The Role of Social Media Marketing in UK Small Business Retail

This report is a proposal and literature review focusing on the role of social media marketing in small retail businesses in the UK, with a specific case study of NISA retailers. The investigation aims to determine how social media impacts the marketing activities of these businesses. The rationale highlights the increasing importance of social media tools for business development, especially for small businesses facing challenges in implementation. The report includes a background study covering common social media tools, modern marketing strategies, and challenges faced by small businesses. Research questions address the use of social media tools, effective marketing strategies, and challenges in implementation. The methodology involves an interpretivism philosophy, an inductive approach, a descriptive design, purposive sampling of marketing personnel, and qualitative data analysis using thematic analysis. Data collection methods will include surveys, company reports, and secondary sources. The report also addresses accessibility, reliability, validity, and ethical considerations. The literature review explores the benefits of social media marketing, cost-effective approaches, and challenges in effectively implementing social media tools, such as selecting the right tools, time management, and content creation.

PROPOSAL AND
LITERATURE REVIEW

TABLE OF CONTENTS
POTENTIAL TITLE:......................................................................................................................1
AIM OF THE INVESTIGATION AND RELATED OBJECTIVES.............................................1
RATIONALE FOR CHOOSING THE RESEARCH TOPIC.........................................................1
BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH TOPIC/ LITERATURE REVIEW................................1
Background of the study..............................................................................................................1
Literature review..........................................................................................................................2
RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND RELATED METHODOLOGY................................................4
RELEVANT DATA REQUIRED AND DATA COLLECTION METHODS...............................5
ACCESSIBILITY, RELIABILITY, VALIDITY AND ETHICS...................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

POTENTIAL TITLE:
The title of the research is- “Social media marketing in small business.”
AIM OF THE INVESTIGATION AND RELATED OBJECTIVES
It is on considering the above intended title of this investigation, it has found to be
aimed at determining the role of social media in the marketing activities of small business
enterprise. Considering this, the study has meant “To determine the role of social media in
the marketing activities of small retail based organisations of UK- A study on NISA
retailers.”
RATIONALE FOR CHOOSING THE RESEARCH TOPIC
This is to rationalise the above undertaken topic based on the findings of social media
tools to be used with a key purpose of marketing by small retail based organisations. It is
however with a special context of NISA retailers operating in UK and is a well-known name
in its small-scale retail industry. Social media tools with its intensifying growth has
persuaded almost all sectors to make a vital use of such effective techniques to sustainably
develop their business (Tuten and Solomon, 2017). However, the small business entities like
NISA are together known to deal with several number of issues while implementing the
social media tools in an effective manner. The current research work will thus refer to
ascertain the factual role of such contemporary tools and techniques for their effective
enforcement onto the business and its marketing activities.
BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH TOPIC/ LITERATURE REVIEW
Background of the study
This is to present the background of the study which is based on determining the role
of social media in the marketing activities of small scale retail based organisation of UK with
a special context of NISA. It is with another prime focus of resolving the issues that are often
being faced by such enterprises at the time of implementing these tools in their undertaken
activities of marketing. For this, it has referred to follow a step wise approach to finally
accomplish the stipulated goals of this investigation (Hays, Page and Buhalis, 2013). It will
firstly identify the common tools of social media that will are generally being used by the
small-scale retail organisations like NISA. Secondly, it will determine ways in which such
contemporary techniques of social media are assisting the small-scale organisations of UK.
Lastly, it will be addressing the challenges that are being faced by such small-scale
organisations in successfully implementing the ascertained social media tools and techniques.
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On whose basis, some effective recommendations will be proposed for formulating
competent marketing strategies, incorporated by efficient social media tools and techniques.
Literature review
This section has been reflected as a foremost tool for collecting secondary sources of
data which is being done by considering some previously carried studies, presenting the
opinions of various authors. This will in turn aid the investigator to undertake a comparative
research by comparing the information acquired from both rimary and secondary
Common social media tools used by the small-scale retail organisations of UK
This section has demonstrated those common social media tools that are being used
by most of the small-scale businesses to promote their goods and services. Zeng and
Gerritsen (2014) has hereby specified an essential role of such contemporary tools to address
the modern requirement of today’s consumers. These techniques in turn assists in growing the
business at a greater pace with sustainable measures addressing the exact demands of the
customers. It is nowadays referred to be a practical tool which directly assists the
organisations in generating huge amount of profits by together getting contending benefits to
combat the rivals. Siamagka, Christodoulides, Michaelidou and Valvi (2015) with a
supporting outlook have together stated an effective use of social media in the marketing
strategies of small scale retail organisations where they are commonly use it for the purpose
of advertising. This is mostly being done with assistance of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and
LinkedIn as certain common approaches.
Palacios-Marqués, Merigó and Soto-Acosta (2015) with a contrary viewpoint have
supported some other common tools that are more apparent in fetching the interest of a large
set of users namely Pinterest and Snapchat. Herein, the Pinterest is known to target more
number of women consumers and leads to a high engagement of the buyers who looks to
purchase highly creative goods. Snapchat on other hand is together referred to attract a large
set of users where statistics have proven to have near about 301 million active users of
Snapchat on monthly basis. Goffee and Scase (2015) with a distinct standpoint have together
supported the use of Facebook and Instagram where both these apps are directly linked with
each other. Also, Facebook is known to run different ads for all its audiences that leads to
much rigorous brand awareness in the targeted set of consumers. Instagram on other hand
together leads to propose irresistible offers to the audiences by using custom images.
Modern social media techniques assisting in framing the marketing strategies
This section has intended to determine ways in which the modern tools of social
media tends to assist the small-scale organisation to formulate effective strategies of
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marketing. Eagleman (2013) with a concerning outlook towards it have defined several
benefits of adopting social media marketing where it provides a greater control to the
companies for presenting themselves in an online platform that is mostly being used by
today’s generation. Furthermore, it also helps in creating better relationship with that to the
targeted set of audiences by not only producing a remarkable content but together providing
them a voice to present themselves in the most expressive manner. Smith and Gallicano
(2015) with a distinct consideration have stated it to be a cost-effective approach where social
media marketing is extremely price- friendly. However, it together depends upon the chosen
tool where the undertaken strategies should together match with the requirement of the
adopted technique. This is for instance to specify the strategy of using Facebook where the
company must use this platform for the purpose of positing images.
Tsimonis and Dimitriadis (2014) with a distinct outlook have exemplified the use of
Twitter that should be used for making Tweet Chat’s and YouTube for positing videos.
However, the cost here is being measured with the help of time that is consumed for targeting
the audiences and the attainment of expected results. Time is therefore equivalent to the cost
over here and thence; the entities should make a wise choice of social media tools to be
implemented to timely reach the audience. For this purpose, only few techniques must be
implemented by the small-scale businesses where at present, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook
are reflected to be the main players. Moreover, continual monitoring of contender’s activity is
together stated to be a foremost advantage of using social media tools where the
establishments can together refer to integrate with other social media techniques, if required.
Leftheriotis and Giannakos (2014) with a distinguished attitude have specified that social
media marketing directly assists in demonstrating the proficiency level of the firms by
together impacting upon the results gathered from organic searching.
Challenges faced by the small business firms while incorporating the social media tools in
their marketing activities
Social media tools being the most important part of today's contemporary world is
duly incorporated by several small- scale organisations where they are together known to face
numerous challenges in a successful implementation of sail media marketing. It is in
accordance to the stated words of Torr (2017) where the foremost challenge that is being
faced by the corporations is in terms of selecting the most appropriate tool to target their
customers. This is due to enormous alternatives that assist the entities in directing today’s
contemporary world who has a modern outlook of acceptance. Another major challenge that
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is often being faced by the firms is in terms of managing their time to achieve desirable
results at the end.
Leftheriotis and Giannakos (2014) with a similar consideration have together
favoured the element of time as a challenging aspect where it is hereby equivalent to time. It
is thus important for such small sale businesses to incorporate effective strategies that are
proven to give beneficial outcomes at the end. The selection has to be strong enough to meet
out the stipulated goals of the entire organisation with a special concern of accomplishing the
marketing objectives. Tuten and Solomon (2017) with a distinct view has favoured the
agenda of connection to be a challenging aspect for most of the small-scale businesses where
social media is basically referred to be a platform for making 2-way communication.
Although, a large number of businesses fails to connect properly with their targeted set of
audiences. Lastly, content is also stated to be a concerning matter where social media urge to
present remarkable content to the audience and thus, it is important for the small size
businesses to hire experts to professionally write the content of their website.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND RELATED METHODOLOGY
This is on the basis of above intended aim of the study which is “To determine the
role of social media in the marketing activities of small retail based organisations of UK- A
study on NISA retailers.” On whose basis, below are the research objectives/ questions that
will assist the investigator to achieve the formulated aim of this study-
 What are some common social media tools used by small scale retail organisations
of UK?
 How the modern social media techniques help in framing the marketing strategies?
 What are the challenges faced by the small business firms while incorporating the
social media tools in their marketing activities?
 Why it is recommended to make an effective use of social media techniques in
marketing and how NISA can opt for such similar approaches?
Beside this, below are the methods that will be used by the researcher to investigate the
chosen subject matter- Research philosophy- Interpretivism philosophy Research approach- Inductive approach Research design- Descriptive design Sampling- Purposive sampling of 25 marketing personnel’s in NISA retailers
 Data analysis- Qualitative measure using thematic analysis
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RELEVANT DATA REQUIRED AND DATA COLLECTION METHODS
This is to choose from the best possible methods of data collection where both
primary and secondary measures will be used to gather a relevant set of information. Herein,
the primary data will be directly collected from the targeted participants representing 25
marketing personnel of NISA retailer via survey, incorporating a framed set of questionnaire
(Denscombe, 2014). However, the secondary sources of data will be the yearly reports of the
company as well as the statistics generated by UK government. Apart from this, some
previously carried research on a similar research area, books, journals and pertinent online
websites will also be taken into consideration.
ACCESSIBILITY, RELIABILITY, VALIDITY AND ETHICS
This section has demonstrated the 3 main aspects of an authentic research work where
the legitimacy of its findings is measured by considering their accessibility, reliability and
validity as specified below- Accessibility- The accessibility of this research work will determine its availability for
the audiences who will be benefitted from it (Rossi, Wright and Anderson, 2013).
This is for instance to state about the NISA retailers and other similar small-scale
businesses operating in the retail sector of UK who can access the outcomes acquired
from it. By which, they can ultimately make an effective use of social media tools and
techniques by vigorously applying them onto their undertaken strategies of marketing. Reliability- Reliability of this study will be proven by the uniformity and consistency
of its results acquired from the applied tools of assessment (Graham, Powell and
Taylor, 2015). It thereby evaluates the quality of the undertaken tools and research
methods. Validity- Validity defines the excellence and accuracy of the attained results in terms
of the used research measures and its design (Smith, 2015). It is together linked with
that to the methods used for collecting data that supports in providing evidential
claims. Ethical- This is to discuss upon the ethical considerations of the researcher while
carrying out the study with a special context of the present undertaken investigation
(Lewis, 2015). Here, while collecting the primary sources of data with assistance of
survey, none of the participant should be forced to contribute in the research and they
should willingly respond to the queries with no persuasion by the investigator’s
personal benefit.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Denscombe, M., 2014. The good research guide: for small-scale social research projects.
McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
Eagleman, A.N., 2013. Acceptance, motivations, and usage of social media as a marketing
communications tool amongst employees of sport national governing bodies. Sport
Management Review. 16(4). pp.488-497.
Goffee, R. and Scase, R., 2015. Entrepreneurship in Europe (routledge Revivals): The Social
Processes. Routledge.
Graham, A., Powell, M.A. and Taylor, N., 2015. Ethical research involving children:
encouraging reflexive engagement in research with children and young people. Children
& Society. 29(5). pp.331-343.
Hays, S., Page, S.J. and Buhalis, D., 2013. Social media as a destination marketing tool: its
use by national tourism organisations. Current issues in Tourism. 16(3). pp.211-239.
Leftheriotis, I. and Giannakos, M.N., 2014. Using social media for work: Losing your time or
improving your work?. Computers in Human Behavior. 31. pp.134-142.
Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches.
Health promotion practice. 16(4). pp.473-475.
Palacios-Marqués, D., Merigó, J.M. and Soto-Acosta, P., 2015. Online social networks as an
enabler of innovation in organizations. Management Decision. 53(9). pp.1906-1920.
Rossi, P.H., Wright, J.D. and Anderson, A.B. eds., 2013. Handbook of survey research.
Academic Press.
Siamagka, N.T., Christodoulides, G., Michaelidou, N. and Valvi, A., 2015. Determinants of
social media adoption by B2B organizations. Industrial Marketing Management. 51.
pp.89-99.
Smith, B.G. and Gallicano, T.D., 2015. Terms of engagement: Analyzing public engagement
with organizations through social media. Computers in Human Behavior, 53, pp.82-90.
Smith, J.A. ed., 2015. Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. Sage.
Tsimonis, G. and Dimitriadis, S., 2014. Brand strategies in social media. Marketing
Intelligence & Planning. 32(3). pp.328-344.
Tuten, T.L. and Solomon, M.R., 2017. Social media marketing. Sage.
Zeng, B. and Gerritsen, R., 2014. What do we know about social media in tourism? A review.
Tourism Management Perspectives. 10. pp.27-36.
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Online
Torr, D., 2017. 7 Social Media Challenges and How To Turn Them Into Business
Opportunities. [Online]. Available through: <https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-
challenges-small-businesses-face/>.
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