A Study on the Impact of Social Media Marketing on Brand Awareness (GC01395)

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction.

1.1Introduction.

1.2 Background.

1.3 Research Problem/Rationale.

1.4 Research Aims and Objectives.

1.4.1 Aims.

1.4.2 Objectives.

1.5 Research questions.

1.6 Significance of the proposed study.

2.0 Literature Review.

2.1 Introduction.

2.2 Social Media Marketing.

2.2.1 What is Social Media?

2.2.2 How Social Media is effective in business.

2.3 Brand awareness.

2.3.1 What is brand awareness ?.

2.3.2 Factors that affect a business’s brand awareness.

2.3.2 Impact of brand awareness on business performance.

2.5 Impact of social media marketing on business brand awareness.

2.6 Conceptual Framework Development.

3.0 Research Methodologies.

3.1 Introduction.

3.2 Research paradigm.

3.3 Types of investigation.

3.4 Data sources.

3.5 Data collection method.

3.6 Sampling Method.

3.7 Data Analysis Method.

3.8 Accessibility Issues.

3.9 Ethical issues.

3.10 Research limitation.

3.9 Research Timetable.

References.

1.0 Introduction

The chapter introduces the research topic, where the topic is ” A study on the impact of social media marketing on brand preferences”. The chosen case study of this research is Holiday Inn. This is grouped into several sections. In the second section, the research background is outlined, following the research problem/rationale in the third section. In the fourth section, the research aims and objectives are defined, including the research questions in section five. Finally, the significance of the research is discussed in the sixth section.

1.2 Background

Gaining improved brand awareness has been a challenging issue for the hospitability industry including Holiday Inn. Brand awareness refers to the extent to which a business’s brand is recognized by the target as well as potential consumers (Palmer, 2014), and perfectly associated with a specific product or service. Brand awareness is mainly disclosed as a percentage of the target market (Kotler et al., 2014). On the other hand, the endless fading of social media marketing is getting more popularity in the current digital world than ever before to improve awareness According to Blackwell and Engel (2013), Social media marketing is the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites. Social media marketing programs usually emphasize efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it across their social networks, which support increase company awareness, However, in the challenging and competitive market environment many marketers including Holiday Inn has still now vague idea about the effectiveness of social media marketing on brand awareness (Makkar, 2013).

Holiday Inn is facing challenges from the brand management point of view, where the key problems are image problems, product perception issues, and competitive weaknesses. As a result, Holiday Inn must improve its brand image and change the erroneous perception which it offers fewer amenities (like in-room restaurant service, kids staying free, reward points, etc.) than a competitive hotel (Holiday Inn Annual Report, 2015).

There is evidence that social media marketing can play an important role in creating brand awareness among the target customers (Shimp, 2013). As a result, the proposed study will conduct research on social media marketing and its effectiveness on brand awareness from the perspective of Holiday Inn. Then, the study will suggest Holiday Inn on how it can effectively use social media as a marketing tool to attract a wider range of customers and improve awareness.

1.3 Research Problem/Rationale

Improving brand awareness is one of the key issues for any marketers including Holiday Inn (Bolton et al., 2012). Marketers use several marketing techniques to meet this particular objective, where social media plays a significant role (Kotler et al., 2014). However, many businesses including Lancaster London often hesitate to adopt this marketing tool in their business (Munoz and Wood, 2015). Thus, the question is raised by marketers including Holiday Inn as “how can social media be used for developing effective marketing strategies and to improve brand awareness ?” (Holiday Inn Annual Report, 2014).

Developing effective marketing plans and formulating the right marketing strategies depend on the target customers’ needs and expectations (Kotler et al., 2014). UK Net Citizen Report (2014) shows that 98% of young people aged 20-40 use social media where only 44% of total social media users show attraction towards a particular brand getting information through social media ads (UK Net Citizen Report, 2014). On the other hand, as Zhu and Chen (2015) note, almost 70% of businesses have been using social media as marketing tools in the current business world, which has increased their sales revenue by more than 120%. However, many companies including Holiday Inn is facing problem in identifying the needs of the customers through social media marketing campaigns. Thus, improving the effectiveness of social media marketing has been a key issue for Holiday Inn to improve its brand awareness (Holiday Inn Annual Report, 2014).

1.4 Research Aims and Objectives

1.4.1 Aims

The study will assess and analyze the impact of social media as a marketing technique on brand awareness from the perspective of Holiday Inn. Then, the study will provide recommendations for the Holiday Inn on how it can improve its brand awareness through social media marketing tools.

1.4.2 Objectives

To assess the social media marketing tools applied by the Holiday Inn in improving brand awareness
To analyze the factors affecting brand awareness in the hotel industry
To assess the impact of social media as marketing tools on brand awareness from the perspective of Holiday Inn
To identify the weaknesses of Holiday Inn in the usages of social media as marketing tools in improving awareness
To recommend Holiday Inn improve its social media marketing strategies in such a way that can improve its brand awareness.

1.5 Research questions

a) How is Holiday Inn using social media marketing techniques to improve its brand awareness?
b) What factors do impact brand awareness in the hotel industry?
c) How social media as a marketing tool is impacting the brand awareness of Holiday Inn
d) What are the issues faced by Holiday Inn in improving its brand awareness through social media?
e) How Holiday Inn can overcome its weakness in social media marketing for improving brand awareness?

1.6 Significance of the proposed study

The proposed study will be significant for both the hospitable industry including Holiday Inn and the researchers. The hospitability industry including Holiday Inn will benefit through understanding the tools and techniques of social media used in marketing purposes in the industry which will support Holiday Inn to take effective initiatives to improve its social media marketing performance and increase brand awareness among the potential and target customers. On the other hand, the researcher will be benefitted from improving research and interpersonal skills through conducting this academic research work………

Proposal for Postgraduate