Evaluating Social Media Marketing in UAE Companies: A Report

This report evaluates the effectiveness of social media as a marketing tool for businesses in the United Arab Emirates. The research employed a deductive approach with a descriptive research design, collecting primary and secondary data. Data analysis was performed using SPSS to present findings graphically. The study investigates how social media enhances web traffic, attracts customers, and impacts consumer behavior. It explores the advantages and drawbacks of social media marketing, including its influence on brand image, customer loyalty, and e-commerce. The methodology included a survey of managers and customers, with data analyzed to assess the impact of social media on marketing activities and recommend strategies for enhancing its efficiency. The results indicate that social media is an effective marketing tool for UAE businesses, contributing to increased brand awareness, customer engagement, and sales revenue. The report concludes with recommendations for optimizing social media marketing strategies to maximize business success in the UAE market.

Evaluating the effectiveness of using social media as a marketing tool
Name of student
Name of University
Author note
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Abstract
The importance of the research was to evaluate the effectiveness of using social media as
a useful marketing tool by the organisations in UAE. The deductive research was followed along
with the descriptive research design for ensuring that the primary and secondary data are
collected effectively. The analysis of data was done by using SPSS tool to represent the data in
graphical formats for ease of understanding.
Table of Content
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s
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Research question........................................................................................................................4
Research aim................................................................................................................................4
Research objectives......................................................................................................................4
Literature Review............................................................................................................................5
Social media marketing................................................................................................................5
Advantages of using social media as a marketing tool................................................................5
Impact of social media marketing on increased web traffic........................................................6
Drawbacks....................................................................................................................................6
Positive impact on consumer behaviour......................................................................................6
Methodology....................................................................................................................................7
Research design............................................................................................................................7
Participants...................................................................................................................................7
Data collection methods and techniques......................................................................................7
Data analysis methods..................................................................................................................7
Ethical considerations..................................................................................................................8
Result...............................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
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References........................................................................................................................................8
Introduction
The research topic is presented to focus on the effectiveness of using social media as a
useful marketing tool by the business organisations in the United Arab Emirates. The
involvement of social is useful for presenting messages and information to a large group of
audience, reach people of all ages and demographics, influence the two-way communication
between both the customers and organisation, increase the web traffic and thereby enhance the
brand image and awareness among the people. This could attract more people and influence their
buying behaviour by making them aware of the products and services delivered through
promotion on the social networking websites (Armstrong et al., 2015).
Research question
How could the social media marketing enhance the web traffic and attract more customers for
the UAE companies to generate more sales revenue in business?
Research hypothesis
H0: There is no effectiveness of involving social media as an useful marketing tool for
companies in UAE
H1: There are various benefits of using social media as an effective marketing tool for the
companies in UAE
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Research aim
The aim of the research is to evaluate the effectiveness of using social media as a
marketing tool by the companies in UAE.
Research objectives
 To identify the impact of social media on the marketing activities managed by the
organisations in UAE
 To evaluate the probable approaches for using the social media as a marketing tool
 To assess the benefits derived from using the social media as a useful marketing tool
 To recommend relevant measures for enhancing the efficiency of the social media
marketing for UAE organisations
Literature Review
Social media marketing
The involvement of social media platforms and social networking websites for promoting
a particular product or service is known as the social media marketing. The social media
marketing can allow the business organisations to use various analytical tools for tracking the
progress and efficiency of engaging the ad campaigns to promote products and services quickly
(Baruah, 2012). The social media marketing is also useful for addressing the various
stakeholders in business and deliver messages to them with ease. Within the strategic level, the
social media marketing enables to manage the marketing campaign, governance and develop
scopes for increasing the brand awareness among people as well (Berthon et al., 2012).
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Advantages of using social media as a marketing tool
The social media usage has enabled the businesses and individuals to communicate with
each other and develop good relationships through online activities. By using social media, an
online presence is created for increasing the web traffic and for influencing the buying
behaviours of consumers too. The major advantage of using social media is that the products are
marketed to large numbers of audiences present in various market segments. It can influence the
ability to change the buying patterns and manage the acquisition of products and services with
ease (Castronovo & Huang, 2012). The social media websites are freely accessible, and there are
more scopes for reaching the targeted market without much investment. Social media marketing
enhances the brand image and loyalty among the consumers and collects relevant information
about the consumers, which would further help in proper decision-making.
Impact of social media marketing on increased web traffic
The use of social media as a marketing tool has helped in reaching people from every
market segments and demographics as well. It enhances the effectiveness of online marketing by
encouraging two-way communication. This has allowed the customers to provide their queries in
the form of comments on the social networking websites, based on which, the organisation could
provide relevant solutions. Social media sites are free and are essential tools for providing good
quality customer services too (Hays, Page & Buhalis, 2013). The new launch of a product or
service becomes successful, and it not only increases the brand awareness but also helps in
gaining the trust and loyalty of customers with ease and effectiveness.
Drawbacks
Managing and updating the social media networks take a lot of time and money and are
quite a daunting task. Negative comments and feedback provided on the website could lead to
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the bad reputation of the company and deteriorate the brand image and awareness too. There
might also be threats of hackers who could obtain the relevant data and information of
consumers and the organisation and disclose the private information too (Kwok & Yu, 2013).
Positive impact on consumer behaviour
Social media marketing enhances the potential of the organisation to deliver products
online and deliver the right messages to people regarding the new products and services
launched. By providing information to the customers through social networking websites, they
could think that they had been valued and this could create a positive mindset among them. This
would influence their buying behaviour, and the company would be able to increase its sales
revenue efficiently (Papasolomou & Melanthiou, 2012).
Methodology
Research design
Among the three different types of research designs including the exploratory,
explanatory and descriptive, the descriptive research design is the most suitable. The descriptive
research design manages the online survey and is conclusive. It is a preplanned research design
that can help to collect data and then put those in a statistical form. It is suitable because of its
ability to define the opinions, attitudes, behaviours and influences of a particular group of
population (Scott, 2015).
Population size
The participants of research are the managers of the organisations and the customers
who have provided their opinions and responses regarding the use of social media as an effective
marketing tool. The sample size has been chosen as 50 customers.
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Data analysis methods
The SPSS tool was used to analyse the collected data and represent those in graphical
formats and tables for understanding those with ease. T-test will also be done for analyzing the
hypothesis acceptability and derive proper outcomes.
Survey questions
1. Do you agree that social media has enhanced the brand image and awareness?
A. Strongly Agree
B. Agree
C. Neutral
D. Disagree
E. Strongly Disagree
2. What according to you is the most important advantage of using social media as a
marketing tool in business?
A. Enhances brand image
B. Attracts more customers
C. Generate more sales
D. E-commerce
E. Good online presence
3. How can social media use attract more customers and retain existing customers?
A. Enhances brand image
B. Attracts more customers
C. Generate more sales
D. Makes people aware of the products and services
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E. Reach more customer segments
4. Can the use of social media help the company to maximize its sales and profit level?
A. Strongly Agree
B. Agree
C. Neutral
D. Disagree
E. Strongly Disagree
5. How effective is the social media marketing tool for generating higher profit level in
business?
A. Effective
B. Very effective
C. Neutral
D. Not effective
6. Which of the company in UAE uses social media marketing most efficiently?
A. Digital Farm
B. Alsayegh Media
C. Silverline Networks LLC
D. SOCIALEYEZ
E. McCollins Media
7. Does the social media marketing create any impact on e-commerce transactions?
A. Yes
B. No
8. Do you agree that social media is an effective marketing tool used by companies can help
in gaining competitive advantage in business?
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A. Strongly Agree
B. Agree
C. Neutral
D. Disagree
E. Strongly Disagree
Mechanisms to assure the quality of the study
To maintain the good quality of research, the various literature and documents from
which data were gathered had been genuine and authenticated. This also helped in the
maintenance of reliability and validity of the research (Baruah, 2012).
Ethical considerations
None of the respondents was forced to take part in the research and all the research
materials from which data were gathered had been appropriate and relevant to the research topic.
Result
From the research, it could be understood that the objectives that were stated earlier had
been achieved and all the results had been validated and reliable as well. All the literature and
findings match the research objectives, and it shows that the social media usage can act as an
effective marketing tool for the business organisations in UAE (Berthon et al., 2012).
Conclusion
The proposal was developed to analyse the various findings of the research regarding the
use of social media as an effective marketing tool in business. The aims and objectives were to
determine the benefits derived by using the social media marketing while the literature review
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discussed the negative drawbacks and social media impact too. It showed that though social
media could help business to reach more customers, negative feedbacks might even result in bad
reputation and negative brand image.
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References
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M., & Brennan, R. (2015). Marketing: an introduction.
Pearson Education.
Baruah, T. D. (2012). Effectiveness of Social Media as a tool of communication and its potential
for technology enabled connections: A micro-level study. International Journal of
Scientific and Research Publications, 2(5), 1-10.
Berthon, P. R., Pitt, L. F., Plangger, K., & Shapiro, D. (2012). Marketing meets Web 2.0, social
media, and creative consumers: Implications for international marketing
strategy. Business horizons, 55(3), 261-271.
Castronovo, C., & Huang, L. (2012). Social media in an alternative marketing communication
model. Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, 6(1), 117.
Hays, S., Page, S. J., & Buhalis, D. (2013). Social media as a destination marketing tool: its use
by national tourism organisations. Current issues in Tourism, 16(3), 211-239.
Kwok, L., & Yu, B. (2013). Spreading social media messages on Facebook: An analysis of
restaurant business-to-consumer communications. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 54(1),
84-94.
Papasolomou, I., & Melanthiou, Y. (2012). Social media: Marketing public relations’ new best
friend. Journal of Promotion Management, 18(3), 319-328.
Scott, D. M. (2015). The new rules of marketing and PR: How to use social media, online video,
mobile applications, blogs, news releases, and viral marketing to reach buyers directly.
John Wiley & Sons.
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