University Research Report: Social Media Marketing Strategies

This report delves into the use of social media as a marketing tool, emphasizing the digital skills and research methods necessary for its effective implementation within an organization. It examines the importance of digital skills for employees and the various tools and techniques used in research methodologies, including data sources, sampling, and types of investigation (qualitative and quantitative). The report highlights ethical considerations, such as confidentiality and consent, along with the significance of data interpretation. Furthermore, it addresses potential research limitations, such as time and resource constraints, while stressing the importance of accurate and relevant data for enhancing the validity and reliability of the research. The report concludes that research methodology is a critical element, providing crucial insights for researchers and aiding in the successful application of social media marketing strategies. This report is a student submission, and is available on Desklib, a platform offering AI-powered study tools and resources for students.

Digital Skills and
Research Methods

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Information About Topic Chosen...............................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Research Methodology can be defined as the systematic, theoretical analysis of the
different methods which are used in the relative field of research topic provided (Banks and
Zeitlyn, 2015). As there are many elements which are needed to be taken into consideration at
the time of conducting research. The topic chosen for the completion of this report is “the use of
social media as a marketing tool”. So the implementation of this tool in the working of an
organisation will require development of some specific skills and knowledge that could help in
creating efficiency of employees at the time of using this digital technology. The discussion will
also be made about the use of different tools and techniques in research methodologies which
helped in the successful implementation of this technology in the working of the company and
also about how they helped in acquiring appropriate and relevant data for the completion of this
research. Lastly, the discussion will be made effective and ethical data collection and
interpretation and its importance at the time of conducting research.
MAIN BODY
Information About Topic Chosen
Social Media As a Marketing Tool
Social Media can be defined as the platform where people from different geographic,
demographic areas interact with each other and share various information, ideas, career interests
and other forms of information with each other via different networks. These are based on the
internet based applications. In today's world, with the increasing use of Internet and social media,
the number of people making use of Social Media has increase to much extent (Barron and et.
al., 2014). This has made social media a great platform where not only the people but also the
organisations could share their views and opinions but is also god place for marketing products
and services. It is because most of the people make use of social media in today's world, so it
will be beneficial for the companies to make and post advertisements on social media for the
increment in their sales and revenues.
So before the actual implementation of this technology in the working of an organisation
is becomes important for it to acknowledge about the availability of required skills with
employees so that they could perform required tasks in an efficient and effective way for the
growth and development of the company. The requirement of Digital Skills for proper and
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efficient performance of different tasks related to the use of social media technology such as for
knowing about the best website where the SEO level of people is very high and more and more
information about the products and services of the company could be provided to more people.
Sometimes, there are also some issues which are been faced by the company such as technical
error which impacts upon the successful running of the business and the satisfaction level of their
customers. So not only the knowledge and skills related to use of this technology but also dealing
about the issues which could be faced by employees in making use of this technology are to be
taken into consideration so that effective use of this technology could provide benefit to the
organisation (Biancarosa and Griffiths, 2012). So, in conducting research on this topic, the use of
different tools and techniques are required so that proper accurate and relevant information could
be provides to the readers and be used in the completion of the research. The description of these
are provided as under:
Data Sources: The following term can be defined as the variety of sources from where the data
has been gathered for the completion of the research project or carrying out relevant data for any
research topic. Depending on the topic, the data sources method is being chosen. As in the
following case, it is related to implementation of social media as marketing tool. For this process,
it is important to develop some skills and knowledge in their mind. So the information to be
provided to employees of the company in relation to use of social media and learning about new
skills and development will be done with the help of gathering primary as well as secondary
data. Primary Data can be defined as the first hand collection of data and on the other hand
secondary data is defined as the second hand collection of data which have any already published
source earlier. By making use of both types of data sources, it will be possible to show and
motivate employees to accept these changes by showing the improvement made in organisation's
working with the help of this technology. Primary Data will help in collecting views of people
related to the adoption of new technology and skills required for them, whether employees are
happy with the decision or not and answers to many more questions. So in collecting primary
data, the use of Questionnaire is being done in order to collect the views of employees of the
company with some questions that provides the organisation to think and decide upon their
decision whether they had took it right or wrong. With the help of secondary data, information to
the employees of an organisation is provided related to the benefit which the use of this
technology could provide to the organisation such as the increment in the sales and revenues of
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the company and also the benefits which the company will provide to their employees as well.
So in this way, data sources plays an important role in research methodology and in making the
successful completion of the research in an efficient and effective way (Buchanan and
McCalman, 2018).
Sampling: It can be defined as the process with the help of which respondents are chosen in
order to take views and make the research to reach an end conclusion and provide some
recommendations on the issues for which the research has been conducted with the help of view
points presented by the respondents. In conducting this research, the respondents chosen are the
employees of the company. It is because the employees of this organisation are going to
implement and work upon this technology, so the required knowledge about this technology,
issues and solutions are also required to have with these employees as well. Employees are the
on who will come in actual contact with the work will make use of this technology for the
efficient and good performance of the working of the company. There are two methods of
sampling which are Probabilistic and Non Probabilistic Sampling Methods. For the completion
of this research, the use of Non Probabilistic Sampling Method has been done (Chipman, Segal
and Glaser, 2013). Under this method, the use of Random Sampling has been done because with
the help of this sampling method, the respondents are chosen randomly and this removes the
chances of partiality or bias from the research and makes the research to be more reliable, valid
and accurate. Due to this reason, the implementation of Random Sampling Method has been
preferred in conducting the following research in an successful way.
Types of Investigation: It refers to those methods with the help of which the data has been used
in the completion of the research depending upon the needs and requirements of the research. As
from the current requirements of the research which is related to the implementation of new
technology and help employees in developing new digital skills and knowledge in relation to the
technology which has been implemented in the working of the organisation. There are two types
of investigation method which are used at the time of conducting research which are Qualitative
and Quantitative Methods. Coming onto the first which is Qualitative Method, so it is defined as
the method which makes use of theoretical data and information for the completion of the
research and provides deep analysis and information about the research topic and related
information, statements which have been used in the research. The reasons behind any
statements presented in the research are also included and provided in the research to make it
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more reliable, accurate and helpful for the readers. In the second type of investigation, it is
included about the use of statistical data and figures for the completion of the research which is
done to make comparison or predictions for future in relation to present to past or from present to
future and many more aspects which is also an important method of investigating and collecting
information for the completion of the research (Golder and Macy, 2014). But for the completion
of this research, the use of Qualitative Method has been done. It is because the following
research is focused on explanations, reasons, statements, benefits, issues and some more aspects
which could only be covered with the help of qualitative method as it is focused more the
theoretical aspect of the research instead of presenting statistical data and figures and the
presentation of that data will be irrelevant to the research as it is not required and demanded in
the research.
Ethical Considerations: There are some major points in the research which the researcher needs
to take into consideration at the time of conducting the research as the research conducted should
not violate the ethics of the research such as confidentiality, anonymity and consent. The
following three terms are considered under the research ethics. Such confidentiality is related to
the non disclosure of the results with the people who do not have any relation with the success
and failure of the research. The outcomes and results of the research should only be shared with
the people who in real are having interest, benefit and loss from the success and failure of the
research. Anonymity is another ethical aspects which says that the details of the respondents
whose views ate taken into the research need not to be disclosed in any case and are also not to
be linked with the primary results of the research. The last is consent, which says that the
respondents are to be provided with the aims and objectives of the research for which it has been
conducted so that they could also give their views accordingly (Jara and et. al., 2015).
Additionally, interpretation is also an important part of the research which is also done in
order to present the information the diagrams into words. In other words, it can also be said that
the description of the pictorial graphs when presented in words is treated as interpretation. It is
done in the research to give the reader with proper information which the graphs wants to convey
and to give the readers with clear understanding and views of the respondents. The following
research will also make use of interpretation in order to provide the readers with clear
information about the data which had been collected from the employees of the company.
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Research Limitations: There are various limitations which the research could face such as
related to the shortage of time, money and other important sources which are important for the
successful completion of the research. So it is mandatory to make sure before starting the
research about the availability of proper and sufficient sources which are required for the
completion of the research (Lazar, Feng and Hochheiser, 2017). The data which are used in the
research should also be relevant to the topic and must be accurate. With the help of relevant and
accurate data, it will be possible to increase the validity and reliability of the research. This will
also help in providing the readers with correct result of the research conducted. Additionally, it
will be possible to make sure that the research conducted will be used for future purposes as
well.
CONCLUSION
From the above assignment, it has been concluded that research methodology is an
important part of the research which provides important information to the researcher about the
use of different methods, ways of conducting research, approaches, methods, investigation types
and many more for the successful completion of the research. In addition to this, the conclusion
has also been drawn about the ethical conduction of the research so that it should fulfil all the
terms and conditions of ethical research and provide appropriate results to the readers.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Banks, M. and Zeitlyn, D., 2015. Visual methods in social research. Sage.
Barron, B. and et. al., 2014. The digital youth network: Cultivating digital media citizenship in
urban communities. MIT Press.
Biancarosa, G. and Griffiths, G. G., 2012. Technology tools to support reading in the digital age.
The Future of Children. 22(2). pp.139-160.
Buchanan, D. A. and McCalman, J., 2018. High performance work systems: The digital
experience. Routledge.
Chipman, S. F., Segal, J. W. and Glaser, R. eds., 2013. Thinking and Learning Skills: Volume 2:
Research and Open Questions. Routledge.
Golder, S.A. and Macy, M. W., 2014. Digital footprints: Opportunities and challenges for online
social research. Annual Review of Sociology. 40. pp.129-152.
Jara, I., and et. al., 2015. Understanding factors related to Chilean students' digital skills: A
mixed methods analysis. Computers & Education. 88. pp.387-398.
Lazar, J., Feng, J. H. and Hochheiser, H., 2017. Research methods in human-computer
interaction. Morgan Kaufmann.
Löfgren, O., 2014. Routinising research: academic skills in analogue and digital worlds.
International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 17(1). pp.73-86.
Paulus, T., Lester, J. and Dempster, P., 2013. Digital tools for qualitative research. Sage.
Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R., 2016. Research methods for business: A skill building approach.
John Wiley & Sons.
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