PROJECT

ON
SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING

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 PROJECT REPORT
{Submitted for the degree of B.Com(Honors) in Accounting & Finance
under the University of Calcutta}

Title of the Project

“SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING”

SUBMITTED BY:
Name of the Candidate : Roshan Bagaria
Registration No. : 017-1111-1741-17
Name of the College : The Bhawanipur Education Society
College
College UID No. : 0101171602

Supervised by
Name of the Supervisor: Anamika Pal
Name of the College : The Bhawanipur Education Society College

Month & Year of Submission August 2021

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Annexure-IA

Supervisor’s Certificate
This is to certify that Mr. Roshan Bagaria a student of B.com. Honours in Accounting and
Finance of The Bhawanipur Education Society College under the University of Calcutta
has worked under my supervision and guidance for his Project Work and prepared a
Project with the title
“SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING”
This project report, which she is submitting, is his genuine and original work to the best of
my knowledge.

Signature :
Name : Anamika Pal
Designation :

Name of the College: The Bhawanipur Education Society College

Place: KOLKATA
Date:

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Annexure-IB

Student’s Declaration
I hereby declare that the project work with the title “SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING” submitted by me for the partial fulfilment of the degree of B.Com
(Honours) in Accounting & Finance in Business under the University of Calcutta is my
original work and has not been submitted to any other University/Institution for the
requirement of any course of study.

I also declare that no chapter of this manuscript as a whole or in part has been incorporated
from any other work done by other or me. However, extracts of any literature which has
been used for this report has been duly acknowledged providing details of such literature
in the references.

Signature:
Name : Roshan Bagaria
Registration No.: 017-1111-1741-17

Place: Kolkata
Date: 06th August 2021

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I, ROSHAN BAGARIA, would like to express a deep sense of thanks and gratitude to my
guide. Her valuable guidance, instructions and supervision has helped me immensely
through the course of the project. I would also thank my Institution and the faculty
members of the Institution without whom the project would have been a distant reality.
Above all no words can express my feelings to my Parents, friends, and those entire
people who have helped me during this project. Their consistent encouragement,
suggestions and valuable knowledge have helped me a lot. I would thank The Almighty
God for his blessings showered on me with a downpour of his divine motivation and
blessings thus enabling me the completion of project report. I hereby declare that this work
is a fruit of my consistent endeavours towards analysing and interpretation of data I
collected from Sample survey, Questionnaire method various other sources and research
work.

Thank You.

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 Table of Contents
Chapter
SUBJECT PAGE No.
No.
1. Introduction 7-17
1.1. Introduction 8
1.2 Brief history 9-10
1.3 Literature Review 11-12
1.4 Objective of the study 13
1.5 Research Methodology 14-15
1.6 Limitation of the study 16
1.7 Chapter Planning 17

2. Conceptual framework 18-25

2.1. An Overview 19-23
2.2 National Scenario 24
2.3 International Scenario 25

3. Research and findings

3.1 Presentation of Data: Case studies 27-30
3.2 Data Analysis and Interpretation 31-42
3.3 Findings 43

4. Conclusion and recommendations 44-46

4.1 Conclusion 45
5.4 Recommendations 46
6. Bibliography 47

7. Annexure 48-50

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CHAPTER 1:

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1.1 INTRODUCTION

Social media marketing is a process that empowers individuals to promote their websites, products, or
services through online social channels and to communicate with and tap into a much larger community
that may not have been available via traditional advertising channels. Social media, most importantly,
emphasizes the collective rather than the individual. Communities exist in different shapes and sizes
throughout the Internet, and people are talking among themselves. It’s the job of social media marketers
to leverage these communities properly in order to effectively communicate with the community
participants about relevant product and service offerings. Social media marketing also involves listening
to the communities and establishing relationships with them as a representative of your company

The term social media optimization, which many today equate with social media marketing, was coined
in 2006 by Rohit Bhargava. The concept of social media marketing as optimizing a site in such a way that
written content garners links, which essentially acts as a trust mechanism and endorsement. Social media
optimization also helps build brand awareness and raise visibility for the marketed product or service.

In essence, social media marketing is about listening to the community and responding in kind, but for
many social media marketers, it also refers to reviewing content or finding a particularly useful piece of
content and promoting it within the vast social sphere of the Internet.

Social media marketing is a newer component of search engine marketing, but it is really in a class of its
own. Fortunately, the phenomenon is only growing at this point.

In the end, social media marketing can achieve one or many of the goals listed in the following sections.

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1.2 HISTORY

SOCIAL MEDIA BEFORE 1900

The earliest methods of communicating across great distances used written correspondence delivered by
hand from one person to another. The earliest form of postal service dates back to 550 B.C., and this
primitive delivery system would become more widespread and streamlined in future centuries. In 1792,
the telegraph was invented. This allowed messages to be delivered over a long distance far faster than a
horse and rider could carry them.

Two important discoveries happened in the last decade of the 1800s: The telephone in 1890 and the
radio in 1891.
Both technologies are still in use today, although the modern versions are much more sophisticated than
their predecessors. Telephone lines and radio signals enabled people to communicate across great
distances instantaneously.

SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE 20TH CENTURY

Technology began to change very rapidly in the 20th Century. After the first super computers were
created in the 1940s, scientists and engineers began to develop ways to create networks between those
computers, and this would later lead to the birth of the Internet.
The earliest forms of the Internet, such as CompuServe, were developed in the 1960s. Primitive forms of
email were also developed during this time. By the 70s, networking technology had improved, and 1979’s
UseNet allowed users to communicate through a virtual newsletter.
By the 1980s, home computers were becoming more common and social media was becoming more
sophisticated. Internet relay chats, or IRCs, were first used in 1988 and continued to be popular well into
the 1990’s.
The first recognizable social media site, Six Degrees, was created in 1997. It enabled users to upload a
profile and make friends with other users. In 1999, the first blogging sites became popular, creating a
social media sensation that’s still popular today.

SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY

After the invention of blogging, social media began to explode in popularity. Sites like MySpace and
LinkedIn gained prominence in the early 2000s, and sites like Photobucket and Flickr facilitated online

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photo sharing. YouTube came out in 2005, creating an entirely new way for people to communicate and
share with each other across great distances.
By 2006, Facebook and Twitter both became available to users throughout the world. These sites remain
some of the most popular social networks on the Internet. Other sites like Tumblr, Spotify, Foursquare
and Pinterest began popping up to fill specific social networking niches.

Today, there is a tremendous variety of social networking sites, and many of them can be linked to allow
cross-posting. This creates an environment where users can reach the maximum number of people
without sacrificing the intimacy of person-to-person communication. We can only speculate about what
the future of social networking may look in the next decade or even 100 years from now, but it seems
clear that it will exist in some form for as long as humans are alive.

1.3 Literature Review

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The purpose of this point is to critically review literature related to the theoretical concept of the topic of
social media marketing. The literature review is to develop a theoretical framework for the study.

Social media has gained a lot of popularity over the past few years and as a result of this popularity, other
traditional Media have experienced decline in both business and popularity. As a result of completion and
tough economic environment, companies have tightened their budgets especially advertising budgets
which have shifted to online channels. According to Forrester research study (2011) by Ernst.J, David
M. and Cooperstein, Dernoga M, found that companies (brands) are gradually shifting their advertising
priorities to align better with today's buyers. Today’s buyers are tech savvy and social media maniacs

The topic of the study is social media marketing, but it is first important to define the terminology
“marketing” referred to in the title. Therefore according to the American Marketing Association,
Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and
delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the
organization and its stakeholders.

Chaffey et al. (2003) thus describe internet marketing as the application of the Internet and related digital
technologies to achieve marketing objectives. These marketing objectives can be realized by use of social
media 23 networks which is a subset of internet application. Social media networking platforms serve as a
tool for marketers. This implies that Facebook, twitter etc. are means of accomplishing marketing
strategies through the internet. It is therefore imperative for marketers to find suitable platforms to suite
their marketing objectives.

According to Mangold and Faulds (2009), social media enables firms to communicate with their
customers and also allows customers to communicate with each other. Communications between firms
and their customers help build brand loyalty beyond traditional methods which concede to the promotion
of products and services as well as the setting up of online communities of brand followers. Furthermore,
conversations between customers provide firms with new means of increasing brand awareness, brand
recognition, and brand recall.

Researchers such as Castronovo and Huang (2012) maintain that marketing strategies involving
marketing intelligence, promotions, public relations, product and customer management, and marketing
communications should begin exploring and leveraging social media, not only because there is a growing
interest among consumers in Internet usage, but also due to the fact that consumers consider information
shared on social media as more reliable than information issued directly by firms

According to eMarketer (2013), firms have increasingly adopted social media for various marketing
activities such as branding, market research, customer relationship management, service provision, and

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sales promotion alongside various studies that are putting forward evidence of the positive implications of
deploying social media in marketing strategies. However, many firms have yet to incorporate social
media into their strategies despite the existence of diverse studies providing empirical evidence of the
benefits to companies as well as detailing the means by which social media marketing strategies may be
improved and leveraged.

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 1.4 OJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this project is concerned with getting the opinion of people regarding social
media and what they feel about availing the services of social media business

We have tried to explore the general opinion about Social Media. It also covers how Social Media is
taking over the society’s mind.

To describe the scope of benefits of Social Media to people.

To measure the amount people usually invest in Social Media business.

To get insight knowledge of Social Media.

To know the influence of Social Media in today’s world.

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 1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

 RESEARCH DESIGN: The design for this study is Descriptive research.

Descriptive research, also known as statistical research, describes data and characteristics about
the population or phenomenon being studied. Descriptive research answers the questions who,
what, where, when, why and how...

Although the data description is factual, accurate and systematic, the research cannot describe what
caused a situation. Thus, Descriptive research cannot be used to create a causal relationship, where one
variable affects another. In other words, descriptive research can be said to have a low requirement
for internal validity.

SOURCES OF DATA:
 Primary Source: The primary data is collected using sampling method and by survey using
questionnaire
 Secondary Source: Secondary data includes information regarding present market scenario,
Information regarding Social Media and competitors are collected from internet, Magazines and
Newspaper and books.

 SAMPLE PLANNING:
 Sample Size: 60 units
 Sample Extent: Siliguri City

 SAMPLE DESIGN: A sample design is a definite plan for obtaining a sample from a given population.

It refers to the technique or method the researcher would adopt in selecting items for the sample.
 I have used non-probability sampling.

 DURATION OF THE STUDY: The study was carried out for a period of 1 months, from 10th May
2020 to 9th June 2020

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 DATA COLLECTION: The sample is selected in a random way, respective of them availing the
services of social media or not. Data was collected through mails to the known persons, by formal and
informal talks and through filling up the questionnaire prepared.
 Data collection method: Survey
 Data collection tool: Questionnaire

 TYPE OF INFORMATION: I have collected facts, awareness, attitudes, future action plan and reasons
using questionnaire.

 TYPE OF QUESTIONS: Multiple Choice Questions, Checkbox List.

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION: Data analysis is based on the data collected by way
of questionnaires. The data is tabulated and has been presented with the help of bar graph, pie charts, line
graphs etc.

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1.6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The lack of information sources for the analysis part.

Time and money are critical factors limiting this study.
The data provided by the prospects may not be 100% correct as they too have their limitations.
Generally the respondents were busy in their work and were not interested in responding rightly.
Most of the respondents don’t want to disclose the information about their private account
Respondents were reluctant to discover complete and correct information about themselves and
their social media life.

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1.7 CHAPTER PLANNING

This project has been divided under five categories which include:

CHAPTER 1 is divided in sections as Introduction, history of Social Media, objective of the project,
brief review of literature, research methodology and limitations of the study.

CHAPTER 2 is about the conceptual framework describing what Social Media is about, types of
Social Media Account, advantages and disadvantages of Social Media, marketing strategies conducted
in Social Media

CHAPTER 3 includes the presentation, data analysis, Data Source, Period of Study, Tools Used and
interpretation of the survey conducted.

CHAPTER 4 In this section, the concluding observations based on the main findings and suggestions
are provided. The major observations made during the course of this project have been enlisted to draw
meaningful inference from the study. Recommendations have been enlisted which may prove to be
helpful in replacing the weaknesses identified during the course of the project.

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CHAPTER 2:

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2.1 AN OVERVIEW

 CONCEPT OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is computer-based technology that facilitates the sharing of ideas, thoughts, and
information through the building of virtual networks and communities. By design, social media is
internet-based and gives users quick electronic communication of content. Content includes personal
information, documents, videos, and photos. Users engage with social media via computer, tablet or
smartphone via web-based software or web application, often utilizing it for messaging.

Social media originated as a way to interact with friends and family but was later adopted by businesses
which wanted to take advantage of a popular new communication method to reach out to customers. The
power of social media is the ability to connect and share information with anyone on Earth, or with many
people simultaneously.

Globally, there are more than 3 billion social media users. Social media is an ever-changing and ever-
evolving web-based platform.

According to the Pew Research Center, social media users tend to be younger. Nearly 90 percent of
people between the ages of 18 and 29 used at least one form of social media.

 TYPES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

1. Social networking sites
Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn help us connect with friends, family, and
brands. They encourage knowledge-sharing and are all about personal, human-to-human interaction.
Users can share thoughts, curate content, upload photos and videos, form groups based on interests, and
participate in lively discussions. They’re built around the user and everything that’s important to them
and their social circles.

 Reach a target audience through ads: These platforms cultivate large, diverse communities.
Advertisers can rent permission to interact with people based on specific targeting metrics. These
platforms are incredibly data rich, we can reach a lot of the right people without blowing the entire
ad budget.
 Network: Engage with followers, find like-minded customers or potential business partners
through hashtags and groups, and build connections.

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  Research: Social networking platforms are a great place for digging up customer research and
using social listening tools to track conversations around specific terms.

2. Social review sites

Review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor display reviews from community members for all sorts of
locations and experiences. This eliminates a lot of the guesswork that goes into booking a restaurant or
hotel. Businesses can really benefit from studying their reviews, the good and the bad. It helps them:

 Understand the customer’s perspective: Reviews tell us about the customer experience from
their own point of view. Use this to identify what’s working and discover areas with room for
improvement.
 Solve problems: Reviews are an opportunity to engage with reviewers and solve any potential
challenges before they become a huge deal.

3. Image sharing sites

Visual content like images, infographics, and illustrations capture our hearts, eyes and imaginations.
Social media platforms like Instagram, Imgur, and Snapchat are designed to amplify the power of image
sharing. Users create, curate, and share unique images that spark conversation and speak for themselves.
A picture can be worth a thousand words to your business. Use these sites to:

 Encourage user-generated content: Image sharing sites are a gift for photogenic businesses.
You can run campaigns encouraging users to snap and share a pic with your product and a unique
hashtag.
 Create inspiration: By creating, curating, and sharing your own images, you can inspire and
engage users, bonding over a shared interest.

4. Video hosting sites

YouTube revolutionized the way we watch, create, and think about video. It transformed the medium into
something accessible. Recent improvements in tech and connectivity helped video go the rest of the way.
Video hosting platforms like YouTube and Vimeo help creators put together content and share it to a
platform optimized for streaming. Use video hosting sites to:

 Share phenomenal content: Yes. This point is a bit obvious, but creators can use YouTube to
build communities and get their content out there.
 Engage: YouTube’s comment section offers plenty of opportunities to get to know the people
watching your content.

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5. Community blogs
Sometimes an image or post isn’t complex enough for the message you’ve got to share, but not everyone
on the internet wants to run a blog from a self-hosted website. That’s a lot of work.

Shared blogging platforms like Medium and Tumblr give people a space to express their thoughts and
help connect them with readers.

These community blog sites provide an audience while allowing plenty of room for customization and
self-expression. Use them to:

 Develop your voice

 Syndicate content

6. Discussion sites
Discussion sites like Reddit and Quora are specifically designed to spark a conversation. Anyone is free
to ask a question or make a statement, and this attracts people with shared interests and curiosities.
However, unlike Facebook and Instagram, users tend to give out less identifiable information.

 Research: Reddit is made up of different sub-communities. With a bit of research, you can find
and engage people in your field, discover what they’re asking, and use this as a starting point for
your content marketing strategy.
 Answer questions: Quora users ask all sorts of questions. Answering them can help establish you
as a thought leader and drive more traffic to your site.

7. Sharing economy networks

Sites like AirBnB and Rover aren’t just a cool place to find cheap holiday rentals or a pet sitter. Sharing
economy networks bring people who’ve got something they want to share together with the people who
need it. These communities provide opportunities that won’t exist otherwise by pooling resources on a
large scale that wouldn’t be possible without tech.

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 BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Increases brand awareness with nearly half of the world’s population using social media
platforms, they’re a natural place to reach new and highly targeted potential customers.
Stay top of mind most social media users log into their accounts at least once per day, according
to Pew Research Center, and many people are checking social multiple times per day.
Increase website traffic Social media posts and ads are key ways to drive traffic to your website.
Sharing great content from your blog or website to your social channels is a great way to get
readers as soon as you publish a new post
Generate leads Social media offers an easy and low-commitment way for potential customers to
express interest in your business and your products. Lead generation is such an important benefit
of social media for business that many social networks offer advertising formats specifically
designed to collect leads.
Promote content Promoting your content on social channels is a great way to get your smart,
well-researched content in front of new people, proving your expertise and growing your
audience.
Customer and audience engagement Social networks give you the opportunity to interact
directly with customers and fans, and likewise give them the chance to interact directly with your
brand. Unlike traditional media, which offers only one-way communication, social media is a two-
way street.
Customer service and customer support People expect brands to be available on social
media and seek out their social accounts for customer service. Research published in the Harvard
Business Review shows that brands who don’t meeting those expectations damage their bottom
line.
Keep an eye on the competition
Learn more about your customers’ Social media generates a huge amount of data about your
customers in real time. You can use that information to make smarter business decisions.

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 DRAWBACKS OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Not Built for Businesses this is the main disadvantage of social media marketing for business. As
mentioned earlier in the article, many businesses, especially the new ones, which do not have
enough awareness or reputation are extremely not advised to focus on social media marketing.
This is all mainly because what the core purpose of what social media is. In my opinion, social
media are built for connecting two or more people in a “relaxed fashion”.
Negative Feedback And Tarnish Brand Name Being on social media means exposing yourself
publicly to all kinds of people who may or may not have the intention of coming across or seeing
your brand.
Heavily Rely on Ads Social media companies are very aware of that too. Facebook ads
announcement was a revolution. Advertisement is the main channel for these giants to make
money on their platform. That’s why they really focus on promoting and luring people to use their
ads platform.
Low ROI Another main negative of social media for business. ROI from social media marketing
is probably one of the lowest in online marketing strategies. You have to put both time, effort and
money to really make things work.
Time-Consuming One big misconception people have about social media is that: It’s FREE.
There are several free or low-cost social media tools available, but you have to deploy a
substantial amount of time to understand and learn the usage.
Security And Privacy Policy Issues One of the biggest negatives of social media marketing is
the security and privacy-related issues. When you’re using social media platforms for advertising,
you basically need to surrender your information, both public and personal, in order to get the
most out of your marketing effort. With social media platforms being a constant target for hackers
or unethical people, your information and data will never be safe

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2.2 NATIONAL SCENARIO

The number of internet users had increased over the years in rural as well as urban areas. This is expected
to cross the 639 million mark by December 2020. India has 574 million active Internet users as of 2019.
India is the second-largest online market, behind China. It is estimated that by December 2020 there will
be around 639 million active internet users in India. The majority of India’s internet users are mobile
phone internet users, who take advantage of cheap alternatives to expensive broadband/ Wi-Fi
connections that require PC, laptop, and other equipment. The overall data traffic in India increased
by 47% in 2019 driven by continued 4G consumption.
Internet penetration is rising throughout India, the situation is different when it comes to metros with
Mumbai having the highest internet population closely followed by Delhi. Overall top 8 metros have the
most penetration of Internet users and smaller towns have relatively lesser penetration of the Internet as
we descend to lower town classes. Government initiatives in Kerala like bringing high-speed internet to
every household, including its 2 million Below Poverty Line families who would get service for free will
aid in reaching out to more potential internet users.
With the ease of internet access, the number of active social media users in India stood at 330 million in
2019 and it is expected to reach 448 million by 2023. 290 million active social media users in India
access social networks through their mobile devices. Millennials and Gen Z are the main contributors for
social media usage in India. 52.3 % of social media results come from millennials. 28.4 % of social media
conversations are from Gen Z and 15.1 % from those aged 35-44. 97 % of Indians who are connected to
the internet watch videos online.
Facebook and YouTube are the most popular social media networks in India, Amazon and Flipkart are the
most popular online shopping platforms and TikTok is the most downloaded app of 2019. The entry
of WhatsApp into India’s digital market boosted app usage, with a doubling in rural areas in recent years.
Data shows that the reach of the messaging service extends wider than just urban areas. Other popular
apps include TikTok and Instagram. Social video app TikTok has been a huge hit in India, it has reached
1.5 billion downloads worldwide on the App Store as well as Google Play and India leads the chart
with 466.8 million or about 31% of all unique installs.

In line with global trends, the Indian consumer is increasingly consuming the content on digital platforms.
This trend is observed for all types of content including news (text), music (audio), or video. Increasing
internet penetration and mobile device proliferation has led to strong factors encouraging greater
consumption of content on the internet in India. The broadband subscriber base has grown 37% for 2019
which beats overall growth in internet users. The OTT video segment has seen the maximum traction in the
last couple of years. With more than 30 OTT video platforms in the country, multiple audio streaming
options and emerging gaming ecosystem has led to an increase in video and audio consumption as there are
more diversity and quality in the content. It is estimated that the digital market in India is set to become the
second-largest within media and entertainment behind TV by 2022 which will lead to more content creation
and more advertisement opportunities.

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2.3 INTERNATIONAL SCENARIO

Social networks have transformed marketing and their popularity is still growing. Networks vary in
popularity with different demographics and they're still evolving. Research by Global WebIndex shows
that globally,

“Social media users are now spending an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes per day multi networking
across an average of 8 social networks and messaging apps.”

More than 4.5 billion people are using the internet at the start of 2020. Active social media users have
passed the 3.8 billion mark with this number increasing by more than 9 percent (321 million new users)
since this time last year. Nearly 60 percent of the world’s population is already online, and trends suggest
that more than half of the world’s total population will use social media by the middle of this year.
This chart summarizes the importance and growth of social media. A standout figure relevant to
marketers from this chart is the 99 percent of total social media users accessing via mobile at some point.

Around 49% of the total Internet users are active social media users. This suggests opportunities for
future growth and helps explain why social media users grew by nearly 10 percent between 2019 and
2020. Analysis of regional use of social media shows the wide variation inactive social media penetration
reaching 71% in Eastern Asia, 69% in North America, 67% in Southern America and 67% in Northern
Europe falling to 59% in Western Europe, 39% in Northern Africa and 6% in Middle Africa.
The Social Bakers social media trends report shows that Facebook and Instagram, two of the most
popular social networks are particularly good for marketing to millennial and Gen Z age groups. A 2019
Children and parents: media use and attitudes report published by OfCom (UK) is interesting if
business is involved in marketing to children or youth markets or you want to understand future adult use
of social media. It highlights the continuing decline of Facebook use by younger demographics with 12-
15-year-olds with a Facebook profile decreasing from 40% in 2017 to 31% in 2018. Instagram increased
from 14% to 23% in the same period with Snapchat fixed at 31%.

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CHAPTER 3:

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 3.1 PRESENTATION OF DATA: CASE STUDIES

Bloom & Wild:

This online business specializes in delivering personalized and hand-picked flowers and has more than
25,000 followers on Instagram. Bloom & Wild used the Power Editor feature to create their Instagram
ads. First, they took their existing email list and created a lookalike audience from it. Next, they tested
their ad images by running a few low dollar campaigns posting like they normally would. However now
they would compare the engagement between the photos and whichever photo received the most attention
would be used for their main ad campaign.

They found that videos performed best for them and had the highest conversion rate. After selecting their
winning ad they scaled up the ad spend and added a strong call to action on their ads.

The Results
 62% increase in bouquet orders
 Increase in customers
This is a great example of how a small business can be successful on Instagram. They didn’t have the
money that a large corporation would. They simply created a small, but engaged following on Instagram.

Mercedes-Benz

Pretty much anyone who can drive has heard of Mercedes-Benz. So what was their goal when running
Instagram ads? The well-known car company was launching the GLA, which was their first compact
SUV. They wanted to gain exposure in the new category.

First, they decided they would create engaging ads on both Instagram and Facebook for their followers
and those that would see the ads. Then they reached out to photographers and asked them the question,
“What would you pack in your GLA?” the photographers would take a picture of what they would bring,
but the items would be laid on custom GLA cargo mat to show how versatile the vehicle was for a
weekend trip.

The Results
the automobile company saw a 14pt lift in Mercedes-Benz Instagram ads, a 54% increase in website visits
from Instagram branding ads, a 580% increase in website visits when Facebook and Instagram ads were
combined with Facebook direct response ads

SWIGGY
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 Swiggy India is a food delivery app that has become a leading player in the sector within a short span of 4
years from its launch in 2014 in India. Recently, after Instagram launched its new feature of voice
message where people can interact with a post by voice up to 1 minute long, Swiggy launched its Voice
of Hunger campaign which utilized this new Instagram feature in a way that excited social media users.
Over the next 10 days, Swiggy gave India 5 challenges where users had to recreate food shapes using the
Instagram voice note feature. Those completing the challenge could win up to a year’s worth of Swiggy
vouchers.
The campaign just went viral on Instagram. It received entries from popular stars and influencers in social
media, further enhancing engagement and making it one of the most popular user-generated campaigns of
the year.
The Results
 40% rise in Instagram followers
 Swiggy’s Instagram reach went up by 7,700%.
 Swiggy amassed a 2,100% spike in traffic to its platform from Instagram and a totally unintentional 24%
average increase in orders for food

AIRY

Airy is one of the fastest growing online budget travel solution providers in Indonesia, offering budget
hotels and cheap flights. Airy continues to find new ways to drive business. The company wanted to
compare the effectiveness of carousel ads in Instagram Stories against a single-image ad to see the effect
on conversion rates.

Airy is continuously looking for new ways to drive conversions. So when it began using the new carousel
format for ads for Instagram Stories, the company was keen to measure its effect on checkouts. Each of
the three carousels used different visuals and messaging, which allowed Airy to showcase longer and
more creative content.

The Results
 74% increase in reach
 23% increase in return on ad spend
 33% lower cost per checkout
 14X lift in conversions

Page | 28
 BEWAKOOF.COM
Bewakoof is a lifestyle fashion brand that makes the cool, contemporary Indian’s innovative, distinctive
fashion. Social Media’s primary advertising aim was to raise awareness of their brand, drive interest of
their goods, and ultimately drive down the funnel of eCommerce sales. Bewakoof.com leveraged
YouTube Trueview Advertising and introduced the new shopping cart feature to reach viewers previously
shopping with Bewakoof.com within the ads. They created compelling product-oriented video content
that resonated on YouTube with the target audience.
The Shopping Cards were included within those ads with the same products featured in the video and
viewers could directly click on the card and purchase the product from the website.
The Result
 Generate 9000+ sales
 4X returns on Ad spend through YouTube shopping cards over a short span of 30 days.
 It also proved that the campaign not only helped in successful conversions but also created a higher brand
recognition.

SHADDI.COM
Shaadi.com is India’s largest wedding portal. The campaign was launched on Valentine’s Day 2019
#WohEkBaat, where couples posted their #WohEkBaat (one common thing) which brought them
together.
The advertisement aimed at promoting the brand as a loving celebrator and celebrating its 6 million
success stories as well.

With many influencer celebrities being part of the campaign and asking their followers to post their
#WohEkBaat on shaadi.com’s social media handles, the campaign became a huge success generating a lot
of social media user engagement all around.

On Valentines’ day, they also launched a contest on their Instagram page that required followers to solve
3 simple puzzles to figure out what were some of the most common #WohEkBaat among their existing
couples.
The Result
 The campaign #WohEkBaat reached 1.4 million on Instagram on Valentine’s Day.
 Increased its follower’s base by 5% across social platforms Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
 The Valentine’s Day contests garnered 500+ entries and almost 200k people engaged with #WohEkBaat
posts.
Conclusion

Page | 29
The best brands on Social Media put their audiences first. By offering valuable content, companies can
become industry leaders, attract millions of attentive followers, and drive sales through this simple yet
effective Social Media marketing strategy.

Page | 30
3.2. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Data analysis and interpretation is the process of assigning meaning to the collected information and
determining the conclusions, significance and implications of the findings. It is an important and exciting
step in the process of research. In all research studies, analysis follows data collection.

This chapter presents the findings and results of the analysis for meeting the objectives of the study.
Interpretation of the findings and results of analysis have been discussed in detail in the present chapter.

AGE DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS:

AGE GROUP NO. OF RESPONDENTS

Below 18 9
18-25 43
Above 25 8
Total 60

50
45
40 43
35
30
25
20
15
10
5 9 8
0
BELOW 18 18-25 ABOVE 25

Interpretation:

The sample consisted of a total of 60 respondents among which 15% of respondents belong to age group
of below 18, 72% of respondents belong to 18-25 age group, 13% respondents belong to above 25 age
group. The age group 18-25 has more respondents because Instagram is a relatively new app in India and it
mainly attracts youth.

Page | 31
 GENDER
Gender No. of respondents
Female 32
Male 28
Total 60

33

32

31

30

29

28

27

\ 26
Female Male

Interpretation:
The sample consists of female respondents 53% and male respondents 47%.

Your Current
OCCUPATION NO. OF PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
STUDENT 49 82%
EMPLOYEE 4 7%
BUSINESSMAN 5 8%
OTHERS 2 3%
TOTAL 60 100%

Occupation

Page | 32
Page | 33
 60

40

20 Total
0
BUSINESSMAN EMPLOYEE OTHERS STUDENT

Interpretation:

In occupation group out of 60 respondents, 82% are students, 7% are employee, 8% are businessman and
3% are others. My survey consisted of largely students.

Which of

SOCIAL MEDIA SITES No. of RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE the

Facebook 28 47% following
Twitter 8 13% social
Instagram 51 85% media
Snapchat 23 38%
sites you
YouTube 41 68%
actively
Others 16 27%
use?

Others 16

Youtube 41
Page | 34
Snapchat 23
 Interpretation:

In these group 47% respondents has an active Facebook account, only 13% of the respondents has active
twitter account, 85% of the respondents has active Instagram account. 38% of respondents has active
snapchat account, 68% of respondents actively uses YouTube and 27% respondents has other active
accounts. Since this survey has largely been responded by youth (age 18-25). We can say that Instagram
is the youth’s choice of social media. Many respondents has more than one active social media account
but the percentage of Instagram users is very high.

How many hours do you spend on Social Media?

HOURS SPENT NO. OF RESPONDENTS

0 0
1-2 22
3-4 23
4+ 15
TOTAL 60

How many hours do you spend on social

Media

25
20
15
10
5
Total
0
1-2 3-4 4+
Page | 35
 Interpretation:

In this question out of 60 respondents, 37% spends 1-2 hr in social media, 38% of these respondents
spends 3-4 hr in social media and 25% of respondents spend more than 4 hrs in social media. This chart
concludes that there is not even a single respondent who doesn’t spend hrs on social media. Social Media
has made itself a huge part of our life, we can say that almost every person who has a social media
account spends hours browsing on it.

Why do you use social media?

REASONS NO. OF RESPONDENTS
Contact and connect with family/friends 43
To keep up with the news/gossips/trends 46
Interact with new people 24
Sharing/liking posts 34
To raise awareness 13

TO RAISE AWARENESS 13

SHARING/LIKING POSTS 34

INTERACT WITH NEW PEOPLE 24

TO KEEP UP WITH THE NEWS/GOSSIPS/TRENDS 46

CONTACT AND CONNECT WITH FAMILY/FRIENDS 43

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Interpretation:

In these group, 77% respondents use social media to keep up with the news/gossips/trends, 72%
respondents use social media to contact and connect with family/friends, 40% respondents use social
media to interact with new people. 57% of respondents use social media to share/like posts, 22% of
respondents use social media to raise awareness. Since this was a checkbox question with multiple
answers, the respondents use social media for many reasons among which keeping up with
news/trends/gossip and connecting with friends are highest

Page | 36
 In terms of business/promotional accounts, what do you follow most?
ACCOUNTS NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE
Clothes/fashion 16 27%
Fitness 7 12%
Food 14 23%
Celebrity 14 23%
Others 9 15%
TOTAL 60 100%

Others
15% Celebrity
23%

Food
23%

Clothes/fashion
27%

Fitness
12%

Interpretation:

In this question out of 60 respondents, 27% follows clothes/fashion accounts, 12% of these respondents
follow fitness account in social media, 23% of respondents follow food related accounts, 23% follows
celebrity accounts and 15% respondents follows other interest accounts. This chart tells us that different
people has different interests and hobbies and social media is a platform where they can pursue those
interests or gain more information on their interest matters.

What is the most important objective of social media marketing strategy?

STRATEGY NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE
Increasing sales revenue 6 10%
Increase Brand Awareness 14 24%
Increasing Website Traffic 8 13%

Page | 37
 Increase Audience 24 40%
Engagement
Increasing audience size 8 13%
TOTAL 60 100%

Page | 38
 Increasing
Website Traffic
13%
Increasing sales Increase
revenue Audience
10% Engagement
40%

Increaseing
audience size
14%

Increase Brand
Awareness
23%

Interpretation:

In this question out of 60 respondents, 23% thinks increasing Brand Awareness is the most important
objective of marketing strategy, 14% of these respondents thinks increasing audience size is the most
important objective of marketing strategy, 13% of respondents thinks increasing Website Traffic is the
most important objective of marketing strategy, 10% thinks increasing sales revenue is the most
important objective of marketing strategy and 40% respondents thinks increasing Audience Engagement
is the most important objective of marketing strategy.

How do you rate the success of social media to achieve marketing objective?
RATE OF SUCCESS NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE
Very Successful 27 40%
Somewhat Successful 29 48%
Unsuccessful 4 7%
TOTAL 60 100%

Page | 39
 30

25

20

29

27
15

10

4
0
Somewhat Successful Unsuccessful Very Successful

Interpretation:

In this question out of 60 respondents, 40% thinks that social media is a very successful platform to
achieve marketing objective, 48% of these respondents thinks that social media is a somewhat successful
platform to achieve marketing objective, 7% of respondents thinks that social media is an unsuccessful
platform to achieve marketing objective. Only 4 out of 60 respondents believe that social media is an
unsuccessful platform.

What is the most effective tactics used for social media marketing purpose?
TACTICS NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE

Posting on social networks 12 20%

Optimizing Social Profiles 5 8%

Advertising on social networks 25 42%

Creating compelling content 15 25%

managing website content 3 5%

TOTAL 60 100%

Page | 40
 30

25 25

20

15 15
12
10

5 5
3
0
Advertising on Creating managing website Optimizing Social Posting on social
social networks compelling content Profiles networks
content

Interpretation:

In this question out of 60 respondents, 42% thinks Advertising on social networks is the most effective
tactics used for social media marketing purpose, 25% of these respondents Creating compelling content is
the most effective tactics used for social media marketing purpose, only 5% of respondents thinks
managing website is the most effective tactics used for social media marketing purpose, 8% thinks
Optimizing Social Profiles is the most effective tactics used for social media marketing purpose and 20%
respondents thinks Posting on social networks is the most effective tactics used for social media
marketing purpose.

What is the most effective type of content in social media for marketing purpose?
TYPE OF CONTENT NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE
Videos 34 58%
Case Studies 8 14%
Articles 12 20%
Research Reports 5 8%
TOTAL 60 100%

Page | 41
 40 34

30

20 12
8
5
10
Tot…
0
Articles Case Studies Research Videos
Reports

Interpretation:

In this question out of 60 respondents, 58% thinks videos is the most effective type of content in social
media for marketing purpose, 14% of these respondents think Case Studies is the most effective type of
content in social media for marketing purpose, 20% of respondents thinks article is the most effective
type of content in social media for marketing purpose, 8% thinks research reports is the most effective
type of content in social media for marketing purpose

What is your Opinion on social media marketing?

OPINION NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE
It is somewhat profitable 29 48%
It doesn’t affect your business 5 8%
It is the best form of 26 44%
marketing
It is a waste of time 0 0
TOTAL 60 100%

Page | 42
 35
29
30
26
25

20

15

10
5
5

0
It is somewhat profitable It doesnt affect your business It is the best form of
marketing

Interpretation:

In this question out of 60 respondents, 48% thinks social media marketing is somewhat profitable, 8% of
these respondents think social media marketing doesn’t affect your business and 44% of respondents
thinks social media is the best form of marketing. 0 respondents think that social media is a waste of time.
Have you ever purchased any product or services via social media?
ANSWER NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE
YES 37 62%
NO 23 38%
TOTAL 60 100%

38%
No
Yes
62%

Page | 43
 Interpretation:

In this question out of 60 respondents, 62% i.e. 37 respondents has purchased products/services via social
media and 38% i.e. 23 respondents hasn’t purchased products/services via social media

If yes, then up to what amount have you purchased?

RANGE(Rs.) NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE
1-1000 14 38%
1000-5000 20 54%
5000+ 3 8%
TOTAL 37 100%

25

20
20

15

14
10

3
0
1-1000 1000-5000 5000+

Interpretation:

Out of 37 respondents who answered yes in the previous question, 38% has purchased in the range of Rs.
1-1000, 54% has purchased in the range of Rs.1000-5000 and only 8% has purchased in a range of Rs.
5000+

Page | 44
3.3 FINDINGS
Out of 60 people, 43% belong to age group of 18-25 years.
82% of the respondents are students. Therefore it is evident that social media attracts youth
population more.
Among the 60 sample size, almost every respondent has more than one active social media
account. Instagram is the most used social media with YouTube being second most used social
media.
Out of 60 respondents who actively uses social media, there is not even a single respondent
who doesn’t spend hrs on social media. Social Media has made itself a huge part of our life,
we can say that almost every person who has a social media account spends hours browsing
on it.
The next question asked was the use of social media and among the 60 sample size, 77%
respondents said to keep up with news/trends/gossips. Social Media has become a more attract
way of gaining information. Respondents has also mentioned that connecting with friends and
family is also a major reason for using social media
From the survey it is found that people prefer to follow different types of accounts. 27% people
go for clothes/fashion account while 23% respondents prefer food account and celebrity
accounts.
From the responses we received it can be inferred that out of 60 people, 40% people thinks
increasing Audience Engagement is the most important objective of marketing strategy.
Among the 60 sample size, 48% of respondents think social media marketing is moderately
successful and 45% respondents think social media marketing is very successful
Among the 60 sample size, 42% think Advertising on social networks is the most effective tactics
used for social media marketing purpose.
It is noted that 58% people thinks videos is the most effective type of content in social media for
marketing purpose.
Among the 60 sample size 45% people think that social media marketing is somewhat
profitable form of marketing and 43% people believe that social media is the best form of
marketing.
Among 60 sample size, 62% respondents has purchased product/services through social
media. Social media shopping is relatively a new term in India. The rate at which people are
responding to this form of shopping is phenomenal.

The next question asked was amount of Rs. invested in social media shopping and among 60
sample size, majority has purchased in a range of Rs. 1000-5000

Page | 45
Page | 46
CHAPTER 4:

AND RECOMMENDATIONS….

Page | 47
4.1 CONCLUSION

In the world with over 70% of internet user’s active on social networks, who spend at least one
hour a day on average on those social networks, we have to conclude that social networks have
become a sort of reality in which people communicate, interact, and obviously trust. We also have
to be aware that over 60% of those users access social networks via mobile devices, with strong
indicators that this percent will only increase in the future years.
In such world, we have to admit that social networks are a new dimension of reality that has
become a part of the business world as well. Over 90% marketers report they are or will be using
social networks for business, while over 60% of them claim to have acquired new customers over
social networks.
The findings published by business professional and marketers support the fact that businesses can
have a lot of benefits from using social networks, which is why implementation of those has
become a part of business practice. This is why social media marketing is no longer considered to
be on probation, but instead it has become an important part of the business world.

Page | 48
4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
It would be wise not to underestimate the costs associated with marketing on social media. Though
the potential to reach a wide audience is both immediate and as simple as opening a Facebook
account it should not be undertaken lightly.
A serious point is the potential for damage to the brand going viral across the internet. Repairing this
damage could cost considerable money and effort.
Sufficiently qualified staff would need to be hired plus the costs associated with training other staff
using the company accounts would need to be factored in.
A very minimum interaction that Hotels should consider is to treat TripAdvisor and holidayiq.com as
an influential means of reputation management. At present reviews whether they are bad or good, are
left unanswered.
It is suggested that offline and online marketing strategies be brought into alignment to prevent
mixed messages and to promote the availability of the online forums for interaction. Offline
advertising should be used to complement the online media. The social networking strategy should
sufficiently flexible to allow it to adapt to new developments and to determine what works and what
does not work.
A dedicated social media co-ordinator is recommended to monitor the impact of any changes
implemented. A dedicated co-ordinator would also allow for consistency in communication. At the
very least a profession agency experienced in social media marketing should be consulted at from the
earliest planning stages.

The reviews and complaints raised by the customers on the SNS should be effectively managed and
proper actions should be taken by the hotels management and the action taken should also communicated
to the customer.

Page | 49
5. BIBLOGRAPHY

To complete this project, I have undergone a survey Questionnaire for data collection from 10th May
2020 to 9th June 2020 in Siliguri.

Apart from the Sample Design and other valuable information’s regarding the subject, I have taken help
of the following books as well:

 Everybody Writes by Ann Handley

 The Social Media Marketing Workbook: How to Use Social Media for Business by Jason
McDonald

I have also taken help from a few websites, which are given below:

 www.emarketinginstitute.org
 www.researchgate.net
 www.learningcatalyst.in
 www.socialmediaweek.org
 www.business.com
 www.socialmediaexaminer.com

Apart from all these under the supervision of Mrs. Swapna Saha who gave me immense knowledge and
ideas about the topic in the easiest possible way.
I, hereby complete my project with many thanks to everyone who guided me.

Page | 50
 ANNEXURE

QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Personal Details

a) Name:-
b) Age:-
Below 18 18-25 Above 25

c) Gender:
Male Female

d) Occupation:
Student Employee Businessman Others

2. Which of the following social media sites you actively use?

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Snapchat
YouTube
Others

3. How many hours do you spend on Social Media?

0
1-2
3-4
4+

4. Why do you use social media?

Contact and connect with family/friends

To keep up with the news/gossips/trends
Interact with new people
Sharing/liking posts
To raise awareness

Page | 51
5. In terms of business/promotional accounts, what do you follow most?

Clothes/fashion
Fitness
Food
Celebrity
Others

6. What is the most important objective of social media marketing strategy?

Increasing sales revenue

Increase Brand Awareness
Increasing Website Traffic
Increase Audience Engagement
Increasing audience size

7. How do you rate the success of social media to achieve marketing objective?
Very Successful
Somewhat Successful
Unsuccessful

8. What is the most effective tactics used for social media marketing purpose?
Posting on social networks
Optimizing Social Profiles
Advertising on social networks
Creating compelling content
managing website content

9. What is the most effective type of content in social media for marketing
purpose?

Videos
Case Studies
Articles
Research Reports

Page | 52
10. What is your Opinion on social media marketing?
It is somewhat profitable
It doesn’t affect your business
It is the best form of marketing
It is a waste of time
11. Have you ever purchased any product or services via social media?
YES
NO
12. If yes, then up to what amount have you purchased?

1-1000
1000-5000
5000+

Thank you for your precious time and support.

Page | 53