Impact of Social Media on Small Business

This research paper analyzes the impact of social media marketing on small businesses and provides recommendations for success.

Running head: IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Abstract
As the globalization has brought about the different businesses closer, it needs to be understood
that, all the business operations would be required to ensure that they are being able to meet the
needs of the customers and other shareholders alike. Hence, this is the domain where the social
media comes in useful. The report is based on finding the impact of social media on the small
businesses. The chapters have been laid out in a comprehensive manner and each of the chapters
aim to attain the overall research aims. The introduction sets the background of the paper and the
Review of Literature focuses on the analysis of the social media marketing as a concept and also
seeks to ensure that the overall impact of the business can be assessed. The research techniques
were based on the quantitative analysis techniques which through a survey found the impact of
social media on the small businesses and the null hypothesis was rejected. The last chapter has
provided certain recommendations on how the small businesses would be required to make use
of social media marketing techniques to enable a sustainable competitive positioning.

2IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Acknowledgement
I would like to express the deepest appreciation to my committee chair Professor _________,
who has the attitude and the substance of a genius: he continually and convincingly conveyed a
spirit of adventure in regard to research and scholarship, and an excitement in regard to teaching.
Without his guidance and persistent help this dissertation would not have been possible.
I would like to thank my committee members, Professor _______ and Professor _______, whose
work demonstrated to me that concern for global affairs supported by an “engagement” in
comparative literature and modern technology, should always transcend academia and provide a
quest for our times.
In addition, a thank you to Professor _________, who introduced me to Linguistics, and whose
enthusiasm for the “underlying structures” had lasting effect. I thank the University of _______
for permission to include copyrighted pictures as a part of my dissertation. I also thank ___ Press
for permission to include Chapter 5 of my dissertation, which was originally published in ____
Journal. I would also like to thank to _______ Foundation for their financial support granted
through predoctoral fellowship.

3IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................7
Overview......................................................................................................................................7
Problem statement.......................................................................................................................8
Research aim................................................................................................................................9
Research Objectives.....................................................................................................................9
Research Questions....................................................................................................................10
Hypothesis.................................................................................................................................10
Research Rationale....................................................................................................................11
Structure of the Paper................................................................................................................11
Chapter 2: Review of Literature....................................................................................................13
Overview....................................................................................................................................13
Social Media Marketing............................................................................................................13
The marketing opportunities of small businesses......................................................................15
The social media marketing strategies.......................................................................................19
Application of social media marketing in small business.........................................................21
The factors affecting the Social media use in a business...........................................................21
Impact of social media on the business.....................................................................................22
Future of social media marketing..............................................................................................23
Conceptual Framework..............................................................................................................24

4IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Summary....................................................................................................................................24
Chapter 3: Research Methodology................................................................................................25
Overview....................................................................................................................................25
Research Outline........................................................................................................................25
Research Philosophy..................................................................................................................26
Justification of the Positivism research philosophy...................................................................26
Research Approach....................................................................................................................26
Justification of the Deductive Research Approach....................................................................27
Research Design........................................................................................................................27
Justification of the Descriptive research design........................................................................27
Research Strategy......................................................................................................................27
Justification for the Research Strategy......................................................................................28
Sampling Technique..................................................................................................................28
Data collection...........................................................................................................................28
Justification for the Data collection method..............................................................................29
Data analysis..............................................................................................................................29
Justification for the Data analysis method.................................................................................29
Ethical considerations................................................................................................................29
Accessibility Issues....................................................................................................................30
Summary....................................................................................................................................30

5IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Chapter 4: Findings and Analysis..................................................................................................31
Overview....................................................................................................................................31
Descriptive Statistics.................................................................................................................31
Inferential Statistics...................................................................................................................36
Correlation Analysis..................................................................................................................37
Regression Analysis...................................................................................................................39
Hypothesis testing......................................................................................................................42
Findings.....................................................................................................................................42
Summary....................................................................................................................................43
Chapter 5: Discussion....................................................................................................................44
Discussion on the Literature Review.........................................................................................47
Discussion on Data analysis......................................................................................................48
Summary....................................................................................................................................49
Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations..............................................................................50
Overview....................................................................................................................................50
Linking with the Objectives.......................................................................................................50
Limitations of the study and future scope..................................................................................51
Future scope...............................................................................................................................51
Recommendations for small businesses....................................................................................51
References......................................................................................................................................53

6IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Appendix........................................................................................................................................58
Questionnaire.............................................................................................................................58

7IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Chapter 1: Introduction
Overview
The social media has become an integral part of the business and it is in relation to this,
that it can be largely understood that, in order to ensure long term success, it becomes critically
crucial for all the businesses specially those who are small in size and seek to expand in the
future, would be required to take integral procedures and steps so as to ensure that they are being
able to find considerable success in the long run. Hence, this paper has been developed in order
to inspect the impact of social media marketing on the small businesses (Hoffman and Fodor
2010). The social media as well as the social media marketing have been largely successful in
changing the overall domain of the business and have allowed the small businesses to expand its
operations in the long run. The social media is believed to be providing a large number of
benefits to the business in the long run and in relation to this, it becomes necessary for the
organization to adopt the social media marketing and related tools as a medium which will help
the firm to showcase its capabilities in the long run and similar to this, allow them to be able to
reflect on the different customer trends, so that the business is essentially able to take integral
steps and be able to improve its overall competitive advantage (Zarrella 2009). Hence, it is with
respect to this that it is recommended that the business is able to build a good online presence
with the assistance of the social media marketing techniques and through this, they are able to
deal with the different customers in a sound manner.
However, the usage of social media for a business is always not easy and very often it
becomes considerably difficult for the organization to be able to make use of the social media as
a medium due to the different factors associated with the use of it. This means that, very often
the business is not necessarily in a condition to make use of the social media for the long term

8IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
benefit and success of the business and is governed by a large number of factors like the domain
of target market, the cost of social media in the business, the ease of adoption of the social media
factors in a business and such related factors which are present in an organization (De Vries,
Gensler and Leeflang 2012). Hence, using social media is a big decision for the business and in
relation to this, the examination of the benefits which the social media will bring about for the
business also needs to be examined in a sound manner. Therefore, if a firm wants to ensure
considerable success in the long run then in relation to this, it will have to examine the set of
benefits which the social media will bring for their business and the usage of which social media
tools will be appropriate for the business in the long run.
Therefore, it is through this research, that the study aims to find the different ways in
which the business is affected by the use of the social media and also analyze the manner in
which the business shall benefit in the long run (Kim and Ko 2012). The use of a number of
journal articles as well as business reviews will be made in order to assess the impact of social
media marketing in a small business. The paper will make use of the quantitative research
methodology which assist in gathering data from the different respondents present as well as
relating this information to the theory available in the domain. Additionally, the paper will also
reflect on the research ethics, timescales as well as the resources which are required for the
purpose of data collection as well as the analysis as present.
Problem statement
Very often the small businesses are unable to understand and identify the manner in
which they will be required to ensure long term success in the business. In addition to this, it also
becomes considerably difficult for them to find ways in which by making the use of a limited
number of resources, they will be successfully able to reach out to their right target audience.

9IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Hence , this paper aims to deal with the manner in which the social media can be made use of as
a medium to reach out the right customers as present and in a manner similar to this, be able to
identify the manner in which the organization can make use of the social media marketing as a
tool to target their customers, carryout related operations as present in a business and
additionally be able to see to it that, they are being able to reach out to the target audience in the
right manner. The social media essentially allows the different businesses to be able to extend
their overall operations in the right manner and increasingly be able to hire the right kind of
talent for the organization as well (Tuten and Solomon 2017). Therefore, it is through this paper,
that the researcher aims to seek ways in which the overall operations of the business can be
managed using social media marketing and more importantly analyze the way in which the
organization will be able to improve its overall competitive positioning through this tool.
Research aim
The aim of the research is to analyze the manner in which the social media marketing has
an impact on the small businesses. The domain of the businesses which may be impacted by this
can range from the Human resource management department, the operational department, the
marketing department, the financial department and other related departments as well.
Research Objectives
The research objectives which the study aims to answer can be understood to be as
follows:
 To understand the overall concept of social media marketing as an essential concept
which is made use of by the different organizations.
 To analyze the manner in which the social media marketing tends to affect the different
business operations which exist

10IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
 To find a relationship between the social media marketing and the operational success of
a business
 To provide recommendations adhering to which a business will be able to find long term
success by using the social media marketing as a tool.
Research Questions
The research questions which the study aims to answer can be understood to be as
follows:
1. What is the overall concept of social media marketing as an essential concept which is
made use of by the different organizations?
2. In which manner the social media marketing tends to affect the different business
operations which exist?
3. What is the relationship between the social media marketing and the operational success
of a business?
4. What recommendations can be provided to the business adhering to which with which it
will be able to find long term success by using the social media marketing as a tool?
Hypothesis
The Research Hypothesis forms an essential aspect of the business report which helps in
ascertaining the impact of the independent variable on the dependent variable as present. In
regard to this, given below is the information regarding the use of the Dependent Variable and
the Independent Variable and relating to this is the, hypothesis which will be tested for the paper.
Dependent Variable: Operational and marketing efficiency of small businesses
Independent Variable: The social media marketing

11IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Hypothesis
H1 (Alternate Hypothesis): The social media marketing has considerable impact on the
operations of a small business.
H0 (Null hypothesis): The social media marketing does not have any impact on the small
businesses.
Research Rationale
Although there exist various research papers and related domains which seek to examine
the overall impact of the social media marketing on the small business, however, the gap which
the given study seeks to fulfill is to present a more comprehensive analysis in the given business
which will assist the firm to understand the manner in which they will successfully be able to
make use of the social media as a relevant tool and additionally also be able to ensure that they
are being able to deal with the different customers in a comprehensive manner (Evans 2010). The
most effective advantage of the social media is that helps the different organizations to gain an
understanding of the manner in which the different customers react on the social media and to
understand how a business will be able to ensure that all the long term goals of the business can
be achieved successfully (Erdoğmuş and Cicek 2012). Therefore, the study will primarily focus
on the manner in which the social media marketing has an effect on the overall operations of the
firm in relation to the management of the customers and in the secondary perspective, it will be
focusing on the manner in which, the social media tools and marketing can assist in carrying out
the other operations of the business as well.
Structure of the Paper
The structure which will be followed by the paper can be understood to be as follows:

12IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
1. Chapter 1: The first chapter can be understood to be the Introduction chapter which will
focus on the overall background of the study and also lay down the different research aim
and objectives which the paper is required to fulfill in the long run.
2. Chapter 2: The second chapter is based on the Review of Literature and will make a
thorough analysis of the manner in which the domain of Social media marketing and the
business operations can be understood effectively. Various theoretical perspectives will
be made use of.
3. Chapter 3: The third chapter is the Research Methodology chapter which will highlight
the manner in which the study will be carried out the different research techniques which
have been made use of for the purpose of the paper.
4. Chapter 4: The fourth chapter will focus on the Findings and Results which will be
attained by carrying out the quantitative analysis which has been planned for the purpose
of the research. Additionally, the demographic analysis of the responses collected will
also be carried out.
5. Chapter 5: The fifth chapter will discuss the findings and the results attained from the
previous chapter in a comprehensive manner using theoretical data and related examples.
6. Chapter 6: The last chapter will provide the summary of the study conducted by linking it
with the objectives and will also aim at providing recommendations so that the small
businesses can adopt the domain of social media marketing for their long run and overall
benefit.

13IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Chapter 2: Review of Literature
Overview
The review of literature as present in the research paper will largely focus on the impact
as well as the usage of the social media marketing for the purpose of the business (Zhu and Chen
2015). Small businesses generally make use of various other mediums for the purpose of
marketing like word marketing, radio marketing and newspaper advertising, however, as the
technology has advanced considerably, the different businesses often tend to make use of the
social media marketing as a probable medium to advertise and promote their products. The
section will elongate on the use of social media marketing strategies by the business and how it
can be applied soundly for the purpose of the business in order to make the overall operations of
the business considerably popular.
Social Media Marketing
According to Zhu and Chen (2015), the social media marketing can be understood to be
an impressive tool which can be utilized by the business in order to attract a larger audience
towards the various operations of the business. The business will be required to understand that
on an overall strategic level, the social media marketing is used to communicate the overall
marketing activities of the firm to its consumers and in addition to this, it is also made use of to
set the scope and to communicate the motive of the firm to the different customers as present
(Alves, Fernandes and Raposo 2016). The social media and its usage has become considerably
relevant, and it is for this reason that according to Tuten and Solomon (2017), approximately
1.30 billion of users make use of the social media marketing in terms of Linkedin, Google+,
Facebook, Twitter and others in order to ensure long term business success and to also see to it
that the sellers and the buyers are able to interact with one another in an easy manner. In addition

14IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
to this, the reason why the social media marketing is made use of in the domain of the business is
because, it is comparatively very cheap and in addition to this, it reduces technical, operational
and other such functional challenges as present in the domain of a business. The business owners
can successfully use the different analytical tools to be able to achieve their overall objectives
(Hyder 2016). The social media marketing can be understood to be a powerful way which the
businesses of all the sizes can make use of in order to reach out to the prospective customers as
well as the suppliers. As the different customers have already been interacting with the brands
present through the medium of social media, it is crucial that a small business is able to interact
properly with the customers as present with the help of various platforms like the Facebook,
Instagram, Pintrest and Twitter. Conducting the social media marketing and related aspects can
bring about overall awareness for the firm and will help the organizations in ensuring that, they
are able to engage in the posting of the text messages, branding, image updates and related
aspects. The social media as a tool also helps the businesses to drive the content to the
engagement of the audience and assist them in engaging in paid social media advertising. Hence,
it is with respect to this, that all businesses need to understand how the social media marketing
tools and related aspects can be made use of in order to meet a number of goals for the business.
According to Lipsman et al. (2012), the social media marketing can assist in fulfilling a
number of goals for the business which can be understood to be bringing about an increase in the
overall operations of the business. Hence, in relation to this, it can be rightfully understood that,
the social media helps in increasing the website traffic which will help the business in bringing
out considerable change for the business, moreover, it will also assist the business in building the
conversions or the organization which will ensure that the organization is able to find long term
success for the future of the firm. According to Saravanakumar and SuganthaLakshmi (2012),

15IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
very often the different businesses are not aware of the importance of the social media from the
point of view of raising the brand awareness and it is in relation to this, that it can be stated that,
the social media tools help in raising the brand awareness of the organization and also assists in
creating a brand identity along with a positive brand association. Additionally, it also helps in
improving the communication as well as improving upon the key audiences. Once the
relationship with the key audiences is built considerably then in relation to this, the firm will be
able to ensure that all its goals and objectives are achieved successfully (Berthon et al. 2012).
The marketing opportunities of small businesses
For a small business to ensure success in the long run, they can make use of the social
media so that they can attain commercial success. Hyder (2016) states that the different
businesses might face consider social media marketing as a new source of getting the various
customers as present. However it is important for them to consider that in case they are unable to
provide the social media in the right manner for the firm and are not being able to advertise
adequately, then in such a case, they will not be able to find success and instead the social media
turns out to bring negative impacts for the firm. Hence, the use of the social media needs to be
made in a wise manner with line to the fact that, all the traditional techniques of marketing for a
business can be essentially resolved with the application of social media marking.
According to Hudson et al. (2016), before the companies are launching any product, the
approach of social media marketing can be made use of. In case of this, it becomes important to
note that, the small businesses as present will be successfully able to communicate with their
consumers using social media and will not only be able to understand the responses as given by
them but in addition to this, they will also be able to understand their overall needs which are
required to be fulfilled (Ashley and Tuten 2015). Mangold and Faulds (2009) states that there

16IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
are a large number of social media strategies which can be essentially made use of by the small
businesses as it will assist them to achieve their overall objectives as well. This information
which the businesses tend to attain generally comprises of the information relating to the
demographics of the customer base, the location of stay, the manner in which they travel or like
to use the products, the products they often look out for, their decision making factors which
have an impact on the overall business operations (Evans 2010). Hence, once the business will
be able to make use of the social media marketing as a tool effectively, it will be able to ensure
that it is able to gain adequate idea about customers and this will further help them in gaining
idea about the customers as present which will further assists them in ensuring competitive
advantage for the firm. The manner in which a business can make use of the social media
marketing can be understood to be as follows:
1. Facebook Advertising
There are a large number of medium and small sized businesses as present in the
Facebook who tend to advertise on the portal and are able to make use of an inexpensive as well
as effective way to market their goods in the company (Akar and Topçu 2011). The Facebook
excels in Marketing using the advanced targeting method and hence, the small businesses should
essentially master at targeting the Facebook as a domain to market their operations which would
then assist the business in attaining long term success.
2. Google My Business
The Google my Business as a domain can be understood to be another essential domain
which, helps in business carrying out the most powerful things which can be implemented in a

17IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
business. The businesses can be essentially assisted in targeting the local businesses as present
and helps to combine all the Google platforms to one point of focus.
3. Google AdWords
The Google AdWords can be essentially be understood to be another tool which the small
businesses can make essential use of in order to ensure that they are successfully able to reach
out to the right kind of customers in the right manner (Felix, Rauschnabel and Hinsch 2017). The
Google AdWords provide relevant results to the different users who search for a particular
keyword. Google as a firm tends to assign the score to the advertisement and then targets and
aligns it on the web accordingly.
4. Content Marketing
The content marketing can be understood to be the procedure and overall process of
creating, distributing valuable, consistent as well as relevant content in order to attract the clearly
defined audience which the firm has essentially aimed at ensuring long term success of the
business and in addition to this, it also leaves considerable scope for overall success in the long
run.
5. Coupon Deal sites
Very often new small businesses often tend to provide coupons to the different customers
as present in order to promote their products in the market and to encourage the different users to
make considerable use of the business operations in the long run. Hence, it can be essentially
understood that, the small business aims to see to it that, the deal of the business becomes
essentially popular in the long run.

18IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
6. Email Marketing
The Email marketing can be understood to be another medium which can be adopted by
the businesses in order to see to it that they are being able to target the different customers easily
and also ensure that, they are able to act as lead magnet. Through this, the organization will be
able to ensure that, the customer is being able to feel valued and when they receive a
personalized email then they get interested in the offer which would go a long way in helping the
firm to attain long term success (Kumar and Mirchandani 2012).
7. Column Writing
The column marketing is another social media marketing tool which is similar to the
content writing and the different business often tend to engage in the medium of content writing
or column writing which thereby makes it considerably easier for them to ensure overall success
in the long run and also assists them in understanding the manner in which the different
businesses should be targeting the customers as present. In this way, by writing the columns in
favor of the overall operations of the business, the firm will be able to ensure that it is
successfully able to attract the different customers in the favor of the business.
8. Direct Mail Marketing
The Direct Mail marketing can also be understood to be a technique whereby, the
different businesses often tends to target its customers by targeting them in a personalized
manner. In relation to this, the business will be able to target and attract the customers in a
unique manner which will help them to gain the overall popularity of the business and in addition
to this also enable them to reach out to the target audience in the right manner.
9. Partnership with other Businesses

19IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
The small businesses may also make use of the Social media marketing as a tool to
partner with the different businesses as present. In line of this, it becomes considerably crucial
for the organization to ensure that, they are able to align their operations with the operations of
the other firms which will ensure that the firm will be able to gain increased popularity.
The social media marketing strategies
The social media marketing strategies can be understood to be those strategies which are
generally adopted by the various businesses so as to take an advantage over the different
customers as present. The different strategies which are generally adopted by the business can be
stated to be the strategies like making use of the social media marketing agency which will help
them to decide upon the direct manner in which the firm can advertise its products to the
customers in the right manner (Dahl 2018). Another strategy which can be followed by the
companies can be stated to be the review of the target audience. This means that, the firm will be
required to review all the target audience at one single platform and in line of this, they will also
be able to ensure that, if they are able to find the right target market for themselves then in such a
case, they will be able to serve the customers in the right manner (Godey et al. 2016). These
two strategies and objectives, can be understood to be the overall main objective of the firm in
the long run. Although the social media marketing tends to have various benefits for the firm, it
has to be understood that, it may bring about various negative aspects for the business as well.
This refers to the increase in the website traffic if the small businesses start to make use of the
social media platform for the purpose of the business. In addition to this, the brand identity and
association of the brand also gets affected in case that the social media marketing does not find
success in the long run (Dahl 2018).
The strategies used for Social media marketing

20IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
The different strategies which are often made use of in order to make use of the customer
attraction in a domain can be understood to be as follows:
Passive approach
In the passive approach, the social media is used as a useful source of marketing
information and in addition to this, it can also be used in order to understand the perspective of
the different customers as present. According to Godey et al. (2016), in this approach, the
mediums like the blogs, forums and other content communities are the main areas which the firm
analyzes so as to ensure that the feedback can be successfully applied in the daily course of
business. This approach can be understood to be comparatively different from the other
approaches as followed by the firm whereby, the focus groups and surveys were used as a
method to obtain real time information (Ainin et al. 2015).
Active approach
According to Karimi and Naghibi (2015), the social media can be understood to be
making use of the direct marketing and retention tools with respect to which, the operations of
the firm makes use of the customer engagement tools which will help in attracting the different
customers as present. The different technologies which generally tend to predate the social media
comprises of the broadcast Television, the advertisements, newspapers as well as other related
sources. Using the social media marketing as a tool, the business will not only be able to target
all the markets as well as the niche markets which are available for the firm. The firm may
directly target the customers with certain specific demographics who have a keen interest in the
social media marketing, video gaming as well as the political activism (Broekemier, Chau and
Seshadri 2015).

21IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
In addition to this, the social media as a medium can be understood to be a short as well
as direct medium to reach the audience. Moreover, various businesses make use of the
influencers in order to attract the different customers. The Facebook and Linkedin are used as
social media platforms in order to attract the different customers as present.
Application of social media marketing in small business
The primary application of the business which is comparatively smaller in size can be
understood to be the fact that it will bring about a considerable brand awareness amongst the
different consumers as present. According to Hassan, Nadzim and Shiratuddin (2015), not only
does the particular function help to generate new leads for the business but in line of this, it also
allows the business to increase the overall revenue of the firm and to boost the overall brand
strategy of the organization. In addition to this, as agreed by Felix, Rauschnabel and Hinsch
(2017), the social media marketing tends to increase and encourage the consumer services which
revolve around the business and help in building a brand community around the operations of the
business which will then go a long way in encouraging considerable conversations about the
brand products as well as the services which are present.
The factors affecting the Social media use in a business
The different factors which tend to influence the use of social media in a business can be
stated to be as follows:
1. Usefulness: The usefulness of the social media as a marketing tool can be understood to be a
critical factor which influences its use in a business and in line of this, the different firms tend to
adopt the social media marketing technique. Had the tool not been a useful one, then in such a
case, the business would not make any use of it.

22IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
2. Ease of Use: The easy demeanor and usage of the social media marketing can be understood to
be a relative measure which is made use of by the business (Felix, Rauschnabel and Hinsch
2017). As the social media marketing can be understood to be very easy to use, then in such a
case, the businesses often like to adopt it for their overall welfare.
3. Alignment with the Business objectives: Moreover, the social media marketing is also made
use of by the business in cases where the management feels that, its usage is aligning with the
overall objectives of the business (Hudson et al. 2016). In case the firm targets the niche market
then in such a case, it will be required to ensure that, it uses the social media as a tool to target
that specific market only.
4. Price: The cost considerations can be considered to be the essential considerations which are
required to be made by the business. The social media serves as a comparatively cheaper
technique and it is in line of this, that the organization tends to make use of the application to
ensure long term success and fulfillment of business objectives.
Impact of social media on the business
The impact of social media on business needs to be analyzed and considered effectively,
so as to ensure that, the overall operations of the firm can be assessed accordingly. The overall
impact of the business can be stated to be as follows:
 The brand image: According to Stephen (2016), the brand image of the firm is greatly
affected by the social media and in consistency with this, it is crucial to ensure that, the
firm is being able to achieve its overall goals as present.
 The content promotion of the organization: The social media tends to bring content
promotion for the firm and helps to keep the different customers engaged.

23IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
 Tracking competitors: The social media also goes a long way in tracking the competition
which is existent in the market (Hassan, Nadzim and Shiratuddin 2015).
 Crisis management: Very often, the social media also comes in useful at the time of the
crisis which may be faced by the organizations (Karimi and Naghibi 2015).
Future of social media marketing
The future of the social media marketing for the business can be considered to be
considerably bright as there will be considerable changes in terms of the new features as well as
social media changes which will make the overall functioning of marketing better for the
business. In line of this, it becomes considerably important for the firm to ensure that, they are
leveraging new trends which will help in the anticipation of the new business requirements
(Stephen 2016). The social media marketing has considerable benefits for the business and in
line of this, it has been successfully able to prove that, it has long term benefits for the firm and
hence, the use of it in the right manner brings about considerable benefits for the firm and hence,
the use of the social media marketing in the business is bound to increase to a great extent. Sajid
(2016) mentions that the positive impacts of the social media which is received from the
different customers is bound to bring about a positive result for the business and in line of this,
the business will be able to attract a larger customer base for itself.

24IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Conceptual Framework
Summary
Hence, from the given analysis, it can be understood that the social media forms an
integral part of the business operations and all those firms which want to ensure considerable
success in the long run would be required to ensure that they are being able to successfully
inculcate the social media marketing in its operations with the help of which, they will be able to
ensure a competitive and sustainable position in the market in the long run.
Small
Businesses
Social Media
Marketing
Usefulness
Ease of Use
Alignment with
Objectives
Price

25IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
Overview
In order to ensure that the Research is conducted in a comprehensive manner and the
techniques which have been used for the purpose of Data collection and Data analysis have been
used in alignment with the overall research objectives, it becomes essentially crucial for the
researcher to ensure that they will be able to identify and note down the correct research
techniques which will assist in the achievement of the research objectives. The given section will
lay down the Research methodology which has been adopted for the purpose of the paper and
define the different research techniques which shall be adopted for the given dissertation. The
section will outline the different Research techniques, Research philosophy, approach and the
Data collection and analysis which has been adopted for the purpose of the paper.
Research Outline
In order to ensure that the impact of the different Social media tools on the business can
be well understood, the study tends to follow a comprehensive outline. The study follows a
focused approach whereby the Positivism approach has been chosen as the Research Philosophy
and the Deductive approach has been chosen as the Research approach. Moreover, the data shall
be collected using the primary technique with the medium of a survey. The results of the data as
collected were analyzed using quantitative analysis by using the medium of the SPSS as a
research tool. The Correlation and Regression analysis have been adopted as tools which can
then be made use of in order to understand the manner in which, the social media marketing has
an impact on the small business.

26IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Research Philosophy
The research philosophy can be defined as a belief with respect to which the data about a
particular phenomenon which exists can be gathered and utilized as well. In addition to this, it
acts as a conceptual roadmap which helps the researcher to make use of specific and appropriate
methods which can be used to conduct the research in a proper manner. The research
methodology which has been adopted as the purpose of the study can be stated to be the
Positivism research philosophy (Kothari 2004). The Positivism research philosophy helps in
developing suitable theory and hypothesis so as to ensure that hat the impact of social media in a
business can be rightfully understood and analyzed.
Justification of the Positivism research philosophy
The reason why the Positivism research philosophy has been adopted for the purpose of
the study can be understood to be because, it the Positivism research philosophy will assist in
finding the impact of Social media on the business and thereby prove the phenomenon with the
help of a logical justification and related definition.
Research Approach
The research approach can be considered to be a procedure which comprises of different
assumptions which can be made use of to collect, analyze and to interpret the data which exists.
The entire research problem can be addressed in this manner (Kothari 2004). The deductive
research approach has been adopted for the particular research and in line of this, the existing
theory in order to design for a proper strategy is used to test the hypothesis. The deductive
approach can be used as a suitable approach for the given research topic as it will help to find the
relationship between the variable, Independent Variables like the Social media and the
Dependent variable like the business operations would be assessed accordingly.

27IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Justification of the Deductive Research Approach
The reason why the Deductive Research Approach has been adopted for the purpose of
the study can be understood to be because, the deductive research Approach will help in
deducing the information from the data which is collected. In this way, the overall analysis and
the impact of the independent variable on the dependent variable can be identified accordingly
(Peffers et al. 2007).
Research Design
The study type will be helpful for the research as it will assist in finding the impact of
social media on a small business. Hence, the hypothesis shall be followed by the process of the
research and hence, will help in understanding the impact of one of the independent factors on
the dependent factor. The descriptive research design can be understood to be suitable for the
purpose of the paper and hence, the overall effect can be understood effectively (Kothari 2004).
Justification of the Descriptive research design
The reason why the Descriptive research design has been followed for the purpose of the
research can be understood to be because, the domain of social media can be understood to be
considerably large and it is with respect to this that the different businesses as present will be
required to undertake a complete knowledge of it in order to understand the reason why the tool
is being adopted (Peffers et al. 2007). Hence, with respect to this, the Descriptive Research
Design will be considerably useful in carrying out the particular procedure of research.
Research Strategy
A research strategy can be understood to be introducing the different components of a
research project which also includes the research focus, methods and the research topic. The four
primary research strategies which are generally adopted can be understood to be the quantitative

28IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
survey, the case study approach, the action and the qualitative interviews For the purpose of the
dissertation topic, the quantitative survey shall be conducted which will shall help in
understanding respondent point of view and assist the business in collecting the overall impact of
the social media marketing on the different small businesses (Kumar 2019). The business
research will help in the accurate measurement of social media marketing for a small business.
Justification for the Research Strategy
The reason why the research strategy of the quantitative survey has been adopted is
because it shall assist in testing the hypothesis and in addition to this, it will also help in ensuring
that, the impact of the independent variable on the dependent variable can be assessed
considerably (Mackey and Gass 2015).
Sampling Technique
The sampling technique which shall be adopted for the purpose of the study can be
understood to be the simple random non probability sampling. In this kind of a sampling process,
the respondents will be selected on a random basis and with respect to this, they will be asked to
provide their response to the different questions. A set of 18 questions have been selected for the
different respondents (Kumar 2019). The Bristol Online survey has been chosen as the medium
of the survey and the questions pertaining to the research topic will be presented as a Likert
scale. Certain questions pertaining to the Demographics of the data have also been assessed and
in line of this, it can be considered to be considerably crucial that,
Data collection
The data collection techniques can be understood to be the techniques, with the help of
which the researcher is able to gather adequate details about the responses and related aspects.
The data collection method which will be chosen for the purpose of the analysis can be

29IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
understood to be the primary data collection method whereby the medium of the survey will be
chosen to collect the data.
Justification for the Data collection method
The reason why the Primary data collection method has been chosen to be adopted for the
purpose of the study can be understood to be because, it will assist in understanding the
individual perspective on the importance of Social media in the business and in addition to this,
it will also assist in understanding how the different businesses can essentially make use of the
Social media as a comprehensive tool for long run success of the firm (Kumar 2019).
Data analysis
The data analysis method which has been used for the purpose of the research can be
understood to be the quantitative analysis. The quantitative analysis made use of the SPSS as a
tool to find the relationship between the different variables as present. In this manner the impact
of the social media on the small business could be understood effectively.
Justification for the Data analysis method
The reason why the SPSS is being used as a medium to carry out the analysis and the
tools of Regression and Correlation will be made use of is because, it will assist in carrying out
the analysis in a comprehensive manner and additionally it will also assist in ensuring that, the
quantitative and primary data which was collected can be comprehended easily (Marczyk,
DeMatteo and Festinger 2005).
Ethical considerations
When the research was conducted, in order to find the impact of the social media
marketing on the business, the given set of research ethics were followed:

30IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
• The privacy of the different respondents were collected successfully.
• The data as collected shall not be published without the permission of the resources from
which the data could be collected effectively (Robson 2011).
• No ethical behavior would be practiced.
Accessibility Issues
The main accessibility issues which were faced could be understood to be the use of
limited open ended questions in the survey. As only the close ended questions were used for a
majority of the questions, for this purpose, not much research could be gained.
Summary
The chapter outlined the overall research techniques and methods which were adopted for
the purpose of the research.

31IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Chapter 4: Findings and Analysis
Overview
The Data analysis is an integral part of any study which has to be undertaken in order to
find the impact of the Independent Variable on the Dependent variable and it is with respect to
this, that becomes considerably crucial for the researcher to ensure that the right kind of Data
analysis tools are made use of in order to achieve the research objectives. In regard to this, the
given section of the paper will be analyzing the responses which have been collected from the
respondents during the survey and with the help of this, a comprehensive analysis using
statistical analysis will be conducted (Noor 2008). The chapter will be divided into various
sections whereby the first section will be analyzing the characteristics of the respondent opinion
by making use of Descriptive Statistics and graphs. This will then be followed by the Regression
Analysis and Correlation which will help in testing the hypothesis which was set out for the
paper earlier.
Descriptive Statistics
Gender
Female
Male
Figure 1

32IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
From the given pie chart, it can be rightfully understood that 41% of the respondents
were male whereas the rest 59% of the respondents were female. Hence, from this distribution it
can be rightfully understood that the population was divided evenly and the opinion of both the
genders have been collected.
Figure 2
From the second figure the age group of the respondent group can be assessed. It can be
examined that out of the 100 respondents, 38% of the respondents belong to the age bracket of
18 to 30 years of age which can be understood to be a rather young population. The second
highest group was the age bracket of 31 to 45 years of age. Hence, the survey takes in the
opinion of every age group.

33IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Figure 3
The third figure provides a complete analysis of the educational level of the respondents
from whom the data was collected for the purpose of the research. It can be observed that a
major percentage of the respondents had mastered in a field and the latter had a Certificate
degree. This population came up to 32% of the population and 33% of the population
respectively.

34IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Figure 4
The fourth figure provides a view of the Employment state of the respondents and from
this it can be observed that, 43% of the respondents from whom the data was collected for the
research were professionals whereas the other 32% of the respondents were in business. Hence,
the views of these professionals and businessmen have shaped the discussion followed.

35IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Figure 5
The given image provides the opinion of the respondents based on the Best social media
website which they perceive as successful. The opinion of the respondents can be understood to
be biased between Instagram and Linkedin. The method of digital marketing has become
considerably popular with the help of the medium of Instagram and this is the reason why a
majority of the different respondents are under the belief that it is a successful medium. On the
other hand, 32% of the respondents stated that they were under the belief that Linkedin was a
more suited social media marketing website which could be made use of by the businesses.
Figure 6
The given figure provides the analysis of the perception of the different respondents
based on the argument of the contribution of the social media on the business operations. In line
of this, it could be understood that a majority of the respondents were under the belief that, the
social media can be made use of for the advertising of the business, to increase brand awareness,

36IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
to build sound relationships for the different customers, for attracting new clients as well as to
attract new recruits. Hence, from this, it can be understood that the social media can be deemed
to be very useful for the overall operations of the business.
Total respondents having own business
No
yes
Figure 7
The given figure provides an analysis of the respondents having their own business. From
the given figure it can be reflected, 56% of the respondents did not own a business whereas the
rest 44% of the respondents have their own business. Hence, from this it can be understood that,
a majority of the respondents have their own business and this can further be used as a good sign
whereby the business owners can provide their own opinion on the overall success of the social
media and its use in the business.
Inferential Statistics
The section will be using statistical tools of Correlation analysis and the Regression
analysis in order to analyze the data which had been collected from the various respondents.
These are the statistical tools which are generally used in order to analyze the impact of the

37IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
independent variable on the dependent variable. In the case of this research paper, the
independent variable for the topic is the social media marketing and the dependent variable is the
small business and related operational efficiency.
Correlation Analysis
The Correlation can be described as the statistical tool which can find the overall
relationship between two variables and determine the extent to which they are related to one
another. It helps to understand how the two variables which are being tested tend to correlate to
one another. The correlation generally tends to lie between the range of -1 and 1 which refers to
a negative correlation to a positive correlation. In relation to this, it has to be ensured that, when
the value of the correlation tends to lie from -1 to 0 then in such case, there lies a negative
correlation between the two variables (Thompson 2005). Additionally the value of the variables
between 0 to 1 tends to reflect a positive correlation which lies between the different variables as
present. When the value of the correlation comes up to 0, it reflects that, there does not exist any
correlation between the two variables and in case the value of the correlation is positive and
comes to be more than 0.7 then in such a case, the correlation can be understood to be positive
and high between the dependent as well as the independent variable. In the given section, the
correlation which is undertaken is based on the Factors influencing the social media usage by
customers and the factors which influence the use of social media in a business which is
considerably small in size.
Correlation between the Independent and the Dependent variable
Table 1
Descriptive Statistics

38IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Table 2
Correlations
CustFactors
FactorsinBusin
ess
CustFactors Pearson Correlation 1 .517**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
Sum of Squares and
Cross-products
18.348 15.703
Covariance .185 .159
N 100 100
FactorsinBusiness Pearson Correlation .517** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
Sum of Squares and
Cross-products
15.703 50.248
Covariance .159 .508
N 100 100
The given table provides a snapshot of the Correlation which takes place between the
different variables like the Social media in a business and the overall business success in the long

39IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
run. The correlation between the variables can be understood to be positive in nature and the
correlation between the variables comes up to 0.517. The correlation coefficient can be
understood to be positive and high in nature. Hence, it can be understood that when the overall
social media can be used for the business, it brings about considerable operational efficiency for
the overall purpose of the business in the long run. Hence, in relation to this, the small businesses
as present need to make use of the social media which will then assist them in ensuring that they
are able to gain overall operational efficiency in the long run.
Regression Analysis
The regression Analysis can be described as another quantitative analysis tool which can
be understood to perform the function of modelling and analyzing the different variables as
present. The test is appropriate for the different scenarios whereby the relationship between the
dependent variable and the independent variable can be understood to be unidentified. Hence, by
making use of the regression analysis, the relationship between the dependent variable and the
independent variable can be identified successfully. The different output tables will be analyzed
which were obtained from the SPSS analysis software.
Table 3
Model Summary
Model R R Square
Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of
the Estimate
1 .649a .421 .409 .588

40IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
The model summary provides the overall results which provide the value of the R square
and the Adjusted R square. The value of R can be considered to be the simple value of the
correlation coefficient which tends to exist between the independent variable and the
independent variable. In this case, the value of the variable can be understood to be 0.649 which
can be taken to be positive and high (Draper and Smith 1998). This reflects that there tends to
exist a strong and positive relationship between the social media and the small business. The
value of R2 reflects upon the variation which exists between the dependent variable and the
independent variable and also provides a clue of the fitness of the model. Hence, the value of the
R square came up to 0.421 which reflected hat 42% of the results can be reflected clearly.
Moreover, as the difference between the Adjusted R2 and R2 is very low, it can be understood that
the model is a good fit model.
Table 4
ANOVAa
Model
Sum of
Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression 24.422 2 12.211 35.318 .000b
Residual 33.538 97 .346
Total 57.960 99
The Anova table provides details on the strength of the regression model to predict the
dependable variable in the correct manner. It can be seen that the value of the Significant in the

41IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
row of the Regression value is less than 0.05 and hence, it is generally used to determine the
statistical significance of the variables. As the value is less than 0.05 it can be understood that the
model is a good fit model (Seber and Lee 2012). Moreover, the value of P which is less than 0.05
also reflects that the Null hypothesis can be rejected and the alternate hypothesis can be
accepted. This reflects that there exists a considerably strong relationship between the social
media and the small business operations.
Table 5
Coefficientsa
Model
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
t Sig.B Std. Error Beta
1 (Constant) 1.013 .634 1.599 .113
CustFactors .065 .160 .037 .406 .686
FactorsinBusiness .676 .097 .629 6.975 .000
The table tends to provide the regression equation and the value of the regression
equation as well.
Hypothesis testing
The hypothesis of the study is as follows:

42IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
H1(Alternate Hypothesis): The social media marketing has considerable impact on the operations
of a small business.
H0 (Null hypothesis): The social media marketing does not have any impact on the small
businesses.
Therefore, from this it can be understood that, the P value of the regression analysis can
be understood to be very less than the ideal value 0.05 and hence, with respect to this, it can be
largely understood that, the null hypothesis can be rejected and the overall relationship between
the Social media marketing and the small business can be accepted. This defines that, there exists
a strong relationship between the Social media marketing and the small businesses.
Findings
The findings of the study can be understood to be as follows:
 There tends to exist a strong and profound relationship between the Social media
marketing and the small business operations which tend to exist.
 The correlation coefficient came above 0.5 which reflected that there exists a strong and
positive correlation between the different factors.
 Additionally as the value of the P can be understood to be less than 0.05 the Null
hypothesis was rejected and the alternate hypothesis was accepted.
 From the descriptive analysis it could be understood that a majority of the population was
under the belief that the social media marketing can be considered to be strong for the
business especially those who are small in size.

43IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Summary
Hence, from the given analysis, it can be rightfully understood that the descriptive
analysis reflects that there exists a strong relationship between the social media marketing and
the business. The Correlation analysis as well as the Regression analysis provided the evidence
that the relationship between social media marketing and small business success is strong.

44IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Chapter 5: Discussion
As understood the social media marketing tends to have a considerable impact on the
overall operations of the business and with respect to this, it becomes considerably important for
the firm to ensure that they are able to understand this impact which exists as it will enable them
to understand that there lies a considerable impact and relationship between the brands as well as
the consumers (Constantinides 2014). As the different companies and small business have been
creating considerable strategies to analyze the various operations of the business and to integrate
the overall efficiency of the business as well. The businesses have been gaining a firsthand view
of the likes as well as the dislikes of the customers, their demands and the overall trends which
lie in the particular domain. Hence, through this report, an aspect which has been confirmed is
the fact that, whether it is the large Multinational organizations or the small businesses, all have
been making considerable use of the social media and it is the social media which has helped
them to prosper in the long run (Sajid 2016). The early traditional marketing mediums such as
the Television advertising, radio advertising, Television commercials and the related mediums
are very costly mediums which are being used by the various businesses. However, currently, the
medium of Social media marketing is an inexpensive way of advertising through which the
different brands as well as companies can connect with their target customers for almost a null or
negligible cost. By making use of the medium of Facebook, Twitter and the Linkedin the
business can reduce the marketing costs as present.
According to Vinerean et al. (2013), the Social Media Marketing tends to have a
tremendous impact on the overall operations of the business and the market as a whole and help
the business to engage in growth and performance in the long run. Not only is the social media
marketing very useful in attracting the different customers but also has a profound impact on the

45IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
business growth and performance in the long run. The social media tends to have an impact on
the business tactics and helps to build the brand image of the organization. When using social
media tactics and techniques which help in building brand image and profile like fan pages as
well as contests, the organization is able to gain an idea about the latest trends which are adopted
by the organizations (Jones, Borgman and Ulusoy 2015). The social media not only helps in
building a strong online presence but helps in improving the customer satisfaction as well. The
different ways in which the social media has an impact on the business can be understood to be
as follows:
1. Social media helps in improving Customer insights
Through the medium of social media, the businesses tend to become considerably better
at understanding the manner in which the different customers can share their insights of the
business and are able to gain the knowledge regarding potential customer opinion as well
(Edosomwan et al. 2011). This potential customer information which will be attained from the
social media and then the customers can be attracted through aligning offerings.
2. Social media assists in improving the Customer service
For small businesses, the social media also allows the Customers service of the
organization to improve considerably. This is because, it is through the medium of social media
that the different businesses as present will be successful in responding to the customer
grievances, concerns as well as the questions in the right manner and additionally, in this way the
customers will be assured that they shall receive any assistance which they require at the earliest
(Paniagua and Sapena 2014).
3. Social media helps the business to become cost efficient

46IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
The main advantage of the small business is that, it makes the business cost efficient in
nature. Hence, when the businesses tend to run on the social media and make use of the relevant
social media tools then in such a case, they are able to share their information in a better manner
and the Social media as a medium tends to help the business in managing and handling an
affordable advertising platform.
4. Social media improves the connectivity of the business
The Businesses have various branches and these days even those businesses which are
considerably small in size tend to have various branches and it is the social media marketing
which will help the business to maintain as well as improve the overall connectivity of the
business and thereby promote effective and efficient operations (Ngai, Tao and Moon 2015).
5. Social Media assists in promoting Brand Awareness
From the analysis as done in the previous section it could be largely understood that the
reason why the Social Media tends to form an essential part of the organization is because, they
help in promoting overall brand awareness. This means that in scenarios, where the organization
finds it considerably difficult for the operations of the business to be successful and additionally
it appears that the firm will not be able to become popular amongst the different customers as
present, then it is in such a case that the business is able to find considerable success and ensure
that it will successfully be able to perform well in the long run (Kim and Ko 2012).
6. Social media helps in driving sakes
Lastly, it can also be understood that, the social media advertising tends to bring about
increased exposure through the social media drives to the organization. The social media

47IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
marketing can be actually understood to have the capacity of driving sales and attracting the
different customers as present.
Having understood the overall impact of the social media marketing on the overall
operations of the business and the capability of the business to attract the audience, according to
Zarrella (2009), the social media platforms which are particularly popular can be understood to
be as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Instagram. These social media websites can be
understood to be free websites which are increasingly very popular and have the overall
capability to connect the business through a large number of sources. This helps in ensuring that
the business is successfully able to engage in long term success.
Moreover, according to Tuten and Solomon (2017), the Twitter can also be understood
to be a relevant website which can be made use of by the different businesses in order to ensure
that the 330 million active members can be targeted reasonably. Even Instagram and Linkedin
prove to be a considerably strong social networking sites which not only help in ensuring that the
business will find success in the long run but also ensure that the firm is being able to keep up to
date with the latest trends of the business.
Discussion on the Literature Review
According to Erdoğmuş and Cicek (2012), the social media as a medium has an impact
on the business and the different spheres comprise of the domains such as the marketing,
operations, financing and the branding as well. The Literature Review helped in gaining a
comprehensive analysis of the overall concept of the social media marketing and also went a
long way in helping the researcher to understand the use of social media, the benefits of social
media, the manner in which the social media has an impact on the overall operations of the
business and also the manner in which the social media can be made use of for the overall

48IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
advantage of the business. The Literature review made use of various journal articles and the
business reviews to provide an insight into the domain of social media marketing. It is through
the review of Literature that the particular study will be able to present a thorough analysis of the
overall concept of the Social media Management and the kind of Impact it has on the business
which are particularly small in size.
Discussion on Data analysis
The Data analysis which was carried out in the previous section can be essentially
understood to be quantitative in nature and it is with respect to this analysis that it can be
essentially understood that it was proved that the Social Media has a considerable impact on the
overall operations of the small business. In the particular section, an analysis of the different
factors relating to Social media was made in relation to the different factors affecting the use of
Social media in a business. The two analysis which were carried out in the section comprised of
the Correlation Analysis and the Regression Analysis. With the help of the Correlation Analysis
it was understood that, the Social media and the success of a small business have a moderate and
positive relationship between themselves which can thereby explain that the customers prefer to
make use of the social media which helps them to gain an overview of the products and on the
other side of the fence, the different businesses also gain considerably which will then assist the
business in indulging in this domain. Moreover, through the Regression analysis it was found
that the null hypothesis was rejected and the alternate hypothesis was accepted which proves that
the Social media does have an impact on the operations of a small business and in relation to
this, it can be largely understood that, all businesses are essentially required to make use of the
social media in order to ensure long term success.

49IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Summary
Hence, this chapter discussed the findings and the results of the data analysis which was
gathered from the previous section. The discussion throws light on the impact of social media on
the small business and validates the reasons how the social media affects the operations of a
small business and the manner in which a company will find long term success if it makes
effective use of the social media marketing tools.

50IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations
Overview
Hence, the given study was undertaken in order to analyze the overall impact of social
media marketing on the small business and in alignment with this, it could be understood that,
the study adopted the quantitative analysis in order to determine the overall impact of the social
media marketing activities on the business organizations which are considerably small in size.
The study was divided into various chapters with each of the chapters outlined at the same
objective of ensuring long term success of the business through social media operations. The
study found that the social media marketing activities and the overall business operations of
small businesses have a strong relationship amongst themselves.
Linking with the Objectives
The objective of the study was aimed to find the overall relationship between the social
media marketing activities and the small businesses. The study aimed to find the overall concept
of the social media as a whole and in addition to this, it also aimed to find the relationship which
exists between the different factors relating to the use of social media in a business. Hence, the
review of Literature was based on finding the overall relationship which exists between the
social media and the business. Various journal articles and related reviews will aligned so as to
ensure that, the business can benefit from the knowledge as available on the domain. This was
then followed by the Data analysis which was done as the Quantitative research by analyzing a
survey which a present and the Regression analysis as well as the Correlation analysis. Through
the Correlation as well as the Regression analysis, it was found that the respondent’s data
reflected that there exist s very strong relationship between the Social media as a business tool
and the efficiency of the business on a whole. Hence, the study was able to prove the hypothesis

51IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
which was present and with the help of this, it was successfully able to identify the manner in
which social media marketing is related to the business operations of a business considerably
small in size.
Limitations of the study and future scope
The limitations of the study which is given can be understood to be as follows:
 Only the quantitative analysis was conducted which then proved to act as limitations.
 Only a limited number of articles and business reviews were governed which then makes
the study limited in nature.
 Only the case of the small business was assessed.
Future scope
In the future, different researchers could ensure that they will be able to successfully
analyze and carryout qualitative research analysis in the same domain. Through this, they will be
able to gain the expert view on the topic and this will then help them to find overall relationship
and variable dynamics.
Recommendations for small businesses
The recommendations for the small businesses and their use of social media can be
understood to be as follows:
 The small businesses will be required to deal with the objectives. This means that at first
the marketing objectives of the business need to be identified carefully and then the social
media marketing activity and plans need to be identified and formed considerably.
 Manage customer conversations. It becomes important for the business to ensure that,
they are able to manage the overall customer conversations in the right manner and in

52IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
relation to this, once they are able to interact with the customers in the right manner, the
firm will be able to ensure long term success.
 Unique proposition: Although the business may be small in size it can be considered
essential for them to present a unique value proposition. In relation to this, it becomes
considerably crucial for the business to stand out and provide operations to the business
which will help them in attaining the overall operations in the long run. Moreover, when
the business will be able to remain visual then in such a case, they will be able to ensure
that, they can portray the overall operations of the business in the right manner.
Hence, if any small business is able to follow the overall recommendations, then in such
a case, they will be able to achieve the overall operations in the long run.

53IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
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58IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
Appendix
Questionnaire
1. How often do you make use of the social media?
2. How likely do you view ads on social media
3. Do you have your own business?
4. On a scale of 1-5, to what extent do you think that social media has a positive impact on a
small business of the firm?
5. As a business, how does social media affect your operations?
Good for business promotion/increasing brand awareness
Good for building relationships with customer/others
Useful for advertising
Good for attracting new clients
A useful tool when headhunting (recruiting for a job offer)
Good for engaging with clients
Other, please specify:
6. Do you think that Social media sites helps the business to grow?
7. Which is the best social media website according to you?
8. How likely will you make a purchase based on an advertisement on the social media?
9. How often do social media websites offer considerable discounts?
10. How would you rate the targeted marketing concept of social media?
11. What according to you is the future of social media marketing?
12. Do you believe that, through the social media, businesses are able to target their
customers well?

59IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SMALL BUSINESS
13. How strong according to you is the connection between social media advertising and the
revenue of the company?
14. Do you believe that social media advertising tends to have an impact on the brand image
of a firm?
15. How likely would you recommend a product based on social media advertising?
16. According to you, which brand has made a good use of social media advertising?
17. On What scale does the use of social media improve the overall connectivity of the
business with the society
18. Please rate the overall effectiveness of the social media in general