Using Instagram for Social Media Marketing in Retail Industry: A Study on Marks & Spencer

This report focuses on the use of Instagram for social media marketing in the retail industry, with a case study on Marks & Spencer. The report aims to identify the importance of Instagram as a marketing tool to engage existing and potential customers towards different offerings of the retail industry. The report examines the impact of Instagram marketing on engaging customers and improving brand image, and highlights the challenges faced by retail companies in using Instagram for promotion and advertising.

Business project plan

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
AN OVERVIEW OF PROJECT IDEA...........................................................................................3
PROJECT AIMS AND OBJECTIVES...........................................................................................3
PROBLEM STATEMENT..............................................................................................................3
LITERATURE AND SECONDARY RESEARCH .......................................................................4
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Marketing refers to the concept that holds great importance for retail brands because this
helps in connecting and engaging new as well as potential customers (Joshi, Gabhane and
Somashekhar, 2022). In the current competitive world, retail brands are using Instagram for
promoting and advertising company's offerings to customers.
AN OVERVIEW OF PROJECT IDEA
The current project idea is to use social media marketing for promoting and advertising
products of the retail companies (Arustamyan, Al Taj and Nasir, 2020). The main focus is on
Instagram as social media channel to promote the products so that large number of customers
could be attracted and sales of the company could be increased. This report showcases how retail
companies such as Marks & Spencer use social media channel of Instagram to build great
relationship with potential and current customers.
PROJECT AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The aim of the current study is “To identify the importance of Instagram as one of the
types of marketing to engage existing as well as potential customers towards different offerings
of retail industry.” A study on Marks & Spencer
The objectives of the study include:
 To understand the concept of social media marketing within retail industry
 To determine the importance of Instagram as one of the types of marketing to engage
existing as well as potential customers towards different offerings of Marks & Spencer
 To examine the impact of Instagram marketing over engaging customers and improving
brand image
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The major problem determined in the existing study is that every retail company
operating in the United Kingdom is using Instagram for promoting their products and services
(Hudders and De Jans, 2022). This has created stress for Marks & Spencer as they have to face
fierce competition from their competitors. Instagram accounts of the company includes positive
as well as negative reviews about the brand as well as products and it is being identified that

negative reviews get more attention by customers. This creates negative impact over the
advertisement and promotion of the products and offerings.
LITERATURE AND SECONDARY RESEARCH
According to Marroncelli and Braithwaite (2022), Instagram marketing is one of the
forms of social media marketing, which includes promotion and advertisement of brand on
Instagram. This is the platform that assists in connecting with an enormous customers, boosting
sales and increasing brand awareness (Yang and et. al., 2021). Through Instagram, retail brands
approach different social media influencers so that they can use the product and review them and
gain attention of the maximum number of customers (dos Santos Rocha, 2019). Companies like
Marks & Spencer continuously and consistently put content which includes videos of the
product, pictures of the product and many more. This helps in grabbing attention of the
customers and make them purchase products from the company. Thus, retail companies are
greatly dependent over Instagram for increasing customer base, improving revenue &
profitability and creating more competition in the market.
CONCLUSION
It is being summarised in the current study that social media marketing is necessary for
the success and development of the retail company. This helps company to gain attention of the
competitor's audience as well as existing customers.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Arustamyan, A., Al Taj, S. and Nasir, A., 2020. ROLE OF STRATEGIC MARKETING IN
CREATING ORGANISATIONAL VALUE. Journal of Education & Humanities
Research, University of Balochistan, Quetta-Pakistan, 10(2), pp.42-66.
dos Santos Rocha, C., 2019. The impact of Instagram advertising in the development of brand
attitudes amongst millennials coffee consumers in Ireland (Doctoral dissertation,
Dublin, National College of Ireland).
Hudders, L. and De Jans, S., 2022. Gender effects in influencer marketing: an experimental study
on the efficacy of endorsements by same-vs. other-gender social media influencers on
Instagram. International Journal of Advertising, 41(1), pp.128-149.
Joshi, N., Gabhane, D. and Somashekhar, C., 2022. How Social Media Marketing is Helping in
Customer Retention and Customer Engagement: A Case of Marks and Spencer. ECS
Transactions, 107(1), p.17027.
Marroncelli, R. and Braithwaite, N., 2022. # insta-fashion: How the Digital Revolution Has
Affected Celebrity Culture and the British Fashion Retail Landscape. Fashion
Practice, 14(1), pp.124-150.
Yang and et. al., 2021. Building brand authenticity on social media: The impact of Instagram ad
model genuineness and trustworthiness on perceived brand authenticity and consumer
responses. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 21(1), pp.34-48.