THE IMPACTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE MARKETING OF SMALL

ENTERPRISES (SMEs) IN METRO MANILA

A Marketing Research Proposal

Presented to

Dr. Zacarias

By

Edgar C. Brabante Jr.

First Trimester SY 2019-2020

 Chapter 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction
Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product

or service. It is a new phenomenon that has changed how the business environment operates

and helps businesses gain access to resources that were otherwise not available to them

(Jagongo, A. et. al, 2013).

This first chapter provides the reader the background of what the research study is all about. It

will give you a closer look of the topic specifically on the effectiveness of social media marketing

as marketing strategy or tool. It will also provide a general insight of the problem that will be

addressed in this study.

Background of the Study

Social media is a powerful tool that can help small businesses improve their brand and

generate sales with an online presence. There are now a plethora of businesses that use social

media to make their brands known to the world and this has become beneficial to many. According

to We Are Social, (2019) there are about 3.4 million social media users. Statistics show that social

media has penetrated 45% of the world's population. Based on these statistics, it is safe to say

that social media is the “eye of the world” because it sees everything; almost everyone posts and

reads on social media and not just individuals but also companies. It has become an easy and

quick way to reach aud iences locally and globally.

Despite the positivity that social media brings to businesses around the world, there are

also some negative impacts of social media that can lead a business to a downfall. These negative

impacts can be triggered if a company’s social media management and marketing are not good

enough to improve its brand, these certain downsides may lead a company to its collapse.
 Small businesses like any other businesses should understand the strategies of using

social media to market their brand so that they can benefit from it. Unfortunately, most small

businesses find it difficult to use the social media as a platform strategically and as a result of

having no understanding on how to use this platform, countless opportunities are missed. Thus,

at least a basic understanding of social media and how to utilize it in engaging with customers

must be done so that opportunities will flow to a business, specifically, these small businesses.

Consumers tend to do their preliminary research using internet services before buying a

certain product or availing a certain service. Social media marketing paves the way for customers

and companies to build relationships through a low-cost communication because marketing

products through social media costs less than marketing them through a physical outlet. However,

from the aforementioned assumption, social media can still bring negative connotations to its

name if a company won’t use the latter strategically.

Research Locale
This study will be conducted at selected small enterprises in Malate, Manila that uses

social media as their marketing strategy, the researcher would also conduct a research on SMEs

that doesn’t use social media to determine how the latter will affect a business who hasn’t tried

social media as their marketing strategy, that way, the researcher could compare the effects of

social media to SMEs that use social media as their marketing strategy, vice versa.

Figure 1.
Vicinity of Malate, Manila
Theoretical Framework

Social Media Platforms Social Media Marketing

Facebook, Twitter, Marketing strategy,

Instagram, Blog sites, business growth,
Company Websites Increase in customers,
Return of Investments

Business owner

Customizes marketing
strategy

Figure 2. Social Media Marketing Dependency on Social Media Platforms

Source: (Marie K., 2013)

The figure above will be use in this research to understand how social media affects the

marketing strategies of a business and its performance. Social media has become a location for

communication and content sharing and a lot of companies seek business opportunities in this

online platforms. The researcher would like to use this data to emphasize the relationship of social

media and businesses, with this in mind, the researcher would focus solely on the impacts of

social media to the marketing of small medium enterprises.

Generally social media marketing starts with the use of social media platforms such as

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, blog sites and other websites. The number of employed users and

number of hours spent on social media to promote the company’s products and services affect
the company’s marketing strategy, profit and sales, as well as return of their investments and

increase of the number customers patronizing their products and services. Overall, social media

marketing is a way of companies to engage with consumers in their efforts to further expand their

business and connect with existing and potential customers. Thus, one important aspect is

consumer engagement.

Conceptual Framework

SOCIAL MEDIA CO-INNOVATION BRAND

INFLUENCE PRACTICES PERFORMANCE

• SOCIAL • BRAND
COMPARISON • IDENTIFY AWARENESS
• SOCIAL IDENTIY CONVERGENCE • BUSINESS
AROUND GROWTH
PRODUCTS OR
SERVICES
• OPENING
PRODUCT
BOUNDARIES

Figure 3. Impacts of Social Media on a Brand’s Performance

Statement of the Problem

In the advent of technology and the ever-growing platform that is social media, many

SMEs are unable to utilize this option as a way to maximize profitability and increase the reach of

their products or services, with this in mind, the researcher would like to seek the answers to the

following:
 • What are the impacts of social media to small medium enterprises?

• What are the current strategies of most SMEs to market their brand?

• Will the implementation of social media marketing strategy contribute to the growth of

SMEs?

Hypothesis

The hypotheses in this study are:

1. Social media has no positive impact on small medium enterprises.

2. Social media marketing strategies does not help companies grow their profitability

and their image or brands.

3. The implementation of social media marketing strategy does not contribute to the

growth of SMEs.

Scope and Limitations

The study is going to cover ten to fifteen (10-15) SMEs within Metro Manila and will be

conducted from December 2019 to January 2020. The researcher will cover several businesses

that utilize social media as a medium of marketing their products and services. The researcher

would also cover SMEs that do not utilize social media as a form of marketing and find out whether

social media had a significant impact on their products or services. The limitations of the collected

data makes it inappropriate to make generalizations across companies, industries and locations.
Significance of the study

The study will benefit the following section of the society:

 Small medium enterprises’ owners – This will help them identify the advantages

and disadvantages of social media marketing strategy to their business, it will help

them grow by adapting this strategy if they ever decided to apply it to their

marketing strategy.

 Consumers – Consumers will understand how companies use social media to their

advantage, in realizing this, they will gain more knowledge on how businesses

works to increase their income, this might even trigger some consumers to start

their own business.

 Students – Students can benefit from this study if it relates to their research, they
will have additional information and helpful opinions that will help them do their
research effectively.

The importance of this study is to understand the impacts that social media has on small-

medium enterprises. It is undeniably true that social media is one of the things that our generation

revolves around to these days. In fact, in today’s era, many of us are dependent on social media

to accumulate facts and opinions of other people before buying a product or availing a service.

Businesses saw this as an advantage and made a strategy out of it, using social media to gain

customers thus, increasing their profits. This study will not only identify the impacts of social media

but will also understand how social media can be applied effectively to SMEs, therefore, the

significance of this study to help readers understand the relationship of social media and small

businesses by identifying the impacts of social media on SMEs.

 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Social media marketing is one of the most effective tool in marketing. In today’s modern

society, businesses use this tool to engage with their audience via the internet or the online

platforms. Social media has proved its effectivity in engaging with its consumers and in doing

this, companies gains a better understanding of what the customer needs in order to build a

strong and effective relationship.

Social networking provides small businesses with multiple opportunities to build closer

and more profitable relationships with customers. However, “not all social media are the same

and some are better suited for certain marketing strategies than the others” (Cox,2012) and like

any businesses, according to Cox (2012), “small businesses need to have a plan when using

social media, because the latter is applied to marketing in various methods, there is no one

specific strategy that fits all.”

According to Laksmi V (2017), there are four (4) impacts that of social media on business,

(1) Changing the traditional methods of presence (2) Allows business to crowd source ideas (3)

Allows business to be more transparent (4) Change people’s opinions of businesses.Social

media is so powerful that it has both positive and negative impacts to businesses depending on

how these companies use social media as their strategy.

According to Mangold & Faulds (2009), although companies cannot directly control what

consumers are saying, they do have the ability to influence the conversations consumers are

having. Social media marketing takes advantage of social networking to help a company

increase brand exposure and broaden customer reach.

 Studies about social media has increased these last few years and by analyzing these

researches on social media and its relationship with small medium enterprises, the researcher

will understand more of its impacts to SMEs.

Related Studies

Effectively Incorporating Social Media: A Case Study on Coca-Cola

In both social media marketing campaigns, Coca-Cola followed all nine best practices.

They were human, knew what they wanted out of each campaign, listened to fans and followers

and responded too many and paced their content so they were not overwhelming them. They

injected themselves into the conversation, got feedback in real time, knew the audience and the

platforms and created a user-centric experience. Coca-Cola created these campaigns to appeal

to all users of the groundswell.

Fans, friends and followers could fall in between a creator or a spectator and still benefit

from viewing or participating in the campaign in some way. Creators could blog about aspects of

the campaign he or she liked best and spectators could sit back and watch the campaign grow

and develop at his or her own pace. Expedition 206 and 24-Hour Session with Maroon 5 are

successful viral marketing campaigns. Both campaigns are still accessible on the Internet, which

deliver ongoing brand benefits. Also, the “wow” factor of the campaigns involved both the size of

the campaigns, and the star power. Traveling around the world in a year is a large feat and Maroon

5 is a popular pop band in American culture.

By placing these campaigns on Facebook, Twitter and blog sites Coca-Cola was able to

place the buzz story about each campaign and watch it grow as well as access several target

audiences. By creating the buzz, Coca-Cola gave fans, friends and followers a reason to visit their

sites.
 In essence, the company created a “need” for users to search the sites for information

regarding campaign status and progress. Users benefitted from visiting the sites and

communicating with Coca-Cola and Maroon 5 by feeling as if they had formed a relationship and

were part of something unique.

The Social Media and Entrepreneurship Growth (A New Business Communication

Paradigm among SMEs in Nairobi)

The study established that most SMEs in Nairobi had not fully understood and internalized

the potential of social media for their businesses. Those who use social media do not optimally

utilize social media tools as they use only selected few tools due to limitations emanating from

technical capabilities and infrastructure. This means that businesses in Nairobi have not benefited

adequately from technology and specifically social media despite its wide usage by potential

customers. This is an opportunity that could enhance SMEs growth and gain a competitive edge

against large organizations that traditionally have resources and have been in business for a

longer time. The study had sought to establish how social media affects the market accessibility

of SMEs. It revealed that social media has broken down geographical barriers and heralded new

ways of doing business to those who are flexible and keen to adapt to changes in technology and

business environment.
Social Media and the Impact on Marketing Communication

To summarize this research of how social media influence the marketing communication

of companies in the 21st century, it appears that the influence of social media on the marketing

communication of companies already exists and will be a more essential component in the near

future. But even if the average user thinks that companies' communication is already present

everywhere in cyberspace, the research showed that compared to the traditional budgets the

social media is still in the early stages of development. Resulting from the vicissitude of the

internet and therefore the ephemerality of the marketing communication messages, companies

have to react quickly to the changing environment.

Generally companies approve social media as an effective tool to exceed and support marketing

communication. Social media still has huge growth potentials regarding the differentiation and

specification of different platforms, because not all are suitable to every company.

Marketing communications: an integrated approach

Marketing communications has inevitably changed forever with the advent of social media,

crowd sourcing, changing media consumption and hyper competition. Marketing Communications

explores all aspects of marketing communications and integrates social media into just about

everything including advertising, PR, sponsorship, direct selling and merchandizing. The fifth

edition of this “marketing major” (CIM) has been updated and packed with intriguing examples

from a broad range of markets, showing cutting edge tools combined with consistent marketing

principles deliver better results, quicker. Heralding the emergence of social media as a “marketing

revolution”, the book presents the many varied forms of communication this offers and the

opportunities for marketing which more effectively engages with its end-user. Marketing

Communications covers every aspect of marketing in an accessible way.

Social Media as a Marketing Tool: A Literature Review

This research has determined that retailers can increase awareness of their brand by

being creative when engaging customers on social media sites. “As more shoppers are using

social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn) and rely on them for marketing

shopping decisions, promotion through these media has become important” (Shankar et al. 2011,

32). According to Curran et al. (2011), social media sites such as Facebook are better than other

advertising avenues because it stores information on all its users thus ensuring marketing reaches

a retailer’s specific target market. Social media sites are a great stage for retailers to create an

experience and retailers can use information stored on social media sites to improve user

experience with their brand. Furthermore, Hill, Provost, and Volinsky’s (2006) research

establishes that a firm can benefit from social networks to predict the likelihood of purchase

intention. This can be done by taking into account a firm’s choice of network (i.e. Facebook,

Instagram, Pinterest etc.) and by examining that network’s data. Assessing a network’s data

substantially improves a company’s marketing efforts because it provides the company with vital

information on the network’s users, which helps determine the best social media tactics for that

particular site (Hill, Provost, and Volinsky’s 2006). Based on this study, it can further be argued

that knowing which social media sites a company’s target market utilizes is another key factor in

guaranteeing that online marketing will be successful.

Impact of Social Media Marketing on Purchase Intention and Brand Loyalty: Evidence from

Indonesia’s Banking Industry

First, social media marketing was found affects purchase intention. This is in support with

previous studies from Kim and Ko (2010) and Hutter et al. (2013). The social media allows two-
way communications between consumers and the banks. Consequenlty, its interaction has a

positive impact on product evaluations and financial performance (Zhu and Zhang, 2010).

Second, similarly, the research has shown that social media marketing indeed affect brand

loyalty. The overload information on the internet has been a challenge for communicating and

engaging with consumers. Therefore, for a positive impact on brand the communication efforts

must be interactive, customized and yet entertaining. These findings is consistent with past

research from Hutter et al. (2013) and Zhu and Zhang (2010).

The Effect of Social Media Marketing in Small Business Performance

This study began with the fundamental question of how a small business uses social

media to engage consumers. The study demonstrates that from the beginning, the participant

recognized social media’s importance and utilized it to the best of her ability. Although the

participant had taken a marketing class that covered social media marketing strategies, the

participant still had to learn how to use social media and struggled in the beginning. The study

illustrates the choices a business has in deciding how to engage consumers and makes an

argument for why each strategy should be used. The literature suggested that often small

businesses do not have a strategy when they begin using social media. This can potentially end

in wasted time and effort. It is important for businesses to recognize what they want to achieve

by using social media. No longer is it enough to create a Facebook or Twitter account and post

to or check it once a week. Businesses must be active participants on these channels and to do

so they should have some knowledge on how to use them, including strategies for engaging the

audience.
Social Media Marketing in a Small Business: A Case Study

Results of this case study revealed that the business uses a variety of strategies to build

and maintain relationships with others and keep consumers interested. It contributed to theory by

demonstrating one example of the intersection between small business and social media strategy.

The study demonstrates that from the beginning, the participant recognized social media’s

importance and utilized it to the best of her ability. Although the participant had taken a marketing

class that covered social media marketing strategies, the participant still had to learn how to use

social media and struggled in the beginning. The study illustrates the choices a business has in

deciding how to engage consumers and makes an argument for why each strategy should be

used.

Effectiveness of Social Media as a Marketing Tool: An Empirical Study

It is now more critical than ever that successful businesses use Engagement Marketing

principles to plan for successfully engaging their prospects and customers before, during and

after their purchase cycle, and that the basis for this engagement is high-quality and relevant

information. Information which are demanded by target market at a time and place of their choice

(24/7 and 365 days/year). Marketer’s job is to provide this information in such a manner that you

are viewed in a positive light, create a positive brand and product reputation, and are selected as

their brand of choice. With the present growth and scale of social networking, we would even be

able to buy products and services through the social medium. The medium is growing very fast

and holds huge potential but is still in its nascent stage in India. Therefore, it is time for the

companies to make effective strategies and execute them to win larger share of business through

this revolutionary medium and become the innovative firm of coming future.
Social Media as a Tool of Marketing and Creating Brand Awareness

Social media alone cannot be effective without augmenting it with other traditional media

channels like radio, newspaper, or TV even though it is widely reported that the effectiveness of

traditional media and their use is sharply falling. In general it is worth having a social media

strategy in place to manage the enormous challenges that social media brings.

Even though they are becoming popular and effective marketing tools, Social network

sites can pose a threat as well as an opportunity to companies as they can rapidly spread the

views of dissatisfied customers‟ comments. Social networks and the Web offer small and large

companies new and unique opportunities to engage with their customer and learn about

customers‟ needs in real time like never before. Evidence presented suggests that the peer group

online social network effect can potentially influence purchase decisions because of its viral

nature.

Social Media Marketing: A Paradigm Shift in Business

This study concludes that social media marketing is vital in twenty first century and how

websites can generate more revenue; attracts more customers and escalate retention rate by

engaging their customers to their websites. Results show that customers perceive that ‘mnemonic

branding’ (having website URL as firm’s name) are the best tool to attract customers. Customers

feel that ‘promotion’ activities can pull customers, ‘adequate bandwidth’ and ‘piggyback

advertising’ of website are also the effective tools to attract customers.

The other findings show that ‘lucky draws/ contests’ enable user to visit website and test

their luck/ skills which ultimately engage them to website. The other perceived engage tool for

particular firm are ‘informative and useful contents’ of website, ’creative programming’ which make

website interesting and unique and ‘transaction capabilities’ which allows customers to give
orders or buy/ book product or services perceived important by customers to get engage to

particular business website.

A study of the impact of social media on consumers

Recent advances on the internet and the development of social media have facilitated the

interconnectivity of consumers. Consumers have social interactions through social media such

as online forums, communities, ratings, reviews and recommendations. These developments

have introduced a new stream in e-commerce, called social commerce, which empowers

consumers to generate content and influence others. These interactions provide different values

for both business and consumers. Both are involved in the co-creation of value.

This research shows that advancements in the internet and the emergence of Web 2.0

along with social media have empowered customers. In this climate, consumers create added

value through collaboration and social interactions on the internet. They support business through

the co-creation of value via their social interactions. Consumers are now content generators

through social media. They share information and experiences with other consumers and have

easy access to one another’s information. This is a value that can be useful for e-commerce

adoption and social commerce intention. Because consumer social interactions produce online

social support, e-commerce adoption is being promoted to establish trust and, consequently,

users’ intention to buy. In fact, social factors facilitated through social media develop a supportive

climate, which in turn attracts many more individuals to come online and take part in social

interactions.
Influence of Social Media Marketing on Customer Engagement

The study examined the influence social media marketing has on customer engagement.

The study was decided to be investigated as we can see that organizations spending on social

media continue to soar, but measuring its impact remains a challenge for most businesses. All in

all, social networking sites facilitate active communication between companies and users and

spur interactions among users. Here the need arrived to find out the factors influencing customer

engagement; to explore what content they enjoy most on a Facebook brand page which drives

them to re-visit. Data used for this study was obtained through questionnaires distributed to fans

of a particular Facebook brand page. The results demonstrated that media and content type of

posts exert a significant effect on customer online engagement. It also emphasized that higher

the influence of social media marketing, higher would be the customer engagement. The findings

of this study revealed the five factors that have a significant impact on customer engagement.

SNSs are an additional medium through which information can be disseminated because it

encourages a two-way communication between customers and firms. Hence, marketers need to

be more cautious on what they post online as this is more likely to influence customers. The study

also emphasizes the significance of self-disclosure as a major factor to intimate relationships

among persons, as a strengthened brand- consumer relationship online will ultimately impact their

purchase behavior in reality.

The impact of social media in business growth and performance: A scientometrics

analysis

This study has been in the field of analyzing and illustrating the scientific products of the

world for 14 Years in the fields of social media and business. The increasing growth of studies

began in 2014. However, in 2018, its steep growth stalled. They are likely to consider this because
of the review of subcategories and the exclusion of the word business from the keywords. A large

variety of keywords, and of course low density, points to the broadness of the subject. Therefore,

it should be dealt with in more depth. This issue can be further explored from two dimensions:

Social networking platform and companies by industry. Country collaboration map shows that the

United States and China are pioneer in this topic.

Social Media Impact on Business Development, Organizational Performance and B2B

Relationships

Over the past few years social media has gained an enviable position in the life of many

people and it has become a topic for discussion across different sections of our society and has

gained wide spread acceptance in today’s busy life. The freedom and the level of interaction one

can have in the various social media platforms have also influenced the way business is carried

out these days. One can safely assume that in many organizations different platforms of social

media has been playing a very important role in business development and better performance.

There has been a fundamental shift in the strategy of conducting business amongst the

ever evolving business community all over the world and the people who have not yet got in to

the band wagon are forced to come on board due to the rapid spread and acceptance of social

media among the general public and the consumers in particular. As social media has become a

part of consumers’ Gopakumar Krishnan Nair everyday life a lot of organizations have started

exploring the positive qualities of internet and have now shifted their attention to e-commerce and

online trading. One of the many advantages of social media is that it allows an organization to

communicate closer to their target audience while it enhances the organization to increase its

brand visibility. “Many organizations active on the social networking scene have direct links from
their corporate websites to their social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram,

Youtube and Twitter, and use these social media sites to promote brands and support the creation

of brand communities” (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010).

The future of social media in marketing

The future of social media in marketing is exciting, but also uncertain. If nothing else, it is

vitally important that we better understand social media since it has become highly culturally

relevant, a dominant form of communication and expression, a major media type used by

companies for advertising and other forms of communication, and even has geopolitical

ramifications.

Social media allows people to freely interact with others and offers multiple ways for

marketers to reach and engage with consumers. Considering the numerous ways social media

affects individuals and businesses alike, in this article, the authors focus on where they believe

the future of social media lies when considering marketing-related topics and issues. Drawing on

academic research, discussions with industry leaders, and popular discourse, the authors identify

nine themes, organized by predicted imminence (i.e., the immediate, near, and far futures), that

they believe will meaningfully shape the future of social media through three lenses: consumer,

industry, and public policy.

The Impact of Social Media on Marketing Strategy

The Author argues that all four of the original research objectives have been achieved.

The comprehensive literature review contained the full range of areas subordinate to marketing

strategy. Indeed, it explored areas above it such as organizational and business strategy in order
to provide a full understanding of marketing strategy's place and role in the organization. Gaps

between practitioner thinking and academic thinking have been identified and explored, such as

on marketing's mid-life crisis. The impact of social media on marketing strategy has been

explored, analyzed and discussed, and this was assisted by the creation of a highly-original

conceptual framework setting out the status of the components of marketing strategy whilst

simultaneously suggesting how social media impact on each. These impacts on each component

aggregate to the overall impact on marketing strategy.

The Impact of Social Media as a Marketing Tool on Purchasing Decisions (Case Study on

SAMSUNG for Electrical Home Appliances)

Social media becomes an important communication tool that people use to connect to

other people or organization. People use social media to share their experiences, reviews,

information, advice, warnings, tips and/or any kind of issues that are interesting to their

“connection” or friends. That information is a helpful source, which may influence consumer’s

decision-making.

The study proved that there is an impact of using social media websites as a marketing

tool on the stages of purchasing decision (need recognition, information search, alternatives

evaluation, purchase decision and post-purchase behavior) which encouraging going toward

using the social media in E-marketing. The results indicate that social media websites (Facebook,

Twitter and Youtube) have a significant impact on stages of purchasing decision; therefore, the

firm has to consider these websites in its marketing plans.

Social Media Marketing: Strategies & Its Impact

This research paper emphasizes on the strategies which can take this viral marketing

mode beyond the normal social media at present. As a result it can also help in building your

community strong enough to make your marketing effective & initiative buying.

Social platforms each have an ecosystem of their own. Creating a basic social media

presence is easy enough, getting your community to actually do something is more difficult. Make

sure your site is included in local business directories in order to help ensure that consumers find

you when they need you. Customizing messages across sites help the message spread but it

keeps users from receiving multiple identical communications. By giving exclusive coupons to

your social community, you’re rewarding and reminding them that you are not only a brand to

engage with, but also to buy from. Taking advantage of these strategies can help you build your

community, make your marketing more effective, and incentivize buying.

The Effectiveness of Using Social Media as a Marketing Communication Tactic

Due to the emerging social media, marketing communications has been under revolution

during the past decade. Social media and search engine marketing have replaced traditional

marketing communication channels such as TV, radio and advertisements. Instead of marketers

reaching out for customers through mass media, customers come to marketers via word-of-mouth

referrals, social media and search engines. (Juslén 2009, 131-135)

The aim of the study was to find out how the customers in Finland experience Gina Tricot’s

marketing and social media activities and whether the social media accounts are able to serve

customers as planned. The thesis also focused on discovering whether social media is an

effective marketing communication tactic. One of the aims was also to find out whether there is a

need for localized accounts or not. On the basis of the research it can be concluded that there is
a need for country or store specific social media accounts. Customers felt that a localized account

would be easier to approach. In addition, it would help to build two-way 52 communication with

customers.
 Chapter 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Design

This study will take up on descriptive correlational design to describe what exists and also

to uncover new facts and meanings. Survey questionnaires will be used to accumulate information

about the impacts of social media to small businesses. A series of interview and observation will

also be conducted to data about the existing conditions in the study. In this study, the researcher

will understand the impacts of social media to the marketing of small medium enterprises.

Respondents of the study

Respondents selected are ten to fifteen (10-15) business owners of SMEs in Malate, Metro

Manila because the researcher believes that this is a sufficient number of respondents that will

provide necessary datum to the research, the former will also be tested as it is the sample in this

study.

Research Instruments

In this study, the researcher will use two different gathering types to obtain information

needed about the study. Instruments used by the researcher are consisted of: (1) survey

questionnaire and (2) interview. Survey questionnaire will be about the respondents’ opinions on

social media/ social media marketing strategy whilst the interview will be about their business

profile.
Data Gathering Procedure

The researcher will use both quantitative and qualitative analysis to analyze the

information that will be accumulated. Quantitative data will be generated from the survey

questionnaires that the researcher gave to the respondents, these questionnaires will be about

their perception of social media and its effects on small medium enterprises or small businesses.

Qualitative data on the other hand will be extracted also from the survey questionnaires and

interviews by analyzing the accumulated information, this will help the researcher determine the

impacts of social media on small medium enterprises in Metro Manila.

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 2015 Social Media Marketing Industry Report: How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow

Their Businesses Sigala, M., Christou, E., Gretzel, U. (2012).

 Social Media in Travel, Tourism and Hospitality: Theory, Practice and Cases. Surrey, UK: Ashgate.

Pan, B., & Crotts, J. (2012).

 Theoretical models of social media, marketing implications, and future research directions. In

Sigala, M., Christou, E., & Gretzel, U. (Eds.).

 Social Media in Travel, Tourism and Hospitality: Theory, Practice and Cases Rohm, A. et. al. (2012).

The Role of Online Social Media in Brand-Consumer Engagement: An Exploratory Study Faulds, D.

et. al. (2009).

 Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix Simon, M. K. (2011).
 Part 2: Survey Questionnaire
1 – Strongly Disagree
2 – Disagree
3 – Agree
4 – Strongly Agree
1 2 3 4
Social media is important in today’s era

We believe that social media is a good way to improve our

sales

Our company uses social media as a marketing tool

It is important for our company to learn the opinions of

consumers in social media

We have a group and particular leaders assigned to

coordinating and managing our company’s social media
accounts.
We believe that social media has a significant impact on
businesses.

We believe that every business should apply social media

as their marketing strategy.

We usually use Facebook to engage with our consumers

online.

We usually use Twitter to engage with our consumers

online.

We usually use Instagram to engage with our consumers

online.

We usually use Websites to engage with our consumers

online.

We believe that we have to adapt to trends on social media

to improve our products/services.
 Part 3: Business Profile (Interview Guide Questions)

1. How did you get your idea or concept for the business?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

2. How long have you been in business? In this business? In other businesses?

______________________________________________________________________

3. Do you have employees? How many?

______________________________________________________________________

4. What type of business form do you have, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation?

_____________________________________________________________________

5. Do you know who your competitors are?

______________________________________________________________________

6. Why is your business located at this site?

______________________________________________________________________

7. Why is your business located at this site?

______________________________________________________________________

8. Do you have a business plan to operate your business?

______________________________________________________________________

9. How do the social, economic, environmental, technological, legal and political

environments impact your business?

Economic:

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
 Environmental:

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Technological:

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Legal:

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Political environment:

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

10. How do you market your business? How are people aware of your business?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

11. How has technology, such as computers and the internet, impacted on how you conduct

business?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

12. Do you do marketing for your business?

______________________________________________________________________
13. What is your business’ current marketing strategy to improve your business?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

14. Why do you think your customers select you over your competitors?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

15. What are the biggest issues for running this business?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

16. Did you learn anything from this interview? If yes, elaborate?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________