EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ON THE ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN KONGA NIG LTD

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Social networking sites have become an avenue where retailers can extend their marketing campaigns to a wider range of consumers in today’s technology driven world. Marketing activities have changed significantly of recent because of internet-based possibilities. The social media marketing is one approach that uses the new potentials on the internet (Järvinen & Karjaluoto, 2015). Some of the social media channels being utilized for marketing include Blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn, websites, Facebook, Instagram, and Google+ among others to reach the customer satisfactorily. Social media marketing is the marketing process of gaining attention on website traffic through digital applications that help the company to publicize its products and services. It is used for promotion of products or services in different social networks in form of advertisements or in form of content. The main goal of social media marketing is to increase sales of a product/service or to build brand awareness (Ryan, 2014).

Social media marketing which is known as (SSM) can defined by Chi (2011) as a new era- revolutionizing tool or instrument  that allows communication between individuals, companies and different groups from all around the globe to share and interactively exchanges information and ideas to attract customers to patronize their organizations. Social media marketing platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Blog have encouraged the opportunity for customersand business owners   to discuss their online schedules , projects, business proposals, recommendations and agree or disagree regarding different aspects of products or customer services. With the opportunities offered, social media marketing has an important impact on how organizations communicate with their distributors and clients, thus the traditional marketing may not have all these elements to cater for the clients’ needs and wants (Bacon, 2011;Assaad & Gómez, 2011; Stelzner, 2014).

Twitter, LinkedIn, Blog, Facebook, Google+ and different  other web traffic have over  hundreds of millions of active  and passive users engaging in  social media marketing activities through their platforms. Social media havea vitalrole for general web clients as well as businesses and public and private organizations. Social media allude to the methods for communications among individuals in which they make, share, as well as buy and sell data and thoughts in virtual networks and other systems (cronje 2012).

The Internet enables a new Medium for communication and has empowered millions of people to network socially beyond the confines of geographical proximity. Online social media marketing   has moved from a niche phenomenon to mass adoption (Wang, 2017). Social media includes various methods such as social networking, user-sponsored blogs, multimedia sites, organization-sponsored websites, collaborative websites, podcasts, etc. Today’s social media tools are bringing rapid change to organizational communication, increase in organizational performance and public relations. Social mediamarketing has enabled organizations to create and invent a stronger relationship with the community of reference, in order to exploit the network effect and harness collective intelligence. It has also to help businesses in becoming more socially engaged, exploiting new business model innovation based on firms ability to monetize and extract value from crowd generated data and content.

Online marketing has, hence, proven to be cost effective and the returns seem to be sustainable since the target market is readily accessible thus information and ideas are easily relayed on the different social media platforms where the whole engagement and interaction are based. According to Chaffey (2016) social media marketing as a strategy havekeyconceptswhicharemeanttobuildandmaintainaninterestedonlinecommunityof engaged followers andsupporters. If effectively implemented, this strategy will enhance product awareness and encourage the market to identity, purchase, consume and repurchase the product being marketed online thus cultivating brand loyalty. With the technological advancement and popularity of online platforms that people use as an avenue to engage and relay information to the general public, people have captured the opportunity to use their mobile devices to share information online, making social media marketing such a powerful tool as determined by Heinze (2016) and Hobson (2017).

Performance has the ability of an object to produce results in a determined a goal, in relations to a targets or goals (Laitinen, 2012).Organizational performance includes strategic planning, operations, financial, legal, and organizational development. Organization may achieve its goals when each of the employee understand their roles and responsibilities for the company, and there should be continues communication between management, leader and employees to set performance expectations, monitor program and achieve a good results (Katou, 2018). Flapper, Fortuin, & Stoop, (2015) said that performance of an organization can be measured and it can be defined as all aspects of performance that are relevant for the existence of organizational as a whole’ and success as the way the organizational carries its objectives into effect.In the last 20 years, internet innovations have played avital role in organization performances (Kim, Li, &Brymer, 2016). Web 2.0 applications createthe opportunity to transfer internet capability to the social environment or social surroundings where individuals are able to interact online by using social media (Sigala&Chalkiti, 2014). Social media is an effective cyberspace for accessing reliable, dissimilate and update information (Sigala, 2012). The popularity and enormous use of social media facilitates the online learning and the sharing information (Hur, Kim, Karatepe, & Lee, 2017). Without any need to physical presence, to communicate and create content social media will enable the users to do it effectively(Zhang, Guo, Hu, & Liu, 2017).It is clearly obvious that in the recent years the number of internet users is increasing where studies indicate that 49% of organizational households own a personal computer, 57% of households have internet subscriptions, 78% have internet access via mobile broadband (Nigerian Bureau  of Statistics) who started to use social media sites to communicate with clients, exchange views and information. There is no doubt that social media sites are growing and developing increasingly in a rapidly changing world.

Social media marketing has been seen as an effective billboard for a firm's commercial goals and better organization performance (Kumar; Bezawada; Rishika; Janakiraman & Kannan, 2016).Most firms are using social media marketing to increase business brand image and brand awareness (Nisar& Whitehead, 2016; Pentina, Gammoh, Zhang, &Mallin, 2013). Furthermore, the social media marketing influencesorganizational branding strategies which lead to eWOM (electronic word of mouth) (Barreda, Bilgihan, Nusair&Okumus, 2015). Therefore, eWOM attracts consumers and enhances their purchasing prowel (Xie et al., 2016).By using social media marketing platforms; clients have access to different sources of shared information from other clients in regard to their experiences and recommendations. This has an impact on their purchasing decisions (Chen, Fay, & Wang, 2011). Therefore, the vital role of social media marketing in developing relationship and trust with clients, suppliers and potential partners is a significant consideration for organizations (Rapp et al., 2013). The relationship between social media marketing and organizational performance in Konga Nigeria Ltd is, however, yet to be determined.

1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Duetotheemergenceofsocialmediaasapowerfulnetworkingtool,replacingasignificant part of direct contact and other traditional forms of interaction, business enterprises have jumped into the gravy train hoping to significantly cut down on the costs of sales and marketing. In spite of this, there is not yet concrete evidence that performance improvements among such enterprises can be accurately attributable to the adoption of socialmediamarketing,ratherthanotherconfoundingfactorssuchaslegalreforms,among others. Many organizations in Nigeria do not take full advantage and use of Social Media Marketing because they don’t see it making a lot of positive impact on organizational performance in Africa. A lot of people especially in Nigeria are still new to the social media concepts and they therefore do not understand how social media works and they tend to undermine the kind of impact Social Media Marketing can have on the organization or a firm. Social media such as Facebook, twitter and whatsapp etc has from time to time been viewed negatively and this makes many companies and organizations avoid using the channel as a means of marketing their products and firms. All these are misconceptions, misinterpretations and should be ignored. Done right, social media platforms are more than buzz and will produce winning results (Goldner, 2010).

A study by Hoffman and Fodor (2010) aimed to come up with ways of measuring the return on investment on a business from social media marketing approaches been adequately applied by the firm. The study findings revealed and described that looking at the immediate financial performance was the best way of assessing the impact of social media marketing campaigns due to its unique approach. The study instead proposed that one should focus on marketing performance as social media improves customer motivation and brand loyalty. However, the study didnot apply this model and use it to look at how businesses were influenced by various social media marketingcampaigns.A study by Öztamur et al. (2014) focused on the association and relationship between online community marketing or social media marketing and performance of firms. The studyestablishedthattheconceptofsocialmediamarketingwastakingrootamongorganizations globally.Thiswashoweveraconceptualreviewhencenotcontextwasexamined. Astudy by Olonde (2017) examined the conflation between social media marketing approaches and campaigns and sales growth for targeted firms in Nairobi County, Kenya. Althoughthestudyestablishedastrongpositivecorrelation,itonlymodeledsalesgrowth yet performance has many dimensions, includingnon-financial.

Social media marketing has a lot of value and positive impact to us because it allows employees to connect to the clients, specifically the ones in different geographic zones (i.e. employees that are far from each other). Social media allows organizations to engage in timely and direct end-consumer contact at a very low cost and high levels of efficiency than can be achieved with more traditional and conventional communication tools. This makes social media not only relevant for large multinational organizations, but also for small and medium sized companies, and even nonprofit and governmental agencies among others (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010).

It is evident from the above summary of previous studies on the conflation between social media marketing and organizational performance that more needs to be researched on as gaps in knowledge still prevail. Some studies have yielded divergent results on the same focus, others have been based in foreign and within the country, and yet others have been largely conceptual reviews. This presents conceptual, contextual, and methodologicalgapsrespectively.Thecurrentstudythereforeseeksto examine the effect social media marketing on organization performance of Konga Nigeria Limited.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The general objective of this work therefore is to study the effect of social media marketing on organizational performance. Other objectives of the study are:

1) To examine the effective strategies for implementing Social Media marketing in Konga Nigeria Limited.

2) To examine the extent to which facebook affectsorganizational performance in Konga Nigeria Limited.

3) To analyze the impact of promotional campaigns on sales performance of Konga Nigeria Limited.

4) To examine the relationship between social media marketing and organizational performance in Nigeria

5) To examine the challenges of effective social media marketing in Konga Nigeria Ltd.

6) To recommend solutions to the challenges of social media marketing in Organizations

1.4RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1) What are the effective strategies for implementing Social Media marketing in Konga Nigeria Limited?

2)  To what extent does facebook affectsorganizational performance of Konga Nigeria Limited?

3) What is the impact of promotional campaigns on sales performance of Konga Nigeria Limited?

4) What is the relationship between social media marketing and organizational performance in Nigeria?

5) What are the challenges of effective social media marketing in Konga Nigeria Ltd?

6) What are the solutions to the challenges of social media marketing in Organizations?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

Hypothesis1

H0: There is no significant effect of social media marketing on organizational performance

H1: There is no significant effect of social media marketing on organizational performance

Hypothesis 2

HO: There is no significant relationship between social media marketing and organizational performance in Konga Nigeria Ltd

H1: There is a significant relationship between social media marketing and organizational performance in Konga Nigeria Ltd

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Academiainthefieldofmarketingmanagement,strategy,andorganizationaldevelopment would use the results from the current study to further their research interests. The postulations of the various theories underpinning the current study would find further empirical foundation in light of the linkages between TQM social media marketing and organizational performance. This would spur further studies in other contexts, public, private, manufacturing, andservice.

The study will provide empirical evidence of the practice of social media marketing efficiency in banks. It shall also be of tremendous help to business practitioners in various fields to develop their business/marketing strategies through the social media platforms. In addition, the study shall be of good use to policymakers to know the shortcomings in this area and integrate same to guide them in their future planning.

1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The study is restricted to the effect of Social media marketing on the organizational performance in Konga Nigeria Limited.

1.8LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Financial constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview)

Time constraint: The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work

1.9DEFINITION OF TERMS

Social media:Social media are interactive computer-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation or sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks.

Social Media Marketing:Social media marketing (SMM) is the use of social media websites and social networks to market a company's products and services. Social media marketing provides companies with a way to reach new customers, engage with existing customers, and promote their desired culture, mission, or tone.

Organizational Performance:Organizational performance comprises the actual output or results of an organization as measured against its intended outputs. According to Richard et al. organizational performance encompasses three specific areas of firm outcomes: financial performance; product market performance; and shareholder return.

Marketing:Marketing is profitably using the results of studying short term and long term needs of those who can pay for a one-time, or in most cases, a steady flow of service or product placement.