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A COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING FROM THEPERSPECTIVE OF IRISH SMALL-TO-MEDIUM ENTERPRISESIs Social Media Marketing a cost-effective tool for Irish Small-to-Medium Enterprises?David ScanlonA dissertation submitted to the University of Dublin in partial fulfilment of therequirements for the degree of M.Sc. in Management of Information Systems2009
Declaration
I declare that the work described in this dissertation is, except where otherwise stated,entirely my own work, and has not been submitted as an exercise for a degree at this or anyother university.Signed: ___________________ David ScanlonAugust 13
th
2009
Permission to lend and/or copy
I agree that the School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College may lend or copy this dissertation upon request.Signed: ___________________ David ScanlonAugust 13
th
2009ii
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my thanks to the individuals who participated in this research, withspecial regard to those who partook in the pilot questionnaire and provided such instructivefeedback.I also wish to thank my employers, Enterprise Ireland, for the sponsorship and supportafforded to me during the course of my studies. I particularly wish to thank my colleaguesin the eBusiness Unit for their support and encouragement, and the staff in the ClientKnowledge Services department for their help in sourcing articles for my research.I would like to thank my parents and family for their invaluable suggestions and proof-reading efforts, as well as their continuing support at each stage of my life-long journey ineducation.I wish to thank my supervisor Barry Collins for the guidance and feedback he providedduring the course of my work.Finally, a very special word of thanks to my wife Sinéad, who now knows far more aboutsocial media than she would ever have wished to. Without her endless patience, advice andinspiration this research would likely not have reached completion - an achievement madeall the more remarkable given the wonderful job she has done in raising our newborn sonFionn.iii
A cost benefit analysis of Social Media Marketing
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Sections
« prev | next »- Chapter 1. Introduction
- Chapter 2. Literature Review
- 2.1 Definition
- 2.2 Usage of SMM
- 2.3 Benefits of SMM
- 2.3.1 Customer Retention
- 2.3.2 Customer Acquisition
- 2.3.3 Research and Development and New Product/Service Development
- 2.4 SMEs and Marketing
- Chapter 3. Research Methodology
- 3.1 Research Question
- 3.2 Research Philosophy
- 3.3 Ethics
- 3.4 Population
- 3.4.1 Definition of Population
- 3.4.2 Participants
- 3.5 Design
- 3.5.1 Survey Details
- 3.5.2 Participant Information Sheet
- 3.5.3 Participant Consent Form
- 3.5.4 Questionnaire
- 3.5.4.1 Company Profile
- 3.5.4.2 Use of Marketing
- 3.5.4.3 Use of SMM
- 3.5.4.4 Impact of SMM
- 3.6 Procedure
- 3.6.1 Pilot Survey
- 3.6.2 Online Survey
- 3.6.3 Quantitative Analysis
- 3.6.4 Qualitative Analysis
- 4. Findings
- 4.1 Introduction
- 4.2 Quantitative Analysis
- 4.2.1 Impact on Social Media Marketing
- Table 1 : Effectiveness of SMM with regard to customer acquisition
- Table 2 : I ncrease in the rate of customer acquisition since adopting SMM
- Table 3 : Effectiveness of SMM with regard to customer retention
- Table 4 : Increase in the rate of customer retention since adopting SMM
- 4.2.2 Use of Marketing
- 4.2.2.1 Overall marketing budget
- Table 5 : Overall marketing budget as a percentage of annual revenue
- 4.2.2.2 Breakdown of overall marketing budget between online and offline
- 4.2.2.3 Marketing spend as a percentage of average cost-per-sale
- Table 6 : Marketing spend as a percentage of average cost-per-sale
- 4.2.3 Use Of Social Media Marketing (SMM)
- 4.2.3.1 SMM Tool Use
- 4.2.3.2 Number of months using SMM
- 4.2.3.3 Motivation to begin using SMM
- Table 8 : Motivators to begin using SMM
- 4.2.3.4 Level of staff involvement
- 4.2.3.6 Percentage of overall marketing budget spent on SMM
- Table 9 : Percentage of overall marketing budget spent on SMM
- 4.2.3.7 SMM spend as a percentage of average cost-per-sale
- Table 10 : SMM spend as a percentage of average cost-per-sale
- 4.3 Qualitative Analysis
- 4.3.2 Positive and Negative Impacts of SMM
- 4.3.2.1 Positive Impacts
- 4.3.2.2 Negative Impacts
- 4.3.3 Changes to Initial Approach
- Chapter 5. Conclusions
- 5.1 Benefit of research
- 5.2 Discussion of results
- 5.3 Contribution to Field of Research
- 5.4 Limitations of Research
- 5.5 Future Research Considerations
- References
- Appendix A: Application for Ethical Approval
- Appendix B: Participant Information Sheet
- Appendix C: Participant Consent Form
- Appendix D: Questionnaire
- Appendix E: Email Invitation to Participants
- Appendix F: Responses to Open-ended Questions
- Vita
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