Digital Customer Engagement: Social Media as Marketing Tool in Increasing

Sales in New Normal

Rationale

Nowadays, social media has been considered as platforms on which we people

build networks and share information. Most of us are now engaging in business
especially now in new normal. Since this pandemic has started, people are having
their own small businesses in order to sustain their everyday living. And to make it
more convenient, they use different social networking sites for them to sell something
which could benefit them and obtain their desired sales.

According to Peters et al. (2013), social media have generated three

fundamental shifts in the marketplace. First, it enables businesses and customers to
connect in ways that were not possible in the past. Such connectedness is empowered
by various platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. Second,
social media transformed the way businesses and customers influence and interact
with each other. Thus, social media data can serve as an important source of customer
analysis, market research, and crowdsourcing of new ideas, while capturing and
creating value through social media data represents the development of a new
strategic resource that can improve marketing outcomes (Gnizy 2019).

Chi (2011) defines social media marketing as a “connection between brands

and consumers, while offering a personal channel and currency for user centered
networking and social interaction”. The tools and approaches for communicating with
customers have changed greatly with the emergence of social media; therefore,
businesses must learn how to use social media in a way that is consistent with their
business plan. This review examines current literature that focuses on a retailer’s
development and use of social media as an extension of their marketing strategy.

Theoretical lens

This study is anchored on the theory of Harmeling et. al 2017 the customer
engagement theory which says that businesses need to take intentional initiatives in
order to motivate and empower customers to maximize their engagement value and
contribute patronizing marketing results. This highlights the importance of
understanding customer motivations as a prerequisite for the business to develop its
social media marketing strategy. It also emphasizes the role of inputs from both
businesses (social media engagement) and customers (social media behaviors), as
well as the importance of interconnectedness in obtaining marketing outcomes.
However, businesses can also benefit from customers in reaching higher sales and get
such feedbacks that may help them for the development of their product or service
(Pansari & Kumal et al., 2017).

Berry (2002) also introduced the relationship marketing theory which states
that it is an effective strategy that a business used to attract, maintain and enhance the
relationship with customers. It can be used to build customer loyalty and improve
competitiveness and customer satisfaction. In addition, social media, when used
properly, can provide small businesses with a long lasting relationship marketing tool
they can use to increase sales and customer loyalty and build awareness (Turner &
Shah, 2014).

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study is to investigate such strategies of different small

businesses owners using social media in new normal situation for them to obtain
higher sales. In this study, the researchers will focus on those owners and will know
the obstacles they are facing while aiming for sales especially in this situation. Since
the pandemic has started, most people are now engaging in online selling which
makes it more crucial to some small business owners to reach their desired sales.

Also, this study is intended for small business owners. This will make them
aware with their challenges and how will they be able to overcome and improve their
product or service in order to have satisfied and loyal customers which could help
them in reaching their desired sales.

Research Question

This study will answer the following questions.

 What are the strategies for using social media to increase sales?
 How did they overcome such problems while aiming for increase in sales?
References:

Barry, A. E., Johnson, E, Rabre, A., Darville, G, Donovan, K.M, Efunbumi, O.

(2015), Underage access to online alcohol marketing content: A YouTube case study.
Alcohol and Alcoholism, 50, 89-94.

Chi, Hsu-Hsien. 2011. “Interactive Digital Advertising VS. Virtual Brand

Community: Exploratory Study of User Motivation.

Gnizy, I. (2019). Big data and its strategic path to value in international
firms. International Marketing Review, 36(3), 318–341.

Harmeling, C. M., Moffett, J. W., Arnold, M. J., & Carlson, B. D. (2017). Toward a
theory of customer engagement marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing
Science, 45(3), 312–335.

Pansari, A., & Kumar, V. (2017). Customer engagement: The construct, antecedents,
and consequences. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(3), 294–311.

Peters, K., Chen, Y., Kaplan, A. M., Ognibeni, B., & Pauwels, K. (2013). Social
media metrics - a framework and guidelines for managing social media. Journal of
Interactive Marketing, 27(4), 281–298.

Turner, J., & Shah, R. (2014). How to Make Money with Social Media: An Insider's
Guide to Using New and Emerging Media to Grow Your Business. New Jersey, NJ:
Pearson Education.