Analyzing Social Media Marketing's Effect on M&S Sales Growth

This research project investigates the influence of social media marketing on the sales performance of Marks and Spencer (M&S), a major UK-based fashion retailer. The study aims to understand how social media marketing contributes to increased sales, brand awareness, and customer engagement. Employing a quantitative research method, the project analyzes primary data collected through questionnaires and secondary data from literature reviews, focusing on the impact of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. The research explores the notion of social media marketing in the workplace, its importance to M&S, and its effect on sales. The project includes an executive summary, literature review, methodology, data analysis, and conclusions. The findings aim to provide insights into the effectiveness of social media marketing strategies for enhancing sales and revenue, offering recommendations for M&S and similar businesses. The project adopts a deductive approach and positivism philosophy to guide the investigation, ensuring a structured and evidence-based analysis of the topic.

Research Project

Executive Summary
The present project initiates to determine the potential role of social media marketing in
increasing the sales performance of the business, therefore, it is a wide area of academic writing
which has its major significance in exploring idea about the area of social media marketing.
Therefore, social media marketing is recognised as the imperative aspect of today’s business and
plays effective role in progression operations of the business via generating awareness about the
business and its operations within the commercial centre. In this existing evaluation the study has
been executed over the analysis of Marks and Spencer, thus it is a large fashion retailer firm
which has its major concern over increasing business performance via developing the sales and
revenue of the business. However, the business is using social media marketing as they strategic
tool for enhancing operations via generating awareness among customers, enhancing brand
reputation, easy access to market, targeting customers and so on, thus aim and objectives are
developed to guide the whole dissertation in right manner to drawn valid and reliable outcome.
In addition to this, quantitative research method has been applied to execute detailed evaluation
via the support of actual facts and figures. Furthermore, deductive approach and positivism
philosophy is being considered by the investigator to guide the investigation in right manner with
the assistance to implementing effective theories and hypothesis. In addition to this, primary and
secondary both the tools are applied by the researcher to gather valuable information, Thus,
primary research is being supportive in gathering first hand information via the help of
developing questionnaire and secondary sources like books, journals, publish articles are
imperative in developing literature to determine the issue in suitable manner. Along with,
conclusion and recommendation are drawn over the findings of the research.

Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
Title..................................................................................................................................................1
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................1
Overview of research..............................................................................................................1
Background of the research....................................................................................................2
Research Aim.........................................................................................................................2
Research Objectives...............................................................................................................2
Research Questions................................................................................................................2
Rationale of research..............................................................................................................3
Chapter 2: Literature Review...........................................................................................................3
Introduction of literature review.............................................................................................3
Theme 1: What is the notion of social media marketing at workplace?................................3
Theme 2: What are the importance of social media marketing for Marks and Spencer’s?....5
Theme 3: What is the impact of social media marketing in the increase in sales performance
of Marks and Spencer’s?........................................................................................................6
Conclusion of the literature review........................................................................................7
Chapter 3: Research Methodology...................................................................................................7
Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Interpretation..................................................................................13
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendation................................................................................28
Conclusion............................................................................................................................28
Recommendation..................................................................................................................29
Chapter 6: Reflection.....................................................................................................................29
References......................................................................................................................................31

Title
Role of social media marketing in the increase in sales performance of the company
Chapter 1: Introduction
Overview of research
Social media marketing is acknowledge as the appropriate mode of promotion through
which association can easily develops strong relations with the customers that would further
support the company in the form of making purchase from the same company at regular basis.
This directly increases sales performance of the same entity which generates huge revenues for
them. As a result, it can be said that usage of social media marketing is directly helpful for the
company in enhancing its sales performance as well as profitability. It has also been analysed
that there are several medium of social media marketing are being adopted by the business
associations in order to have good level of interaction with the customers’. Some of these
common platform of social media through which marketing head performs marketing activities
are Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest etc. here, it can be said adoption of these methods simply
supports every business in having better reach to the customers which simply maximises their
sales performance as well as profitability. In addition to this, it can be further said that the social
media marketing is also highly supportive for every form of businesses who wants to raise their
sales performance and have limited amount on the core promotions whose output are not at all
giving stiff competition to the rivalry. As a result, it can be said that if business association have
made use of social media marketing then they are easily able influence the interest of the
customers towards the highly distinctive products offered by them. This simply brings quick
boost to the company in terms of higher raise in their performance level. Here, the current
investigation have been conducted on Marks and Spencer, a large scale UK based business
organization which is operating its business at international level. It has been seen that the
respective company makes use of several forms of marketing method among them social media
marketing is becoming first preference of its marketing company now. The main reason behind
this is the higher returns in terms of increase in sales performance as well as profitability of the
company. In this regard, the present investigation has been carried out. With respect to the same
the management team have planned to carry out effective presentation on the same. For this,
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effective research aim objectives and questions have been developed. This would directly
contribute in drawing valid outcome on the research topic.
Background of the research
Marks and Spencer is the large scale fashion retail company of UK which is dealing at
international marketplace. The respective company was incorporated in the year 1884 by the
founder Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. It is headquartered in London, England, UK.
Along with this, it can be further said that the Marks and Spencer is having its stores at 1463
locations. In order to maintain its brand name across the world, the respective company makes
use of several promotional methods that ultimately helps businesses in attracting maximum
number of customers towards them. This directly influences sales performance of the company
and also contributes in maximising their sales performance in rightful manner. Thus, with this
these customers makes simply makes decision of buying products and services. As a result, it
increases sales performance of the company in quicker manner. With reference to the same, the
respective investigator has developed several research aim, objectives and questions with which
they can further proceed to execute the research work in adequate manner with appropriate
guidance. These developed research aim, objectives and questions are specified as below:
Research Aim
“To analyse the role of social media marketing in the increase in sales performance of the
company” A study on Marks and Spencer’s.
Research Objectives
• To understand the notion of social media marketing at workplace.
• To evaluate the importance of social media marketing for Marks and Spencer’s.
• To analyzethe impact of social media marketing in the increase in sales performance
of Marks and Spencer’s.
Research Questions
• What is the notion of social media marketing at workplace?
• What are the importance of social media marketing for Marks and Spencer’s?
• What is the impact of social media marketing in the increase in sales performance of
Marks and Spencer’s?
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Rationale of research
The main purpose of conducting this research is to find out core influence of social media
marketing over the business performance of the large scale company. This investigation would
definitely provide detailed knowledge to the rivalry about the benefits that could be attained by
the large scale company by simply acquiring social media marketing to it. This would simply
help company in enhancing their relations with the customers which ultimately enhances their
profitability in effective manner. Along with this, iut can be further said that by conducting this
investigation researcher can easily develops its range of skills such as communication, time
management, presentation, research skills, team working skills, problems solving and many
others. All of these skills would collaboratively helps investigator in conducting more effective
research in the near future.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Introduction of literature review
Literature review is important process within an investigation because it helps in gathering
of secondary type of information from various sources such as articles, books, magazines,
publication research, journals and many other sources relevant to the topic. Main purpose and
motto of literature review is to find out research gaps in previous studies. In this study, main gap
of literature review is the role of social media marketing in the increase in sales performance of
the company. In previous study, there are data available regarding the role of social media
marketing but there is no information about the effectiveness of social media marketing for an
organisation in increment of its sales performance. This is a main gap of current study and in
order to overcome or reduce this gap, research questions of the study will be followed by
researcher (Agnihotri and et. al., 2016). This will help them in attaining of research aim and
objectives as well as overcoming the research gap systematically and effectively. Research
questions of the dissertation will be explained as below:
Theme 1: What is the notion of social media marketing at workplace?
According to the Baker (2019), the role of marketing is fundamental and important within
an organisation. This is the only aspect that helps an organisation to get success in market
through creation of distinctive image. There are many ways that can be used by organisations for
effective marketing like social media platforms, PR agency & marketing organisation, video
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streaming and other physical means i.e. newspaper & magazines. All the ways are different from
each other and have distinctive features. It is depending upon the requirement of an organisation
that which method they will adopt for marketing of their offerings. The difference in between all
marketing methods is present among many aspects such as fund requirement, level of reach, way
of operating and the market on which they have influence. In current period of time, the
marketing method which will be best for every kind of organisation irrespective to their size and
nature of business is social media marketing. This is one of the best and effective sources of
marketing. This falls under the category of digital tools that provides an opportunity to connect
with their segment of consumers through usage of different social media platforms. This is the
least expensive method of marketing as compared to other ways and methods. In this regard,
different platforms that can be used by organisations for marketing of their business offerings
include Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest etc. These platforms provide an opportunity to create
their separate page and start promoting or advertising their products. This also has advantage
where an organisation able to get the feedback about their products and services directly from the
consumers over their page. This is the most important information from the point of business
improvement. All the views will be further used by the management for an organisation in
development of more effective strategies along with bring changes in way of operating. This not
only helps in improving the quality of products but simultaneously aid in customer satisfaction
which is most important from the point of an organisation to gain sustainability in market. In
current period of time, high number of users is present in different social media platforms from
the different age groups at worldwide level.
As per the view presented by Alalwan and et. al (2017), the use of these as marketing
method not only helps in easy target to each group of consumers but also aid in improving the
reach at worldwide level. Here, they get the benefit them to connect with all different number of
consumers along with their attraction towards offering of an organisation from the global level.
There is huge role of these platforms in the expansion of business activities in new markets
through bringing collaboration with the local producers or building up of own consumer base.
This clearly depicts that out of all methods social media marketing is best to get the positive
results in least amount of expenditure over marketing.
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Theme 2: What are the importance of social media marketing for Marks and Spencer’s?
As per the view point of Newberry (2018), social media marketing is the way of promoting
business offerings over various social media platforms. There are many social media platforms
that will be used by organisations for promoting their products and services such as Facebook,
Instagram and Pinterest. There are large number of benefits are associated with the use of social
media platforms as marketing tool of an organisation. All these are defined below in respect to
the Marks and Spencer;
Decreases the amount of marketing expenditure: M&S is large organisation and having
the business operations at global level. The amount of competition is also high in retail sector.
There is huge requirement for an organisation to use such aspects and methods that will be
competent to provide competent edge in market. In this direction, adoption and usage of social
media platforms as marketing tool help an organisation to promote the offerings at improved
level in expense of least amount of cost (Bocconcelli, Cioppi and Pagano, 2017). The process
using same is very easy where they only have to create page for advertisement of current offers
and products. This clearly depicts that the overall investment is very less behind the setting of
this as marketing option. Here, an organisation needed only the persons who are able to handle
the operations of social media platforms along with generating post of an organisation. The
further benefit of same will be ascertained in the form of decreasing cost of final product and
attraction of new potential consumers. This provides the profit margin of an organisation along
the level of profitability at worldwide level.
High level of reach towards different consumer segments of market: Social media
platforms are highly used by the different number of people at worldwide level. All the age
group of people are using this platform for the purpose of entertainment and gaining information.
This creates the best option for an organisation like M&S who has global operations that easily
target their all consumers of different age group at worldwide level. This makes the work easier
for an organisation. They can easily share the information over the platforms from where the
same is accessible to the all the different users of platform. This is the best and effective way of
disseminating information to large number of people at single time. The benefit of high reach
further turns as competitive advantage for an organisation from where they will able to expand
their market share and customer base through attraction of new consumers prevail in different
segments (Cawsey and Rowley, 2016).
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Easy to use and implement within an organisation: The application of social media
platforms as marketing tool is easy. Here, organisations like M&S has to login the different
platforms and needed to create their separate page. Also, they need a team that can handle the
operations over pages along with posting of the promotional content on the behalf of an
organisation. This has another benefit that helps in improving the level of communication and
coordination from where they will able to grab the views and feedbacks. This further provides
the opportunity to make improvements within existing offerings and satisfy the demand of
consumers (Charoensukmongkol and Sasatanun, 2017).
Theme 3: What is the impact of social media marketing in the increase in sales performance of
Marks and Spencer’s?
According to the Baldwin (2014), social media marketing has the positive impact over the
sales performance of the all organisations including Marks and Spencer. There are many reasons
that result into the increase of sales. All these are defined below along with justification that how
aid in improvement of sales figure;
Enhanced level of communication and coordination: There is huge role of social
media marketing in development of the effective level of communication and coordination with
consumers (Elena, 2016). This possible because this provides the two-way communication from
where an organisation able to ascertain their views and feedbacks. The ultimate benefit of this
will be ascertained by an organisation in the form building high level of trust where consumer
always prefer to buy the product of particular organisation. The end impact of this must be
attained by an organisation like M&S in the form of high level of sales. The another reason that
sales increase through this that aid an organisation to satisfy the different demand of consumers
along with removing bugs that were present in existing offerings.
Market analysis: There is huge role of social media platforms in the effective analysis of
market along with marketing (Felix, Rauschnabel and Hinsch, 2017). This provides an
opportunity to an organisation like M&S that analyse the operations of other organisations along
with their offerings and provide better to consumers in market. In end this will help the
organisation to attract nee consumers along with improvement of sales through providence of
better offerings from other competitor organisations.
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Conclusion of the literature review
From the above mentioned secondary information, it has been concluded that social media
marketing helped an organisation in promoting of its products or services that results in higher
customer satisfaction, improved brand image, increased sales performance, improved
productivity etc. Along with this, through social media marketing, company can easily
accomplish competitive benefits and sustain their long term position within retail industry.
Therefore, social media marketing is a best part for the success and growth of company at
marketplace.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
Research methodology introduces to the significant part of the dissertation because it
facilitate researcher in gathering and analysing of data about the particular subject area. Main
purpose of research methodology is to assist investigator in collection as well as analisation of
reliable data about the study. This section of research project includes number of methods such
as research philosophy, research approach, research choice, research strategy, data collection
sources etc. All these methods will be used within a current study for gathering and interpreting
data regarding the role of social media marketing in the increase in sales performance of the
company (Guesalaga, 2016). All these methods will be explained as below apart from their
justification for selecting in this study. These are:
Research Philosophy: This introduces to the set of philosophy that will be useful within an
investigation for collecting, analysing and interpreting of quantitative or qualitative data. There
are three main types of research philosophies which are ontology, axiology and epistemology.
Ontology philosophy is used for describing the nature of reality, whereas epistemology is used
for collecting and analysing qualitative and quantitative data (Hsu and Lawrence, 2016). At last
axiology is another type that will be essential for researcher in learning of how valuables and
opinions effect the collection and analysis of study. All these philosophies are important but for
doing current study over the impact of social media marketing, epistemology philosophy has be
applied because it helps in gaining of valid outcomes.
 Justification: Epistemology philosophy also has two philosophies which are known as
interpretivisim and positivism. Within a dissertation, positivism philosophy has been
applied because it is essential and useful in gathering as well as analysing of data in form
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of quantitative and in minim time period (Itani, Agnihotri and Dingus, 2017). On the
other side, interpretivisim philosophy is not appropriate for doing current study because it
is based on qualitative research that results in maximum time and requirement of
additional resources.
Research approach: This refers to the fundamental process that is essential for researcher in
analysing of data in form of qualitative or quantitative. There are two main types of research
approach which are deductive and inductive. These approaches are useful in analysing of data
about the specific area of study. Current study is based on quantitative research and for analysing
quantitative data; deductive approach has been used (Järvinen and Taiminen, 2016).
 Justification: As compare to inductive approach of research, deductive approach is more
valuable and appropriate for existing topic because it facilitate in analysing of
quantitative data in less time period (Kim and Park, 2017).
Research strategy: This is an effective process of data collection that will helps investigator
in carrying out of study systematically. There are number of research strategies which are
experimental, survey, case study, action research, systematic literature review etc. These are
known as research strategies that are effective in collecting of data about the subject area (Kim,
Li and Brymer, 2016). For collecting data regarding the social media marketing and its impact
over sales of company, questionnaire as a part of survey and systematic literature review will be
applied.
 Justification: Questionnaire has been used by researcher as a type of survey. This is an
effective method of primary data collection that used for gathering reliable and valid
information about the existing topic (Momany and Alshboul, 2016). On the other hand,
systematic literature review was also applied within an investigation for collecting
secondary data. Therefore, for performing this investigation, both strategies are useful in
collecting of primary and secondary data.
Research choices: There are basically three choice of research which is mixed method,
multi-method and mono method. Mixed method is used for collecting both qualitative and
quantitative data, whereas mono method is used for gathering only qualitative or quantitative
information. At last multi-method is similar to the mixed method (Musa and et. al., 2016). All
these are effective choice but for performing current study over social media marketing mono
method will be taken into current study.
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