Impact of Social Media in Marketing for Saudi Telecom Company

LRN Level 7 Diploma in Business Management
Assignment Cover Sheet
Student name: Farhan Ahmed Hashmi
iQualify UK number: iquk0296
LRN Registration number:
Unit title: Research Methodology and its Application to Marketing
Assignment title: Impact of social media in marketing for Saudi Telecom Company
Word Count: 3900 Date: 13/04/2019
I confirm this is my own work and have submitted a plagiarism report:
Name (Capitals) Farhan Ahmed Hashmi
Signature: Farhan
Date:13 April 2019
Marks Achieved:
Assessor:
Signature:
Date:

1BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IN MARKETING
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction..........................................................................................................................2
1.0 Research background...................................................................................................................2
1.1 Research rationale........................................................................................................................3
1.2 Research aim...............................................................................................................................3
1.3 Research objectives.....................................................................................................................3
1.4 Research questions......................................................................................................................4
Chapter 2: Literature review..................................................................................................................4
2.0 Introduction.................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Social media application is marketing.........................................................................................5
2.2 Marketers approaching to build brand loyalty.............................................................................6
2.3 Advantages of using social media in marketing...........................................................................8
2.4 Research gaps..............................................................................................................................9
Chapter 3: Research methodology.......................................................................................................10
3.0 Research philosophy..................................................................................................................10
3.1 Research design.........................................................................................................................11
3.2 Sampling method.......................................................................................................................11
3.3 Data collection...........................................................................................................................12
3.4 Data analysis..............................................................................................................................13
3.5 Values and Ethics......................................................................................................................16
3.6 Validity and reliability...............................................................................................................16
3.7 Limitations of research..............................................................................................................16
3.8 Conclusions and recommendations............................................................................................17
References...........................................................................................................................................19

2BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IN MARKETING
Impact of social media in marketing for Saudi Telecom Company
Chapter 1: Introduction
The research demonstrates about the influences done on the field of marketing with
the involvement of social media platforms by Saudi Telecom Company to ensure targeting
the right customers and at large. The social media marketing will also be able to enhance the
brand name, image and awareness and allow Saudi Telecom Company target the right market
segments with ease and efficiency for drawing in more clients and generate more revenue in
business (Erdoğmuş and Cicek 2012). The social media application in marketing has also
been aimed at increasing the traffic, leads and sales generation, furthermore create a positive
brand image and identity to attract more clients with convenience (Stc.com.sa 2019).
1.0 Research background
The background of research demonstrates about the social media platforms that have
been used in the marketing for attracting more customers and to raise brand awareness. The
Saudi Telecom Company has prioritised on the social media platforms for ensuring that the
traffic increases along with the leads, which are essential components for the enhancement of
sales level achieved by the company too (Ashley and Tuten 2015).
The Saudi Telecom Company (STC) is the incumbent telecommunications
organisation in Saudi Arabia, which is specialised in the delivery of mobile services, internet
services and telephone services to cater the needs and preferences of people & businesses all
over the country. The size of operations is huge and the target market includes individuals
and businesses of all segments throughout the country.
The background of research also illustrates about the social media marketing’s impact
on the increased brand awareness, high rates of conversion along with better brand authority
and cost efficiency along with facilities like improved search engine rankings too (Armstrong

3BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IN MARKETING
et al. 2015). The social media platforms are involved in marketing for the purpose of
engaging consistently with the customers, furthermore respond to their queries and
understand their demands and expectations properly (Stc.com.sa 2019).
1.1 Research rationale
The rationale of the research illustrates the research problem, which represents how a
business can get affected due to the poor marketing techniques and without involving the
social media platforms. The Problems are basic yet logical because without proper marketing
techniques, the brand will be unable to present itself properly in the different market
segments as well as face difficulty to cope up with the changing demands and expectations of
the customers (Saravanakumar and SuganthaLakshmi 2012). The research rationale also
illustrates about the problem, which shows that how due to lack of promotions through social
media platforms, the brand image may be affected and even this shall result in lack of brand
awareness among the clients, furthermore might result in decline of sales and poor revenue
generation too.
1.2 Research aim
The aim of the research is to determine the impact caused by applying social media in
marketing for Saudi Telecom Company
1.3 Research objectives
The research objectives are as follows:
 To identify the probable impact that can be created by involving the social media
platforms in marketing for Saudi Telecom Company
 To evaluate the various approaches required to implement effective marketing
techniques with the management of social media platforms and raise brand awareness

4BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IN MARKETING
 To assess how the social media marketing can act as a great marketing procedure to
facilitate the promotions and build brand loyalty among the customers
 To recommend necessary measures by which the social media application in
marketing can turn out to be successful in reaching more clients and enhance the
brand image and identity for Saudi Telecom Company
1.4 Research questions
What can be the effects created by applying social media in terms of marketing at Saudi
Telecom Company?
How can the social media marketing facilitate the marketing approaches adopted by Saudi
Telecom Company to enhance brand awareness among the clients?
Is it true to believe that the social media marketing serves the purpose of good promotional
activities and advertising for reaching more audiences in Saudi Arabia?
What are the relevant measures recommended for implementing social media in marketing
and improve the brand image and awareness for the purpose of higher reach and enhanced
revenue generation?
Chapter 2: Literature review
2.0 Introduction
The most important fact is that most of the people nowadays turn to YouTube and
other online broadcasting channels and social media platforms and it has also become an easy
way to market products for the telecommunication businesses all over. The country where the
business has been operating is found to be the highest penetration into the micro blogs and
social networking websites (Bruhn, Schoenmueller and Schäfer 2012). The popularity of
social media among the people has helped the businesses to facilitate virtual reality and

5BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IN MARKETING
ensure that messages of a specific brand are easily targeted at the right audiences. The social
media platforms are the modern transformations, which have already contributed much to the
management of different marketing methods and draw in more clients to influence them
(Kumar and Mirchandani 2012). With the changing business environment and competition all
around, businesses have shifted towards changes to make customers well informed about the
brand and easily allow them to compare with other brands in the marketplace. Armstrong et
al. (2015) also suggested that a brand has always been a company’s promise to deliver the
specific set of characteristics, benefits, experiences and services consistently to the clients.
The brand is the actual aspect that has differentiated the products and services apart from
other products by competitor and with its strong presence, there should be brand loyalty and
trust spread among the clients (Armstrong et al. 2015).
2.1 Social media application is marketing
The application of social media in marketing tends to bring multiple benefits such as
firstly spreading messages and information about the brand products to more clients and
secondly, creating brand loyalty of the consumers (Ahmad, Musa and Harun 2016). The
social media platforms have acted as tools for the business organisations to facilitate
knowledge sharing ability and use the resources and time effectively to create brand loyalty.
Based on the various studies and evidences, gathered by scholars like Erdoğmuş and Cicek
(2012), it has been found that most of the people using the social networking websites have
mostly discussed about the brand and its products after getting involved with the brand on the
social media platforms (Erdoğmuş and Cicek 2012). This is how, the businesses have
promoted the products and services and at the same time, provided constant support to them
to create an online community where customers can get responses for their queries too (Lim,
Chung and Weaver 2012).