Social Media Marketing Plan for Rowlinson Knitwear

This report discusses the development of a social media marketing plan for Rowlinson Knitwear, a school and corporate wear manufacturing company. It explores the marketing audit, objectives, target market insights, social media zones and vehicles, experience strategy, activation plan, and management and measures.

Entrepreneurial
Marketing

Executive Summary
In order to increase the market presence of company it is important that the company use
an efficient marketing channel that can help it in reaching its target audience in an effective
manner. social media is being increasingly used by companies for marketing the company
products and services so that the reach to target customer can be increased. In this report the way
in which Rowlinson Knitwear can increase its market reach by the way of implementing social
media marketing plan will be discussed by formulating an effective plan which can be applied in
company.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................4
Marketing audit......................................................................................................................4
Objectives...............................................................................................................................5
Gather insight of target market...............................................................................................6
Social media zones and vehicles............................................................................................6
Experience strategy with selected zone..................................................................................7
Activation plan.......................................................................................................................8
Management and measures...................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

Introduction
As technology is becoming more advanced the use of social media networks as marketing tools
by companies have also increased so as to reach to their target market which can help in brand
exposure along with broadening their reach to customers. Social media has become an effective
tool for marketing company products as it help in finding the potential customers based on their
interests so that the marketing policies can be focused on target audience (Choi and Yuan, 2016).
In this report Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd. which is a school and corporate wear manufacturing
company headquartered in Stockport, UK is taken. Development of a social media marketing
plan will be done for this company so that it can reach to a large number of customers and
increase its brand image so that more sales can be generated and profits can be increased.
Marketing audit will also be conducted so that the current situation of company can be evaluated
based on which marketing plan can be formed.
Main Body
Marketing audit
Marketing audit refers to comprehensive and systematic analysis of the internal and
external business environment of a business so that an effective marketing plan can be
formulated by company which can help it in achieving its objectives and reaching target
customers. Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd is a medium sized manufacturing company which deals in
school wear and corporate wear uniforms and is located in UK. The company make use of high
quality clothing material which is both durable and affordable so that the clients can be provided
with dresses as per their specifications (Denizci Guillet, Kucukusta and Liu, 2016). The company
intend to increase its market reach through social media marketing plan. Following are the ways
in which marketing audit for Rowlinson can be done:
PEST analysis: This strategic management tool can help in analysing the external business
environment of the company:
 Political: UK is politically stable nation with the government encouraging the
manufacturing businesses so that they can expand in market through subsidies, tax
relaxations etc. This can help Rowlinson to efficiently expand in market by creating a
social media marketing plan and increase its marketing activities in market.

 Economical: As the UK economy is progressing, the number of businesses and schools
are also increasing with increasing need for uniforms both for schools and corporate
offices. This is an opportunity for Rowlinson to increase its presence in market by the
way of social media marketing so that a large base of customers can be created
(Hollensen, 2019)(Hyder, 2016).
 Social: The purchasing power of people in UK is high along with high standards of living
which make it beneficial for Rowlinson to sell its products at profitable prices in market
which can help in covering its marketing costs.
 Technological: UK is a technologically advanced nation which can help Rowlinson is
using social media effectively and reaching to a large number of its target customers.
Also high tech technology can be available at low rates making the marketing effective in
achieving its objectives.
SWOT analysis: This is a tool which can be used to analyse the internal business
environment of a business which help in identifying its strengths which can be maximised to
acquire market opportunities while weaknesses can be minimised so that threats can be dealt
with effectively.
Strengths Use of high quality, affordable and
durable clothing material. Making products as per client
specifications.
Weaknesses
 Less market presence which limits its
reach to target market.
 The cost structure of company is
inefficiently formed.
Opportunities Use of social media marketing so that
the customer base can be increased. Use of organic clothing material so that
more customers can be attracted that
can help in business expansion (Jiang
and Kulemek, 2016).
Threats
 Increased competition in market which
can affect the business.
 Increased marketing cost that can lead
to increase in prices of company
products.
Objectives
In order to achieve the targets of a company in an efficient and effective manner and to
encourage the team members it is important that clear objectives are formed which help in

determining the actions that can be taken to achieve those objectives within time. SMART
objectives that are formed by Rowlinson so that the objectives of social marketing can be
efficiently achieved are:
 To increase the customer base of company by 20% by the use of social media marketing
till the end of 3 months.
 To increase the sales of company by 25% by the end of 3 months.
 To increase the market presence of company by 15% so that the brand image of
Rowlinson Knitwear Ltd can increase with the use of social media marketing.
Gather insight of target market
In order to make the marketing strategy of company successful it is important that the
target market is found by the company so that effective policies can be formed to influence the
customers to make the purchase of company products and services. STP model can be used by
Rowlinson Knitwear to achieve the objectives of social media marketing:
 Segmentation: It relates to dividing the complete market into small segments based on
certain characteristics like demographics, benefits, physiographic etc. so that the needs of
each segment can be identified. Rowlinson can segment the market based on
psychographics so that the segment which will buy school wear and corporate wear can
be identified (Kaur, 2016).
 Targeting: In this stage the market segments are evaluated so that the target segment can
be found to which company can offer its products and services so that profits can be
earned.
 Positioning: In this stage the product and services of company are positioned in market
so that the sales can be increased. This includes formulating the marketing mix so that
positioning can be done to attract customers. Rowlinson can use social media to position
its product and attract customers to make their purchases.
Social media zones and vehicles
There are four types of zones of social media marketing that can be used by the companies
to market their products and reach their target customers:
 Social community: These social media channels are used to socially connect with people
and groups and the channels of this zone are Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

 Social commerce: This channel is basically focused on selling and buying of products
with individuals and groups. Channels of this zone include TripAdvisor, Yelp etc.
 Social publishing: This zone is used so as to spread about certain information or content
regarding certain content to specific target audience. The channels for this are Tumblr,
Flickr, YouTube (Kumar, Choi and Green, 2017).
 Social entertainment: This zone is related with connecting to individuals and group of
people for entertainment, enjoyment etc. Channels in this zone are Instagram, Myspace,
Come2play etc.
Companies need to select their zones so that they can choose the appropriate channels that
can help them in connecting with their target audience. Rowlinson Knitwear can use Facebook,
LinkedIn and channels of social commerce so that it can reach to its target clients and contact
with many companies who are interested in school wear and corporate wear uniforms so that the
sales of company can be increased. Facebook can help Rowlinson in contacting companies
through their pages on Facebook so that company presence can be established. Through
LinkedIn the company can create its profile which will further improve its contacts with
companies and also help it in attracting employees with required skills. Social commerce
channels can help in directly dealing with clients and selling and purchasing online.
Experience strategy with selected zone
It is important that a customer experience strategy is formulated by the company so that the
effectiveness of marketing plan applied by company can be evaluated through customer
experience and the ability of company in reaching to its target. The social media zone which is
selected by Rowlinson Knitwear is social community in which the channel chosen by the
company in Facebook so that its target customers can be reached. Following are the ways in
which the company can increase the customer experience:
 Directing the company marketing by tracking its target customers: It means that the
target customers are tracked on the social media through their activities so that the target
customers can be found which can help in focusing the marketing of company on them
(Martin, 2017).
 Improving customer relationships: The relations with customers should be built strongly
by responding to the demands of customers promptly, updating the site of company

regularly so that the interest of customers can be maintained, updating about the prices
and material of cloths available with company etc.
 Capturing customer feedback in real time: It is important that the company quickly
responds to the customer feedback so that their experience can be enhanced and
improvement in products can be made which help in maximising customer satisfaction.
 Staying connected with its customers: The company should stay connected with its
customers by updating them with new offers, policies etc. so that more customers can be
added and a loyal base of customers can be created (Perreault, 2018).
Activation plan
In order to effectively use social media marketing tool the activities which need to be done
by company are setting social media marketing objectives, research target audience, establishing
important metrics, analysing competition, creating engaging content, assessing result and
optimisation, communication of goals to teams. All these activities need to be done by
Rowlinson so that it can effectively use social media as an effective marketing tool. Setting clear
objectives is important so that the objectives of using social media can be determined, reaching
target audience can help in determining their needs and wants, by establishing important metrics
the activity of audience can be measured by the number of times they interact with company
through clicks on its site (Melchiorre and Johnson, 2017). Analysis of competition i important so
that effective marketing poicues can be formed and innovative and engaging content should be
used so that customers on social media can be attracted towards company. Assessment of results
so that improvements can be made should also be done along with communication of the overall
goals among team members so that plan can be executed in an effective manner. Following are
the time-lines that can be used by the company to complete each activity within time:

Thus, by completing all the above activities within the time which is set it can successfully
achieve its objectives of using social media as a marketing tool so that the sales of company can
increase and it can become competitive in market.
Management and measures
In order to effectively apply the marketing strategy of company the management of
processes are important by applying various principles so that marketing can be effectively
managed and maximum benefit can be achieved by the company (Ristevska-Jovanovska, 2016).
The mangers of company need to efficiently monitor all the activities so that social media can be
effectively used by company in achieving its objectives. It is also important that appropriate
amount of budget is allocated for social media marketing so that all the activities can be
effectively completed. A budget of £30,000 is prepared below:
Particulars Amount
Market research £10,000
Human resources £5,000
Training and development £6,000
Miscellaneous £9,000
Total £30,000
Controlling: It is important that the application of marketing strategy is effectively
controlled by the company through KPIs so that the effectiveness of social media marketing plan
in achieving the objectives of company can be efficiently measured and evaluated. Various KPIs
can be selected by company like customer satisfaction, improvement in market presence etc. so
that the ability of marketing plan in achieving company’s objectives can be determined (Tatar

and Eren-Erdoğmuş, 2016). These KPIs will help in determining the performance of company in
market after the application of social media marketing plan.
Conclusion
From this report it can be concluded that in order to make the marketing plan of a
company successful it is important that the external and internal business environment of
company are analysed based on which an effective marketing plan can be formed. It is also
essential that objectives are clearly determined and the method is appropriately chosen by
company so that the benefits of plan can be maximised.

References
Books and Journals
Choi, E.K., Fowler, D., Goh, B. and Yuan, J., 2016. Social media marketing: applying the uses
and gratifications theory in the hotel industry. Journal of Hospitality Marketing &
Management, 25(7), pp.771-796.
Denizci Guillet, B., Kucukusta, D. and Liu, L., 2016. An examination of social media marketing
in China: how do the top 133 hotel brands perform on the top four Chinese social
media sites?. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 33(6), pp.783-805.
Hollensen, S., 2019. Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.
Hyder, S., 2016. The zen of social media marketing: An easier way to build credibility, generate
buzz, and increase revenue. BenBella Books, Inc..
Jiang, H., Luo, Y. and Kulemeka, O., 2016. Social media engagement as an evaluation
barometer: Insights from communication executives. Public relations review, 42(4),
pp.679-691.
Kaur, S., 2016. Social media marketing. Asian Journal of Multidimensional Research
(AJMR), 5(4), pp.6-12.
Kumar, V., Choi, J.B. and Greene, M., 2017. Synergistic effects of social media and traditional
marketing on brand sales: capturing the time-varying effects. Journal of the Academy
of Marketing Science, 45(2), pp.268-288.
Martin, G., 2017. The essential social media marketing handbook: a new roadmap for
maximizing your brand, influence, and credibility. Red Wheel/Weiser.
Melchiorre, M.M. and Johnson, S.A., 2017. Finding new ways to reach older students: Creating a
social media marketing plan for professional and continuing higher education
programs. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 65(2), pp.73-81.
Perreault, W.D., 2018. Essentials of marketing. New York: Mc Graw Hill.
Ristevska-Jovanovska, S., 2016. BUILDING THE MOST APPROPRIATE SPORT
MARKETING STRATEGY THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA. Research in Physical
Education, Sport & Health, 5(2).
Tatar, Ş.B. and Eren-Erdoğmuş, İ., 2016. The effect of social media marketing on brand trust and
brand loyalty for hotels. Information Technology & Tourism, 16(3), pp.249-263.