by them. Secondly, this type of project helps
business management students to get a first-hand experience of the actual working
conditions, which otherwise is possible only when students do the job. Joining any
organization without practical experience would be like getting a driver's license without
a vehicle.

This report is an account of what I learned and experienced during the research
survey and I have tried to complete this report with as much perfection as possible.

3
TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.No. Description Page

No.

Certificate

Acknowledgment 1

Student Declaration 2

Preface 3

Executive Summary 8-10

1. Introduction 11-57

I Introduction of the Industry

Ii Introduction of the problem

Iii Literature review

2. Objective and Scope 58

 I Objective of the study

Scop
Ii e of the study

3 Methodology 63- 65

I Research Methodology

Ii Research Design

Iii Sampling method

Iv Data Collection

SL.NO Description Page

no

4. Data analysis and interpretation

66- 85

5. Findings

6. Conclusion 86-88

7. Limitation

8. Suggestions and Recommendation 89

9. Annexure 90-96

10. Bibliography 97-98

 ABOUT COMPANY

LUDIFU is an iPhone & Android-based app that helps to get your

photos off your phone and into a 6x4 inches photo book & 9x6
inches photo book. Each page is perforated so that you can tear
and share photos with your loved ones. We offer free home
delivery all over India.
Every book you order shall have an artistically designed cover
depending on the season and time of the year. We have recently
been published in Hindustan Times & BusinessWorld.
 7

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining website traffic or attention

through social media sites. Indian marketers are moving at a fast speed to tap the ‘new

normal’ opportunity. Social media has gone mainstream and for businesses, it represents

an unprecedented marketing opportunity that transcends traditional middlemen and

connects companies directly with customers. Customer acquisitions remain to be the

prime goal of Indian marketers (59%). According to leading marketers in India, the top

three online investment channels for 2011 are Social media, Email marketing, and Search

marketing. 52% of the top marketers said that it is extremely important to integrate email

marketing and social media. This is why nearly every business on the planet is exploring

social media marketing initiatives The focus of marketers is shifting from ‘sending the

message out’ to ‘start engaging with customers’. In this context, the role of a marketer is

changing from ‘batch and blast’ processing to creating ‘listening posts’ and ‘dialogue

hubs’ in customer communities. A shift from isolated pure-play traditional platforms to

an integrated multi-channel approach is helping marketers address the challenge of new

consumers’ expectations across many devices and channels. Indian marketers are

leveraging the power of various communication channels and technologies- be it Email,

SMS, or Social Media in their portfolio. Here we will see the main trend of Social media

marketing in India, and its scope in, the future, and will undergo research to follow the

Customer perception of Social Media for Brand management.

 8

We're looking for Social Media Managers for our company, who can spend at least 15 minutes a

day doing our day-to-day activities.

Roles And Responsibilities:

Selected intern's day-to-day responsibilities include:

1. Working on social media for only 15 minutes a day.

2. Like, Comment, or Tag up to 5 links or work on Social media-related content every

day as given by the LUDIFU team.

3. Understand the importance of communication within team members.

4. Daily management report.

This is a work-from-home internship. Therefore, students from any location in India can apply

for it.

Perks:

1. Internship Certificate

2. Most flexible work hours (only 15 minutes a day)

3. Valuable work experience to add to your resume.

 4. Discount coupons on our products.

LUDIFU is a recognized entity today, Published by, not only Hindustan Times, Mid-Day, Little
Black Book (LBB) but also Business World and SmeStreet.

This will add credibility to your CV - Respectful Publications have shared their love and

their appreciation for LUDIFU. All corporate companies will give you credit in the

Future for working with LUDIFU because of these publications supporting the concept of

LUDIFU.

Quick summary of our primary findings:

● Marketers place high value on social media: A significant 90% of marketers

indicate that social media is important for their business.

● One-third of all social media marketers want to know how to monitor and

measure the Return on Investment (ROI) of social media and integrate their social

media activities.

● The majority of marketers (58%) are using social media for 6 hours or more each

week, and more than a third (34%) invest 11 or more hours weekly.

● A significant 77% of marketers plan on increasing their use of YouTube and

video marketing, making it the top area marketers will invest in for 2011.
  E-marketing forms the baseline for 86% of marketers in India.

10
● Promotional communication and newsletters were the primary users of e-

marketing channels in 2010.

● 36% of Indian marketers invested more than 10% of

their budgets in e-Marketing.

● 72% of Marketers have plans to increase investments in e-Marketing platforms.

Social media, Email marketing, and Search marketing are the preferred digital channels

for 2011.
 Chapter-1

Introduction
 INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

Social media marketing:

Social media marketing programs usually center on efforts to create content that attracts

attention and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. A corporate

message spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it appears to come

from a trusted, third-party source, as opposed to the brand or company itself. Hence, this

form of marketing is driven by word-of-mouth, meaning it results in earned media rather

than paid media.

Social media has become a platform that is easily accessible to anyone with internet

access. Increased communication for organizations fosters brand awareness and often,

improved customer service. Additionally, social media serves as a relatively inexpensive

platform for organizations to implement marketing campaigns.

12
What is Social Media?

Social Media is a platform that lets us participate in social networking. We can share our

posts on various social media platforms to improve business visibility. Today it is the

best source for news updates, marketing, education, and entertainment.

13
History of Social Media Marketing

Social Media seems to be a new trend, but its roots stretch to the beginning of the

computer era. What we see today is the result of centuries-old social media

development. Usernets, which was launched in 1979, was the first progenitor of social

media, and the journey from Usernets to Facebook is a long one. Usernets allowed users

to post on newsgroups. It was followed by bulletin board systems (BBS) which

allowed users to log in and interact. Online services like Progidy were the precursors to

BBS. After online services, internet relay chat came to light which gave way to instant

messaging.

In the 90s, dating sites and forums were at their peak, which led to the development of

social networks. However, they did not let users make friend lists. Six Degrees was

launched to overcome this feature. It allowed profile creation and listing pears. It was

purchased and shut down after playing for a decade. Blogging emerged in this phase,

creating a sensation in social media. It is popular even today. Other sites like

BlackPlanet (African-American Social Website) and MiGente (Latino) cropped up

having provisions to create profiles and add friends.

Modern social networks came into the picture post-2000. Apple launched its Friendster

in 2002. It has millions of users. Hi5 and Linkedin were

14
launched in 2003. LinkedIn is a ground for professionals to reach out to one another.

MySpace also originated in 2003 and became well-known by 2006. Similarly,

Facebook was launched in 2004 and surpassed MySpace, Orkut, Multiply, etc., and is

still expanding. This decade also conceived

media sharing platforms like Photobucket, Flickr, Youtube, Instagram, etc., along

with news and bookmarking platforms like Digg and Delicious.

Since 2000, Social Media has bloomed to the horizon and is still expanding limitlessly.

Along with media sharing, many other portals that provide real-time updates were

introduced, for example, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. In 2007, Facebook launched its

advertising system.

Importance of Social Media

The importance of social media is undebatable. It is a powerful channel of marketing − a

game changer for any business. It provides us the flexibility to communicate at both

personal as well as business levels.

Business owners can improve search rankings, leads, sales, and traffic using search

media. This can be done at reduced marketing expenses. Besides business, it is a cool

platform to connect with friends and dear ones.

15
 SMO Strategy for Business

A wisely implemented Social Media Optimization (SMO) strategy can give a great

boost to your business. To draw maximum benefit out of Social Media, you need to set

clear and well-defined business goals and objectives. The following points are the

backbone of any well-laid SMO strategy −

 Set measurable and achievable goals.


 Know your customers.

 Research over market and trends.


 Explore more social networking platforms. Reflect your presence on all.

 Choose core topics related to your business. Use them in content.

 Set Social Engagement parameters.

 Plan your resource use.

 Track your results.

SMO − Key Concepts

 Aim to build a reputation by depicting yourself as a trusted source or business.


 Encourage more engagement and sharing.
16
  Be an authorized name in your industry.

 Gear up originality.

 Keep it social.

 Master over your media platforms.


 Optimize every single point that hinders your efforts.

Business Profile Creation

Create an impactful Business profile. Add a well-defined persona and proficiency

statement for your business.

 Study competitors’ business profiles, analyze their strong points, and add them

to yours.

 Add prominent features of your business that make it stand out among

others.

 Include the milestones achieved by your company.

 Add address and other details.

 Include data and statistics.

 List your renowned vendors.

 Add some keywords to it to get noticed by the web crawler.
17
 Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is the degree to which your brand name is known. Brand name

solidifies customers’ trust. So, your brand name must overshadow your products.

Promoting the brand name helps your business grow and get over the obsolete business

state.

Social Media Marketing can help you in branding your business. It helps you increase

your public profile as well. All you need is to

 Choose the right Social Media Channel for your business.


 Finalize a social content strategy.

 Make a strong content strategy.


 Participate in good conversations with your customers to let them feel more

connected.

 Keep track of all key metrics like potential reach, conversation share, links, etc.
18
 Social Engagement

Social Media Engagement is the process of reaching out to potential

customers and interacting with them through Social Media. It is

primarily done to draw attention to a particular product or service. It

is a two-way channel where a consumer can share a good relationship

with the vendors.

To achieve optimum reach, you need to engage with your audience. It

can be a relentless task. To grab more out of less, you need to

strategize your social media engagement norms.

 Use 'Social Channels' to reach out to fans.


 Use Social Media platforms to announce any event you are
organizing.

 Entertain Posts your audience is posting.
19
  Use Social Media Circles to participate in valuable and

educational conversations.

 Participate in Social Media groups.

Measure your engagement level to trace your engagement efforts. It

is a ratio between the social platforms that you use and the social

platforms that you don't use to engage. The higher the level, the

stronger your bonding with the audience.

Viral Marketing

Any hot topic that is infectious is Viral Marketing. It is 'exposing an

idea' for a cause. It is a message that goes viral by passing from one

to another to boost your business.

Social Media Viral Marketing is the use of social media channels to

spread any message to create brand awareness. Viral marketing rates

may differ on each level.

Examples of Viral Marketing

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge − The ALS Association received increased

media attention by soaking the whole world. Even celebrities and

entrepreneurs participated in it.

Ashton Kutcher hits 1M − Ashton has been a seeding strategist

who influenced his fans with an influencing message that went viral.

20
Hotmail went viral − Hotmail team placed a link 'Want a free email

account? Sign up for Hotmail today.' in the footer of any mail sent

from a Hotmail account. It was a viral hit.

It wasn't so long ago that social media was a completely new thing. Four years ago,

when we started Advice Interactive Group, many people didn’t know what social

media was let alone the effect it would have on all of our
21
lives. It was an exciting interactive medium that suddenly took the world by storm to

such an extent that it became something that no business, small or large, local or global,

could afford to ignore. Today, there are more than 1.28 billion active users on Facebook

alone, currently the world's most popular social network. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+,

and various other social media sites have hundreds of millions of active users as well.

Social media is effectively a platform for conversation and sharing, powered by services

such as the ones mentioned above. While one of the major uses of social media is

keeping in touch with friends and relatives around the world, it is also a platform for

customers, investors, and employees to communicate with one another, and this is where

the enormous and ever-growing industry of social media marketing comes in. From this

point forth, we will refer to social media marketing by its popular abbreviation, SMM.
22
 Succeeding With Social Media

SMM is all about being present and engaging your target audience directly, but at the

same time, the medium is largely unorganized and uncontrolled. To succeed, you will

need a strategy that helps you reach out to the right audience and join in with the global

conversation that is social media. If you have yet to be convinced of the enormous

potential that social media offers to small businesses, consider the following facts:

 According to the Social Media Examiner online magazine, 86% of marketers in 2013

considered social media to be essential for their business with 49% of marketers choosing

Facebook as their primary social media platform.


 According to the marketing firm WebDAM Solutions, 43% of marketers found

customers through LinkedIn, while 52% of marketers found customers through

Facebook in 2013.

 According to Pew Research, approximately 73% of all Internet users used social media

services regularly in 2013, with the most popular being Facebook.


Now that you have an idea of the prevalence of social media and its rapidly growing

influence, let's take a look at some of the key ways in which social media can help you

connect with your target audience:

23
  generate awareness of your company and its products or services by tapping into one of

the largest audiences in the world.


 Generate leads through your social networking connections, speeding up the process by

creating events and promotions.


 Draw in visitors to your website and other online portals by using your social

media resources to promote new content.


 Maintain direct relationships with your customers and potential customers to improve

your product and get to better know your audience.


 Provide customer service and advice directly to your audience and get useful feedback

from your followers to help track your success.


 Facilitate the sharing of your online content through the use of social media sharing

buttons, effectively letting your audience advertise for you.


The above cites some of the key reasons to get involved in SMM, but there are many

more depending on the type of business you are operating. Local businesses can also

make extensive use of social media platforms targeted specifically towards traditional

high-street businesses. Sites like Google Places, Bing Places, Yelp, and Foursquare,

among others, help you to show up in local search results and online or mobile maps.

What's more, is that all of the above is free to use, and while there are also paid SMM

methods, the free ones are far too valuable to neglect.

24
 1 - Understanding the Social Media Marketing Process

Small business marketers often find the prospect of online marketing a daunting one, not

least because it can be difficult to know which areas to focus on. SMM is an extensive

subject with a complex hierarchy which you will need to familiarize yourself with to plan

your strategy. As is the case with many forms of online marketing, SMM typically starts

with your website:

 The foundation of your social marketing campaign is your website, particularly a blog,

which provides a regular stream of content to keep your audience interested, increase

subscribers and social media followers, and raise awareness of your business and its

online presence.

 RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds allow you to aggregate and sort your content in

such a way that you can provide more personalized content to different segments of your

audience. People can subscribe to your blog to receive regular updates by way of RSS

feeds.

 Social search tools, such as Google Places, Bing Places, Foursquare, Yelp, and other

online directories may be used to get listed in local search results and draw more

attention to your business and its online presence. Social search is heavily intertwined

with SMM for small businesses.

25
  Social sharing and bookmarking refers to tagging and sharing content on social

networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ or social bookmarking

websites like Delicious, Digg, or StumbleUpon. For sharing to happen, you need to

have enough high-quality and useful content.


 Microblogging, typically using the Twitter platform, can help to raise awareness and

promote your content, thus drawing in more visitors to your website or blog. However,

for microblogging to become successful, you need plenty of content worth promoting

and sharing.


SMM starts with extensive planning, followed by research into your target audience.

You will then need to move your focus to engaging your audience while publishing

content (content marketing) and promoting it on your various social networks while also

encouraging your audience to do the same.

2 - Social Media Networks to Use

While just about everyone has heard of the largest social media sites, such as Facebook

and Twitter, there are many others worth mentioning. This chapter takes a look at the

world's most popular social media platforms and how they can help small businesses

with their social marketing campaigns.

26
 Facebook

With 1.28 billion active user accounts in March 2014, Facebook is by far the largest

social media platform in the world providing both paid and free marketing

opportunities for businesses small and large.

 Facebook business pages offer a platform for businesses to provide regular updates,

build up subscribers, and engage audiences directly.


 Facebook Ads provides a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising system that businesses

can use to provide targeted ads to relevant audiences.


 Your target audience can share your content on their own Facebook accounts and

increase awareness by 'Liking' certain posts.

Twitter

The social networking and micro-blogging platform Twitter has 200 million active

accounts, and it is particularly popular for businesses, entrepreneurs, and celebrities to

provide short, regular updates.

 Twitter users can post short 'Tweets' with a 140-character limit, making the platform

compatible with SMS as well.


 Create a Twitter page specifically for your business and use it to attract followers

and reach out to your target audience.

27
  Twitter Promoted Tweets provides businesses with a paid advertising

platformthat helps them to reach out to a wider audience.

Google+

Google+ has 540 million active accounts, making it the second-largest social media site

in the world. Most importantly, Google+ integrates with Google's other important

services for both businesses and individuals.

 Your Google+ profile is directly connected with your listing on Google Places, a tool

for local businesses to show up on maps and local searches.


 Google+ offers a professionally orientated platform for businesses, allowing them to

carry out direct relationships with things like live video conferencing.

 Google+ integrates with other important Google services, such as Google Authorship,

Google Places, and of course, the world's largest search engine.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn has 277 million users, and unlike Facebook, Google+, and Twitter, it is
specifically aimed towards a professional market consisting of both individuals and
businesses.

 Creating a Company Page with LinkedIn provides you with a platform to showcase

your business and connect with potential customers and leads.

28
  LinkedIn is the number one social media resource for professional connections,

such as those in business-to-business (B2B) marketing.


 Search for employees and valuable business leads by browsing through

professional profiles on LinkedIn.

Instagram

Another primarily image- and video-based social media website, Instagram has more

than 150 million active monthly users making it one of the most popular services of its

kind.

 Being visually orientated, Instagram is ideal for businesses in the fashion, food,

travel, design, and technology industries.


 You can post creative snapshots and other illustrations showcasing your company's

products, host photo contests, and integrate promotional codes.


 You can only link to your business's website through your Instagram bio page,

though you can refer to it in post comments to help generate traffic.

YouTube

Though not primarily a social networking website, the world's third most visited

website, and the most popular video-sharing resource, YouTube also integrates

important social features making it too important to ignore.

29
  YouTube provides a free platformthath businesses can use to publish video content such

as tutorials, product overviews, and more.


 YouTube provides its own paid advertising program, allowing businesses to have their

ads appear in other people's videos.


 YouTube's social features include video commenting, integration with Google+,

and ratings by way of likes and dislikes.


The above social networks largely revolve around building up relations and sharing

content, but the list certainly doesn't end here. Another important type of social media is

social bookmarking, a type of service that allows users to add, annotate, and share

content from elsewhere on the Web. Though most of the above sites also facilitate social

bookmarking, several other websites deal primarily with this area of social media. Some

of the most popular include Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Delicious. These sites

provide you with a useful platform for promoting your content.


Many other countries and geographical areas also have their social media networks,

some of which have hundreds of millions of users. For example, VKontakte, often

dubbed the 'Russian Facebook' has around 250

million users mostly in Russia and the former Soviet republics, while China

has its Qzone social network with almost half a billion users.
30
Social media marketing tools:

Besides research tools, various companies provide specialized platforms and tools for

social media marketing:

● Social media measurement

● Social network aggregation

● Social bookmarking

● Social analytics

● Automation

● Social media

● Blog marketing

● Validation

Different Methods of Social Media Marketing

Social network marketing is popularly called Internet marketing. Today you can find

many ways for internet marketing. Many people who enter this online marketing are less

worried because of its guaranteed success. If you look at the Internet all types of products

have been marketed online without much effort. The Internet attracts many business

people to promote their business online. Social network marketing has grown to such a

height that today many people can't earn without it.

 31

online marketing is less worried because of its guaranteed success. If you look at the

Internet all types of products have been marketed online without much effort. The

Internet attracts many business people to promote their business online. Social network

marketing has grown to such a height that today many people can't earn without it.

Some of the most recognized network marketing tools are Facebook, My Space, and

LinkedIn. Twitter became a regular place for people who have newly entered the field of

social network marketing.

1. Blogging: When you start Blogging or posting your data about any product, you can

see less response from clients. Later it will become big business via a blog. Websites and

blogs are the most powerful tools for social network marketing when matched with other

networking tools. A blog is an amazing tool that provides many other facilities in

addition to just marketing your business. It also helps you to communicate with other

clients in case you have any problems.

2. Personal website or blog: It is important to have a private website if you are a

freelancer. Your website will help your clients to know about you and it will make them

clear that you are a serious freelance marketer and help to

32
make huge revenue via online marketing.

3. Article selling: It is also the best and cheapest internet marketing method. It is a

mode of advertising our trade just by writing articles and attracting an endless number of

users across the world. We usually sell our articles to different article database websites

and article directories. Today it provides free business to many advertisers and publishers

and they benefit from their articles.

4. Email sending: Electronic mail sending is the best way to market. Collect a list of

email addresses through portfolio websites and email about your business to all internet

users. Your Email should be attractive in such a way that your recipient will be impressed

to get back to you.

5. Use social networking websites: Social networking websites like Twitter and

Facebook can be used to promote your sales. These provide the best platform for all who

are thinking of online marketing.

6. Video promotion: Use several video distribution websites for your marketing.

These websites upload your service to the whole world. All that you need to do is film a

video about marketing and send it to video-uploading sites like YouTube. It seems it is

the easiest way of marketing than any other mode since many people will be interested in

viewing videos
33
rather than a word form of advertisement.

7. Press Releases or media releases: These attract several public clients and

increase relationships among them.

8. Search Engine Optimization: It improves the traffic to your website by

providing quality web content. It uses RSS feeds and many SEO techniques.

Social networking websites and blogs:

Social networking websites allow individuals to interact with one another and build

relationships. When products or companies join those sites, people can interact with the

product or company. That interaction feels personal to users because of their previous

experiences with social networking site interaction

Social networking sites and blogs allow individual followers to “retweet” or “repost”

comments made by the product being promoted. By repeating the message, all of the

user’s connections can see the message, therefore reaching more people. Social

networking sites act as word of mouth. Because the information about the product is

being put out there and is getting repeated, more traffic is brought to the

product/company.
34
Through social networking sites, products/companies can have conversations and

interactions with individual followers. This personal interaction can instill a feeling of

loyalty into followers and potential customers. Also, by choosing whom to follow on

these sites, products can reach a very narrow target audience.

Engagement

In the context of the social web, engagement means that customers and stakeholders are

participants rather than viewers. Social media in business allows anyone and everyone to

express and share an opinion or idea somewhere along the business’s path to market.

Each participating customer becomes part of the marketing department, as other

customers read their comments or reviews. The engagement process is then fundamental

to successful social media marketing.

Example-

2008 Presidential Election

The 2008 presidential campaign had a huge presence on social networking sites. Barack

Obama, a Democratic candidate for US President, used Twitter and Facebook to

differentiate his campaign. His social networking site profile pages were constantly being

updated and interacting with followers.

35
Kony 2012

A short film released on March 5, 2012, by humanitarian group Invisible Children, Inc.

This 29-minute video aimed at making Joseph Kony, an International Criminal Court

fugitive, famous worldwide to have support for his arrest by December 2012; the time

when the campaign ends. The video went viral within the first six days after its launch,

reaching 100 million views on both YouTube and Vimeo.

Implications on traditional advertising:

Minimizing use

Traditional advertising techniques include print and television advertising. The Internet

had already overtaken television as the largest advertising market. Websites often include

banners or pop-up ads. Social networking sites don’t always have ads. In exchange,

products have entire pages and can interact with users. Television commercials often end

with a spokesperson asking viewers to check out the product website for more

information. Print ads are also starting to include barcodes on them. These barcodes can

be scanned by cell phones and computers, sending viewers to the product website.

Advertising is beginning to move viewers from the traditional outlets to the electronic

ones.
36
Leaks

Internet and social networking leaks are one of the issues facing traditional advertising.

Video and print ads are often leaked to the world via the Internet earlier than they are

scheduled to premiere. Social networking sites allow those leaks to go viral, and be seen

by many users more quickly. The time difference is also a problem facing traditional

advertisers. When social events occur and are broadcast on television, there is often a

time delay between airings on the East Coast and the West Coast of the United States.

Social networking sites have become a hub of comment and interaction concerning the

event. This allows individuals watching the event on the West Coast (time-delayed) to

know the outcome before it airs.

General Social Networking Statistics:

● 62% of adults worldwide now use social media.

● Social networking is the most popular online activity with 22% of time online

spent on channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

● 65% of the world’s top companies have an active Twitter profile.

37
● 90% of marketers use social media channels for business with 93% of these rating

social tools as “important”.

● 43% of marketers have noticed an improvement in sales due to social campaigns.

● 72% of marketers who have worked in social media for three or more years said

that they saw a boost in turnover due to social channels (the longer you’re working

in it the better you get).

● 91% of experienced social marketers see improved website traffic due to social

media campaigns and 79% are generating more quality leads.

● The average time spent by marketers on social media is 1-5 hours per week for

those just getting started and 6+ hours per week for those with 3+ years of

experience.

● The most popular social networking tool for marketing is Facebook – being used

by 92%, followed by Twitter (84%), LinkedIn (71%) and

blogs (68%).

38
● LinkedIn is 4X better for B2B lead generation than Facebook and Twitter.

● Only 10% of marketers are actively monitoring social media ROI.

● Only 22% of businesses have a dedicated social media manager.

● 23% of Fortune 500 companies have a public-facing corporate blog.

● 58% of Fortune 500 companies have an active corporate Facebook account, and

62% have an active corporate Twitter account.

● 47% of customers are somewhat likely they follow or like.

39
 Indian Market:

● India’s Internet economy is expected to reach Rs. 10.8 trillion by

2016, as the country’s growth rate in this segment is far ahead of many of the

developing nations, as reported by BCG.

● According to BCG, the Indian Internet economy contributed 3.2 trillion rupees to

the overall economy in 2010, 4.1% of the country’s GDP, & could triple in 4

years.

● More than 39 million Internet users who form 86% of the total Internet audience,

visited social networking sites in July 2011.

● The total Indian social networking audience grew 43 percent in the past year,

more than tripling the rate of growth of the total Internet audience in India.

● India now ranks as the seventh largest market worldwide for social networking

India is adding Internet users at the rate of almost 5-7 million a month, and at the

current pace it will surpass the US, which

40
 has about 245 million users, in less than two years.

● Active user base per month in India is close to 30 Million marks which is still a

pretty large market but not as big as portrayed by some consultants.

● India has close to 10 million online shoppers and is growing at an estimated 30%.

● India's e-tailing market in 2011 was about $600 Mn and is expected to touch $9

Bn by 2016 and $70 Bn by 2020 – estimated the country is the third-largest

Internet market in the world after China and the United States.

● There are more Internet users in towns with a population of less than 5 lakh than

in the top eight metros put together.

● “About 2 billion people worldwide access the Internet and 25% of them are from

China. India contributes about 6% to the world's Net population and the US

12.5%.

● The survey found that more than 75% of Internet usage is among school- and

college-going students and those who have recently graduated.

● Mumbai has the highest number of Internet users (6.2 million) followed by

Delhi/NCR (5 million), Kolkata (2.4 million), and Chennai (2.2 million).

 41

● The survey found that more than 75% of Internet usage is among school- and

college-going students and those who have recently graduated.

● Mumbai has the highest number of Internet users (6.2 million) followed by

Delhi/NCR (5 million), Kolkata (2.4 million), and Chennai (2.2 million).

● The percentage of companies using social media in the top 5 markets is:

▪ China: 82%

▪ USA: 71%

▪ India: 70%

▪ Brazil: 68%

▪ Canada: 51%

E-Marketer estimates advertisers will spend $3.63 billion in the US and over $4

billion more in the rest of the world on social networking sites this year. And that’s

just paid ad spending. When the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) surveyed

US marketers this year, 90% said they were using social networks for their efforts—

about even with last year, at 89%. While this percentage has risen dramatically since

2007, when just 20% of marketers used social media, growth has plateaued— and

shifted to other new digital media platforms instead

42
 year, at 89%. While this percentage has risen dramatically since 2007, when just 20%

of marketers used social media, growth has plateaued— and shifted to other new

digital media platforms instead.

Indian Online Market-

ASIA INTERNET USE, POPULATION DATA AND

FACEBOOK STATISTICS

Internet Internet Penetration Users Facebook

Population
ASIA Users, Users (% % 31-Mar-
(2011 Est.)
(Year 2000) 31-Dec-2011 Population) Asia 2012
43
 0.1
Afghanistan 29,835,392 1,000 1,256,470 4.2 % 257,440
%

0.5
Bangladesh 158,570,535 100,000 5,501,609 3.5 % 2,520,680
%

0.0
Bhutan 708,427 500 98,728 13.9 % 65,660
%

50.5
China * 1,336,718,015 22,500,000 513,100,000 38.4 % 447,460
%

11.9
India 1,189,172,906 5,000,000 121,000,000 10.2 % 45,048,100
%

5.4
Indonesia 245,613,043 2,000,000 55,000,000 22.4 % 43,523,740
%

10.0
Japan 126,475,664 47,080,000 101,228,736 80.0 % 7,684,120
%

Korea, 4.0
48,754,657 19,040,000 40,329,660 82.7 % 6,376,160
South %

44
 1.7
Malaysia 28,728,607 3,700,000 17,723,000 61.7 % 12,365,780
%

0.2
50,000 2,031,245 6.9 % 1,396,800
Nepal 29,391,883 %

2.9
133,900 29,128,970 15.5 % 6,412,960
Pakistan 187,342,721 %

0.2
121,500 2,503,194 11.8 % 1,235,080
Sri Lanka 21,283,913 %

TOTAL 100.0
3,879,740,877 114,304,000 1,016,799,076 26.2 % 195,034,380
ASIA %
45
 

objectives of the study:









1. To measure the effectiveness of communicating through social networking sites.

2. To find the impact of these communication channels on India.

44
 Chapter-2

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
45
A STUDY ON EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
STRATEGY IN DEVELOPING BRAND
COMMUNICATION

The Internet is an emerging information technology with the credibility of immediacy

and fastness, thus, it brings globalization in every aspect of communication.

Communication through the internet is more specified, with an effective interactive

strategy among its users. In recent days, internet advertising has taken new forms that

have more advantages over traditional media like print media, television, and radio.

Marketing communication is becoming precise, personal, interesting, interactive, and

social. Different strategies of communication are followed in various social networking

sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Orkut. They not only create an impact on the audience

but also make them interact with the marketing statistics created. People get more

attached to brand communication on social networking sites than usual banners and pop-

up ads. These networking sites bring more interactive communication with advertising.

Social networking sites will become the primary arena for highly targeted marketing and

advertising. Therefore, it is necessary to study the effectiveness of brand communication

strategy followed in social networking sites which are mainly accessed by Indian users.

This research attempts to find the effectiveness of brand communication strategy in

promoting and advertising their brand on social networking sites. The effectiveness is

determined with the help of a survey of people who use these sites, and the content of

three social networking sites is analyzed.

46
 INTRODUCTION

In its current form, the Internet is primarily a source of communication, information, and

entertainment, but increasingly, it also acts as a vehicle for commercial transactions.

Since the explosion of the web as a business medium, one of its primary uses has been for

marketing. Soon, the web could become a critical distribution channel for the majority of

successful enterprises. One among them is marketing and spreading brand

communication through Social networking sites.

Social networking websites are online communities of people who share interests and

activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. They

typically provide a variety of ways for users to interact, through chat, messaging, email,

video, voice chat, file-sharing, blogging, and discussion groups. As the World Wide Web

grew in popularity, social networking moved to web-based applications. In 2002, the

social networking era started. In 2006, anyone with an email address could sign up on

social networking sites.

Now advertisers target more over to these media due to the high rush in the varsity of

audiences. So they hire this as the ideal platform to communicate their

47
brand and create an effective brand identity through a highly effective and interactive

communication strategy. Most of the advertisers present their ads in interactive form so

that people tend to check them and gain a little knowledge about the product. There are

various forms of brand communication available on social networking sites. The effective

way of brand communication present in these networking sites would be the main aim of

the study.

Social media:

Social media advertising is a paid form of brand, service, or business promotion and

requires a proper and planned communicative message and budget. Advertising is

customer-centric. Customers play an important role in any major or minor

communication because they are the ones who are going to decide the fate of the

advertising communication. Some benefits of social network advertising include:

1. Popularize your brand, idea, or service to the target group.

2. Informing the target audience about your brand or service’s presence in the

market.

3. Encouraging healthy competition in the market.

4. Providing social benefits for the brand.

48
5. Making the audience interact and keep them intact with the brand.

Advertising on the Internet provides a major contribution to brand competition in the

market. Advertising here not only provides information about a product or service but

also promotes innovation. Besides it also facilitates consumer satisfaction. Big and small

companies, individuals from all walks of life, major and minor events, concepts, etc.,

nowadays lay their base on social network advertising to get recognized in the market.

With over 200 million active users, Facebook, Twitter, and Orkut have become personal,

product, and corporate branding hubs in India. Every brand that exists on social

networking sites has the same core features and benefits, such as the ability to create a

page, share resources, add multimedia, and much more. The effective brand

communication strategies are analyzed to find the impact among the users.
49
Social networking sites:

A social networking site creates network communication among the user community.

Though social networking site serves for communication purposes among special interest

groups, the marketing strategy has also entered this medium for its reach. People get

exposed to various kinds of brand communication through this media. They tend to

interact with the brand and also get awareness about the brand and its service in an

interesting way. Hence, there is a need to study the effective way of communication in

branding the product on social networking sites and analyze its reach among the people

and their perceptions in this research.

In the recent trend of marketing on social networking sites, various brand

communications are widely used to attract targeted leads. So, this study would help to

know the effectiveness of communication and strategy done through social networking

sites which make the target audience participate in this kind of advertising. This is mainly

studied on networking sites that are popular among Indian users Face Facebook, Twitter,

and Orkut. This study would help the advertisers to understand the effective

communication strategy to communicate their brand among the users.

50
 SWOT ANALYSIS: SOCIAL MEDIA

Strengths:

● Large market reach or penetration and it’s very useful if you are setting up a

digital engagement strategy (to new people, young people).

● Social media builds a conversation and converse with others and build

close networking bonds that share quick information exchange. It lets you follow

and connect with people/groups that interest you – but are not necessarily your

friends (as with Facebook) authors, celebrities, co-workers, colleagues,

organizations, etc.

● The campaigns are generally Cost-effective in the sense most of the platforms are

free. They just demand time, there is a Human factor:

Your “brand” becomes more HUMAN. Media exposure can be the strength of

this. While Twitter is in a strong market position in micro-messaging. Facebook is

the only real competitor here – and they attract users for different reasons. It helps

to build strong, long-term relationships through online social networking, at a

faster pace than just relying on traditional face-to-face networking and getting

tons of publicity.
 51

● The industry has developers creating hundreds of applications around its API. It is

RSS-enabled.

Weaknesses:

● Tough to train or convince management team/group members on social media

principles as a lot of “Why Bother” from most mainstream (i.e. Facebook users)

people are there.

● The industry has a low retention rate of only 40%.

● Lacks tools or resources to track and monitor social media campaign results.

There is concern about information leakage, liability, security, and management.

● Effort v/s results: Even if it is more measurable than other channels, it is

difficult (especially for small business operations) to balance the effort put on

social media against the results obtained.

● Consistency: Engaging with your audience at a direct level means more effort

in terms of keeping a consistent message/ corporate image

● Making up for mistakes: The time frame to correct errors that affect your

audience is less. Because you are heavily exposed, your company has to take

action more promptly than if you weren’t

52
 (especially if people are having conversations about your brand, you will have to

engage and clarify)

● Blocked at many work sites: management sees it drops productivity; and

hurts the bottom line.

Opportunities:

● Creating/joining online presence on sites where the company currently doesn’t

exist, a Great opportunity for individuals and organizations to connect and

exchange information. It opens a new target or niche markets that are untapped:

students, and the public.

● Partnerships with other groups, organizations, schools, government, etc.

● Penetration into a new geographical market quickly.

● Recruitment of interested new members, students, and public support and allows

you to build short and long-term relationships with prospects. It humanizes the

‘brand’ and makes the recruitment process more personal.

● Can gain deep insights into real-time trends, news, and all of us; “be the pulse of

the internet” as said by Founder Biz Stone.

● Integration into real-time games, media, and apps. We’ve barely scratched the

surface so far of what’s possible. Twitter as real-time

53
 infrastructure.

● It may become the dominant way for businesses to communicate with their

customers as quick delivery, branding opportunities, and enhanced marketing

opportunities are there.

● Being present where stuff happens: People research for info/products/services

online and value the opinion of other individuals rather than whatever a company

may say about their offer. If your company is present in an interactive

environment like social media, the opportunities for engagement, conversion, and

most importantly clarification of doubts regarding your brand, are countless.

● Developing a following/ audience that auto-nurtures itself: Your efforts in Social

media, together with the effort of your following may mean that your audience

becomes your best salespeople.

● Talent coming your way effortlessly: Because of the possibilities of exposure that

Social Media allows for, interacting here may mean that future talent (in the shape

of employees, partners, or, name it) will come your way through the power of

connecting online!

● Reach out to certain groups that traditional media didn’t allow you to:

Because Social media is for everyone, sooner or later you’ll come

across people, you never thought of as your client. This opens the
54
 doors to building new relationships but also to valuable feedback that can help

you develop your products or services more intelligently.

Threats:

● There can be the threat of Attitudes toward privacy: while lately, it seems

everyone is willing to share the most intimate as well as mundane details of their

life – there could easily be a backlash against this trend.

● We’ve all heard of a few embarrassing stories about over-sharing online, and a

few high-profile examples might make people rethink their habits.

● Micro-messaging may just be a fad. There’s nothing inherently awesome about

140 characters. It got too much publicity in a short time. May get burned out and

get dangerous spam.

● Other social networking sites (MySpace, Tagged, Friend feed, identi.ca, and

others) may grow and steal market share and Acquisition by a bigger player

(Google) may disappoint early adopters and loyal users.

55
LITERATURE REVIEW

Scott (2009) states the reason brand promoters prefer the online web for marketing is that

the tools, techniques, and content are constantly evolving. The buyers reward creativity

by responding to the online efforts like:

“If you are open to trying out new things, you can be first in your industry to use

something new to communicate to your buyers”.

Marketing on some social networking websites is still the most popular in their niche.

Shih (2009) says that there are hundreds of millions of active users across sites like

Facebook, Hi5, Orkut, and MySpace. 2.6 billion min are spent on Facebook each day.

These websites are enabling brands to engage the right people in the right conversation at

the right time. Marketing the brands through social media is becoming precise, personal,

interesting, interactive, and social.

Weber (2009) says promoting a community is just like promoting a new brand product or

service to the consumers. Social media is used to communicate with people in the

promotional aspect and is inclined to involve the people. Traditional advertising and

direct marketing in social media are to send people to the digital community to be

informed, entertained, and heard. Users find it appealing, a value high enough to

encourage them to participate.

56
Borges (2009) finds that today's buyers want to be engaged differently than in years past

and many traditional marketing tactics simply do not work anymore. Social media

marketing is a revolutionary way to build solid relationships with buyers. Low cost,

brand building, staffing advantages, loyalty, and a level playing field are key benefits of

social networking sites as successful marketing mediums.

Zarrella (2010) says the roots of online social networking can be traced to the 1980s

bulletin board systems (BBS). These systems allow the users to create personal profiles,

and help to share information by sending private

messages, public messages, and post events at low-speed connectivity. After the

emanation of social networking technology into the Internet world, it grew and popular

among Internet users.

Lacy and Hernandez (2009) say Twitter gives the ability to share nearly 140-character

thoughts in a split second, where users can easily share links to press releases and stories

about their business, service, or product. By making tweets interesting and diverse, there

is a greater possibility of increasing the followers, by considering news sharing and

stories about the industry that they serve.

57
The rules of marketing had to change and the web has proved a catalyst in bringing the

changes forward and amplifying their scale. The sudden emergence of Web 2.0

marketing techniques demands additional approaches, while most marketers are still

wrestling with the first generation, savvy brands are exploring the landscape that social

media and social networks create for marketers. These techniques are allowing much

deeper drivers in social change to be unleashed, with a profound impact on planning

customer connections. The new generation of relationship marketing responds to the

additional challenges of digital media literacy and in the right hands can trigger a rebuild

of the entire marketing mix through different strategies. Relationship marketing for the

Facebook generation demands both thinking and acting differently (Chaffey 2003).

Stroud (2007) says that the ability of social networking sites to generate these huge

volumes of web traffic is proof of their huge popularity. Google, Yahoo, and News

International have bought themselves a presence in the social networking arena. The

detailed rationale for these acquisitions differs but all have a common theme of wanting

access to the enormous audiences.

Ricadela (2007) says, Coca-Cola has been running promotions on MySpace for the past
two years for brands including Cherry Coke and Fanta and has
58
promoted Diet Coke and other drinks on Google's YouTube.

Smith (2010) says that Facebook is becoming one of the great internet communication

among people time nowadays. Whereas many companies have tried to emulate

Facebook’s success or challenge it in one geography or another, Facebook has proven

that the core asset on which all of its services are built - the social graph - is much more

defensible and powerful than many others once anticipated.

Visitors to social networking sites are significantly more likely than average to visit

leisure-oriented retail sites categories, such as music, jewelry/luxury goods/ accessories,

consumer electronics, and apparel. Heavy social networking visitors are defined as the

top 20% of visitors based on time spent on social networking sites. People typically enjoy

sharing their experiences with these products, whether it is to talk about their new iPhone

or the pair of designer jeans they just bought. Social networking sites offer the venue for

those conversations to occur. Social media advertising is ideal for promoting brand

recognition, although click-through rates are not so strong. Still, there is no doubt that

advertising via social media sites is an effective way to increase your overall revenue

stream (Brinlee, 2007).

59
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

To analyze and find the effectiveness of communication strategy in developing a brand,

communication through social networking sites was done with the survey method and

content analysis in the research.

Methods of data collection:

The survey method helped to identify the reach of the brand among its target audience,

ways of impact, usage of these social networking sites, and access to these forms of

communication content analysis is another method used to analyze the communication

strategy of different social networking sites with certain parameters among top three

Indian social networking sites which are tabulated with results.

Research design:

This research study adopted survey and content analysis to find the effectiveness and the

impact of communication in branding any product or service among the target market

through social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Orkut. The research design

used is descriptive research.

60
Survey:

The survey was conducted randomly among Facebook, Twitter, and Orkut user

communities by sending questionnaires online to collect individual opinions from the

respondents.

Sampling:

Nonprobability sampling i.e. convenient sampling technique is used to collect the

opinions from the online respondents. The total population is a social networking user

community, but to collect effective data the sampling is constrained to the target

population like young adults, and graduates within the age of 16 years to 30 years. The

sampling size is 50.

CONTENT ANALYSIS

In content analysis, the following three popular social networking sites were selected to

find effective brand communication among their users

(Facebook, Twitter and Orkut).

Parameters and units of analysis:

1. Target group: category of audience visiting these sites.

2. Types of advertisements: what are the types of brand communication followed

by them?
61
3. DSs placement: how do these sites place their ad on their pages?

4. Communication strategy: kinds of brand promotion used by them.

5. Visual appealing factors: regarding the appearance of these sites.

6. User Interaction: kinds of participation with the brand.

7. Accessibility: how legibly they present themselves.

8. User interest: the forms of expectations from users on these sites.

62
 Chapter-3

Findings & Analysis

FINDINGS

Usage of the Internet by the user:

It has been found that 12% of the audience uses the internet once a week, and 19% of the

respondents use it 2 to 3 days a week. 30% of the respondents use 1 or 2 hours a day and

the remaining 39% of users are accessing the internet more than 3 hours a day. It is

understood that the new media and its technology is an emerging trend in communication

which attracts almost all people if they know about computers. So this digital media has

more snatchers towards its communication and the internet is becoming part of necessary

communication among students and professionals, etc. (Table 1).

64
Table 1:

Awareness of social networking sites:

From this result, it is observed that nearly 98% of internet users are aware of social

networking sites and only 2% of them are clueless. Although the concept of computer-

based communities dates back to the early days of computer networks, only some years

after the advent of the internet online social networks have met public and commercial in

a successive manner. At the most basic level, an online social network is an internet

community where individuals interact, often through profiles that represent their selves to

others. Social networks have grown rapidly, and some like Facebook, and Orkut, have

achieved the mass market and penetrated in a few months since their inception, such

applications have infringed their users in different strategies to interact with more people

(Table 2).
65
Table 2:

Several profiles on social networking sites:

The study found that all the respondents that is, 100% of respondents have profiles on

Facebook. Also, 88% of respondents of the same group have profiles on Orkut, 62% of

respondents have connected to Twitter and 37% of users have accounts on other social

networking sites. The users can create many accounts on different social networking

sites. Facebook is useful for communication, self-promotion, knowing about friends and

community, and finding the missed out on school and college mates. The peers use

Facebook, Orkut, and Twitter for the same reasons to share information and

communicate. Due to this reasons, Facebook, Orkut, and Twitter were more popular

among the internet users of the youth population comparatively

66
with other social networking sites (Table 3).

Table 3:

Ads on different social networking sites:

From the earlier mentioned, it is found that 45% of the users find Facebook as a well-

communicated social networking site, which promotes more brands and advertisements,

gives information about products and services which is useful for the young user

community in an interactive way to learn more about the particular brands, 12% user

suggests Twitter, please follow one pattern all here small words have effective

communication of advertisements. 28% of users find Orkut as the second option for

communicating brand advertisements (Table 4).

67
Table 4:

Exposure to different kinds of ads:

From the data, it is found that 32% of respondents have come across web banner ads on

social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Orkut whereas 8% cut across pop-up

ads and flash ads on various websites, and 31% of users found video ads in YouTube and

other sites. Google, Yahoo, and News International have bought themselves a presence in

the social networking arena with different communication strategies to have innovative

appearances in content and display. The detailed rationale for these acquisitions differs,

but all have a common theme of essential access to the enormous audiences of these sites

(Table 5).
68
Table 5:

Communication creates trust in ads:

From the survey data, it is understood that 38% of users agreed and were satisfied with

ads appearing on social networking sites, whereas 11% of the users disagreed and were

unsatisfied with certain communication of information. Only 51% of the respondents

found it neutral. The web has proved a catalyst in bringing the changes forward and

amplifying their scale in creating trustworthiness (Table 6).

69
Table 6:

Accessibility of ads:

Only 8% of the total samples say that they have never accessed or shown interest in the

ads displayed on social networking sites while browsing the internet for other

communication purposes. 36% of the respondents used access often and were interested

in listening to the advertisements of various brands, 35% of users said they listen to the

brand communication and also link to the brand sites to gather more information, and

21% of the user's access according to the way of communication it appears because

sometimes the brand promotion could be in the form of display ads, interactive feedback
70
forms or interactive games, accessing advertisement information differs sometimes

according to the format of brand communication. Today's customers want to be engaged

differently than in years past and many traditional marketing tactics simply do not work

anymore. Social media marketing is a revolutionary way to build solid relationships with

customers long before first contact with fun, attractive messages and interactions (Table

7).

Table 7:
71
Brand communication that attracts the users:

Games, quizzes, and updates of the latest information are the kind of interactive

communication messages that attract 28% of users. 26% of users are attracted to fan

pages and posts. 20% of users pulled their interest towards flash ads, 14% of users

listened to video ads and the remaining 12% of users are interested in traditional banner

ads. Most of the social networking websites are enabling brands to engage the right

people in the right conversation at the right time. Nowadays communication on branding

in social networking sites is more personal, contentious, fascinating, and influencing

among the user community (Table 8).

72
Impact of communication:

According to the respondents, 67% of users agreed that the communication strategy used

in brand communication creates an impact on certain brands effectively and also could

help them to recall the same often and interactively. 24% of users said that it partially

creates impact and traffic of communication, which confuses users' minds. The remaining

respondents almost 9%, say that it does not create much impact on ads but is still

effective for other communication purposes like sharing and chatting information (Table

9).

Table 9:
73
74
 Content analysis: Table 10:

Parameters of Facebook Twitter Orkut

Content Analysis

Target group Nearly 54% lie in the age 16% stay updated with 53% less 25

group 16-30.Graduates news; stay in touch years,32%

and students of all age with friends and to between 25-34

update status. years, Graduates

students of all

ages.

Types of ad, Poll engagement ads, No ad but regular Banner ads, Ad

communication Video ads, events and brand follow up and optimization

hybrid ads, Fan pages. updates. using ad

trackers.

Ad placements Generally placed in the NA Right hand side

right-hand side corner and top. Above the

in wall post. profile page.

Communication Brand promotion. To sell Regular feeds from Using an ad tracker,

strategy users to interact with brands and retain the particular groups

Brand identity, sharing, brand identity with the are selected and
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 fan and follow-ups. users. ads are hosted,

themes and fan

pages are one

among the forms.

User interaction Through the pages, posts, To retweet and reply. Through fan

events and games. share messages among pages and click

brand follow-ups. ads.

Visual appealing No themes but visually Can customize the Themes

factor appealing with cool page and can ad own available usually

colors. contents. colorful.

Accessibility Clean and clear and Easy loading and no Same as

content gets loaded fast, time out. Facebook but

friendly user interface. content gets

loaded.

User interest Expect brand to be Regular updates from Usually banner

communicated through following brands. ads and

games, fan pages, etc. optimization ads

Customization People can create their NA Can create fan

own ad and upload, sell. pages and posts.

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 ANALYSIS

As seen earlier, the various brand communication factors involved in these kinds of social

media advertising and day-by-day competition among the brands increase. So, to survive

brands, the communicators come up with more and more innovative, interactive, and

interesting kinds of brand communication messages which make the users access them

and develop closeness with the different brand communication strategies with attractive

names and services.

1. The finding of the study states that audiences respond more to interactive marketing

than the traditional ads followed in Internet advertising.

2. Almost everyone communicates through social networking sites.

3. Nearly 70% of the audience has an impact through ads on social networking sites and

half of them access these ads e.g. games, quizzes, events, etc.

4. Users remember the brand by the way they advertise. They respond to any new form

of advertising that interests them.

5. Social networking sites will become the primary arena for highly targeted
77
marketing and advertising. Social networking sites present an unmatched opportunity to

build a brand.

6. Users of Facebook and Orkut are of the same age group and category. On Twitter,

people do not show much interest because it’s just like a micro-blogging site.

7. Interaction is more in the display banners and advertisements on Facebook and Orkut.

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 NEED FOR THE STUDY

Social Media is the current big buzzword in the world of Internet Marketing and with

good reason. It is already such a big part of the Internet culture. It is here to stay and

should be ignored by marketers, or indeed anybody, at their peril. It is important to

understand WHY people use these websites, as there is a broad demographic on these

sites. Some people use them for business purposes, to network, and to find new deals.

Then others use social networking sites for purely personal reasons and are oblivious to

the fact that there is a business presence in the social networking environment at all.

It is fascinating to see that there are so many different things going on in one place, and

even more incredible that they seem to all work in harmony.

To know:

● How diverse social networking community could be?

● Are we reaching the right audience, and if so, are we reaching them effectively?

79
 ● To know the effectiveness of branding and communicating through SNS.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

● Market research is conducted on various respondents so biases such as mood, and

feelings act on research settings.

● The responses from the respondents could be biased which ultimately affects the

results shown by marketing research.

● This study is limited to Noida & Greater Noida.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

● The study would help in gathering the opinion of people about social networking sites,

how they use them, what the things they do on social and professional networking sites,

and how these sites help them in socializing with their personal and professional contacts.

● The study further helps in analyzing the benefits of promoting through social media,

identifying the benefits of branding and promoting via SNS.

● The study will help to formulate and implement Marketing strategies for

Branding, Promoting, and communicating the information to the customers

through SNS.

80
Chapter-4

Conclusion
 CONCLUSION

Communication about the product or service provides a major contribution to brand

competition in the market. It not only provides information about a product or service but

also promotes creative innovation. Besides advertising, it also facilitates consumer

satisfaction. The hidden fact is that no brand can progress without an effective

communication strategy to attract its customers or users. A big and small variety of

brands nowadays laid their base on social network communication to get recognized in

the target market.

Social networking sites users of Facebook, Twitter, and Orkut have become personal,

product, and corporate branding hubs in India nowadays in the digital era. Every brand

that exists on social networking sites has the same core features and benefits, such as the

ability to create a page, share resources, add multimedia, and much more. Social

networking sites are filled with potential users who are mainly young adults. They spend

more time on these networking sites due to heavy commercial content, entertainment, and

social
83
gathering. So, product or service communicators throng their ads in these areas with more

and more interactive and fascinating factors so that their brand identity is developed

among the right choice of the focused audience. Advertisers and brands use social

networking sites as the major resource for their promotion and developing brand identity

among the focused market.

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 SUGGESTIONS

Communication should be more preferred than advertising: people do not prefer buying

products through social networking sites. So, if the brand is communicated well and

remembered by the audience, then it is the greatest success for the company for its

promotion through social media.

Promotional way of advertising is best: the usual banner ads and pop-up ads make the

users ignore them. So advertising must be interactive, promotional, and in innovative

form to hold the audience. It should target the individuals rather than the masses. If an ad

is hosted for a group then that would be no advantage in delivering specified information.

Adding more multimedia elements to have more interactive factors in fan pages and

groups would benefit the brand user. As the Indian Social media Market size is growing

at a rapid pace, it’s the next most suitable platform for all marketers, from large

multinationals to small startups. It’s the next big thing if one can measure Facebook’s

total members with the population of any country, we can see Facebook will come as the

third highest.
Chapter-5

Annexure
 QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear Sir/Madam

I am a student of GL BAJAJ INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT and have done an

internship on the topic “Analysis of Social Networking Site: A Study on Effective

Communication Strategy in Developing Brand

communication“. I request you to kindly fill out the questionnaire below and I assure

you that the data generated will be kept confidential.

Name: ………………………………………………………….……………

Contact No: ………………………………………………………………...

City: ………………………………………State: ………………………....

87
PART-A

1. Age

● Below 30

● 30-40

● 40-50

● Above 50

2. Educational Qualification

● Undergraduate

● Graduate

● Post Graduate

3. Occupation

● Business

● Profession

● Service
88
PART-B

4. How often do you use the internet?

● Once a week

● 1 or 2 hrs a day

● 2 to 3 days a week

● More than 3 hrs

5. Are you aware of social networking sites?

● Yes

● No

6. How often do you log in to that networking site?

● Daily

● 2 to 3 times a day

● Once a week

● More than 3 times a day

89
7. How many SNS profiles do you have? Mention the number here and tick the

options…………

● Orkut

● Facebook

● Twitter

● Others

8. In which SNS do you find ads communicated well?

● Facebook

● Orkut

● Twitter

● Other

9. What kinds of ads have you come across on these sites?

● Web banner

● Pop-ups

● Flash ads

● Video ads

● Others
90
10. Do you agree that the ads should appear on SNS?

● Strongly Agree

● Agree

● Neutral

● Disagree

● Strongly Disagree

11. Have you ever accessed these ads coming on your way?

● Often

● Sometimes

● Never

● Depending on ads

12. What kinds of Brand communication attract you to SNS?

● Interactive Flash ads

● Banner ads

● Games, quiz, updates

● Video ads
91
13. Did these kinds of ads make an impact on you?

● Strongly Agree

● Agree

● Neutral

● Disagree

● Strongly Disagree
92
 Chapter-6
Reference

● Borges B (2009). Marketing 2.0. Wheat mark, pp. 45-63.

● Chaffey D (2003). Internet Marketing, Strategy, Implementation and Practice. 2nd

edition, Pearson Education Limited, pp. 115-186.

● Donath J, Boyd D (2004). Public displays of connection. BT Technol. J., pp. 71-82

● Eric E (2008). 2008 Growth Puts Facebook In Better Position to Make Money.

http://venturebeat.com/2008/12/18/2008-growth-puts-facebook-in-better-position-

to-make-money.

● Nicole K (2007). Building a Brand through Social Networks, http:/

93
 /mashable.com/ 2007/05/ 08/ brand-social-networks

● Scott DM (2009). The New Rules of Marketing and PR. John Wiley & Sons Inc.,

pp. 135-150

● Shih C (2009). The Facebook Era. Tapping online social networks to build better

products, reach new audiences, and sell more stuff. Prentice Hall Publication, pp.

85-128

● Stroud D. (2007). Opinion piece: Falling in Love 2.0: Relationship

marketing for the Facebook generation. Social networking: An age-

● Neutral commodity — Social networking becomes a mature web application, pp.

105-165.

● Annual India-e-Marketing 2011, Benchmark Research on India Digital Marketing

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