St. Mary S University School of Graduate Studies
St. Mary S University School of Graduate Studies
By
YORDANOS KEBEDE
JUNE, 2021
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING FOR
BUILDING BRAND AWARENESS IN ETHIOPIA.
By
YORDANOS KEBEDE
JUNE, 2021
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
Table of Contents
Aproval Sheet....................................................................................................................................... 4
Declaration........................................................................................................................................... 5
Acknowledgments................................................................................................................................ 6
List of tables....................................................................................................................................... 11
List of figures..................................................................................................................................... 12
Abstract.............................................................................................................................................. 13
1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1
8
2.3. Social Media Marketing...................................................................................................... 13
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY............................................................................................... 25
CHAPTER FOUR.............................................................................................................................. 28
4.1. Introduction......................................................................................................................... 28
5.1. Conclusion........................................................................................................................... 37
5.2. Recommendation................................................................................................................. 37
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................. 38
9
APPENDIX: Questionnaire Sample .................................................................................................. 41
10
List of tables
Page
Table 3.1 Reliability test………………………..…………………………………………….…27
Table 4.1 Demographic characteristics of respondents …………………………………... …..29
Table 4.2 Social networking sites used ………………………………………….……………30
Table 4.3 Trust level on social media platform…………………………………..…………… 31
Table 4.4 Reason for the usage of social media platform ………………..……………………31
Table 4.5 Time spend on social media network …………………………………...………… 28
Table 4.6 Respond to products ads on social networks..……………….….……………… 28
Table 4.7 Methods that influence perception………….…………………..…….………… 30
Table 4.8 action based on online ads on social networks…………………………………….35
11
List of figures
i. Fig 2.2.1 Social media sales funnel adoption by Nichole Kelly (2010)……………..……15
12
Abstract
The use of social media marketing nowadays is becoming very popular worldwide and it has
changed the relationship between customers and business and this effect will gradually continue
to evolve in Ethiopia as new media infuses the culture and society.
The purpose of this research was to investigate the role of social media marketing for building
brand awareness in Ethiopia. This study is descriptive in nature whose primary objective is to
provide insight into a new marketing phenomenon while investigating one or more variables. A
quantitative method is used. It has been possible to withdraw necessary primary and secondary
data by distributing questionnaire and by referring related literatures respectively. A
questionnaire was distributed to collect the required information and gather data to attain best
possible outcome of the research’s effort. The size of the population for this study is unknown as
social media networking sites are dynamic and complex and they are impossible to count given
that the number of members increases on a daily basis. Therefore, the researcher gathered data
from 100 respondents. The finding of the study indicates that most consumers pay attention to
advertisements recommended and shared by friends and contacts on social media networks
rather than the direct information provided or advertisement campaign made by companies.
Therefore, this research suggested that local companies should use social media network to
present their brands with enormous reach, endless communication possibilities and with a very
limited promotion cost and grab, the possible opportunities of exploiting the brand building
potential through the richest and fastest communication form available. However, Social Media
as a form of marketing will present a completely new phase challenges. Therefore, companies
need to develop their marketing strategy with special care in order to minimize the risk and
challenges of online branding.
13
CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
In today‟s technology driven world, social networking sites have become an avenue where
retailers can extend their marketing campaigns to a wider range of consumers. Chi (2011, 46)
defines social media marketing as a “connection between brands and consumers, while offering a
personal channel and currency for user centered networking and social interaction.” The tools
and approaches for communicating with customers have changed greatly with the
emergence of social media; therefore, businesses must learn how to use social media in a way
that is consistent with their business plan (Mangold and Faulds 2019). This is especially true for
companies striving to gain a competitive advantage. This review examines current literature that
focuses on use of social media as an extension of their marketing strategy.
Social media refers to the information and communication technology platforms designed for
social interaction in real-time, such as wikis, discussion forums and blogs. These platforms are
available on public sites such as Facebook and private sites such as Jive and Yammer. Some sites
are more specialized in their objectives than others, eg., Linked-In‟s objective is to enable
professionals to create and share profiles and to enable HR professionals to interact with them,
while Facebook‟s objective is to enable information creation and interaction for more general
audiences (Fischer & Reuber, 2011).
Naturally, social media‟s increasing influence on our daily lives has rapidly extended into the
ways we get away. From planning a vacation with social media to posting reviews of our trips
upon our return, there is no denying social media‟s impact on travel today. Studying social media
is especially important because these travelers interact with these platforms differently than
traditional media (White, 2010). Hence, social media encompass an inherent shift of
informational power from the advertiser to the consumer, in which consumers decide which
content to ignore and which to pass along to others in their network. Many consider this sharing
of online content as powerful as word-of-mouth and network marketing which the hospitality
business depends on heavily (Sirakaya & Woodside, 2005).
1
The social media has lost its perspective of being only a socializing medium; it is now viewed as
a medium of reaching to masses, not only by the companies but by other users also anyone on
social media can reach to masses and make their opinions heeded. The social media has changed
the way the consumer's marketers interact (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2015). The information age has
revolutionized how the consumers get informed about the goods/services. The consumers do not
have to depend on just the information provided by the marketers in golden words. Through
social media, the consumers have developed a new medium to interact with each other which also
helps them take decisions more easily and they receive first-hand information from the actual
users which are more reliable and helpful as it is not glorified by the marketers (Kozinets, 2011).
Nowadays, marketing is changing faster than ever. Everyday new communication means appear.
Customers are now increasingly using social media to connect, look for, and exchange
information, thoughts, and experiences of brands and companies. There are lots of well-known
social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, you Tube, Flicker, Word
Press, Blogger, Type pad, Live Journal, Wikipedia, Wet paint, Wiki dot, Second Life, Del.icio.us,
Digg, Reddit, Lulu and many others. (www.uncp.edu/home/new media/social. media. history) are
used to share experiences whether good or negative.
Brand Reputation is everything for a marketer. This is because if there are no other factors
such as quality or price separating two brands, users will choose to purchase one over the
other because of its brand reputation. Therefore, companies must differentiate and position
its brand name so that it is clear for its target market. Sometimes, visibility and recognition
can be all that separate two brands. Users are now increasingly using social media to
discuss brands and products, making reference to their functional performance as well as their
social popularity (Kotler et al, 2010). Marketers should utilize this social power by
encouraging.
It is expected the number of social media users increased dramatically in Ethiopia, because of
the following reasons: First, the government has started a $1.6 billion project to expand 4g
network across the capital city and 3g network all over the country (Ethio Telecom, 2013);
second, the population of Ethiopia is estimated around 99 million and most of them are young;
2
finally, the number of Facebook users are increased at an alarming rate, for instance there is 35%
from 2013 to 2015 (Internet Usage and Population Statistics for Africa, 2015).
The latest statistics of social networking show that Facebook penetration in Ethiopia is 0.56%
compared to the country's population and 111.27% in relation to number of Internet users. The
total number of Facebook users in Ethiopia is reaching 495580 and grew by more than 158720 in
the last 6 months. This clearly indicates that Ethiopia is one of the least represented countries on
the internet. (ethio admin, 2013)
Based on the information gathered from different literatures, it can be concluded that
Ethiopia is one of the least represented countries in digital world especially in its marketing
concept. This could be one of the reasons that there are very few studies conducted in the area of
social media marketing. Therefore, these research will be conducted to narrow the empirical gap
by providing information to local companies and offer an insight as to how social media
marketing could affect brand awareness and to indicate the importance, the effectiveness and the
challenges of its application by companies.
Social media platforms are mailnly used to connect people. They are suitable devices for sharing
ideas, observations and experiences. It is feasible to comment, share, and review corporate or
other individual messages with these media. A corporate message can be reached for millions of
customers by these users. In marketing perspective, business companies (brands) can
3
communicate with its customers through social media platforms. Engaging customers, building
brand, promoting product, making a research are feasible by using these media in addition to that
it allow firms to engage in timely and direct end-consumer contact at fairly low cost and higher
levels of efficiency than can be achieved with more traditional communication tools, so that
understanding the role of social media on marketing strategy primarily help organization to adjust
its marketing according to the needs and wants of its customers .In doing so the organization will
be able to maintain its‟ current customer base by effectively responding to their demand.
Moreover, consumers have got power because of this media. Influential individuals have a power
to spread messages to millions of people. According to Internet Usage and Population Statistics
for AfricaNov 15, 2015there are tremendous amount of people around the nation using social
media especially Facebook to interact with each other. However, multinational companies that
are hosted in Ethiopia have no localized and dynamic social media marketing tool. For instance,
Diageo, Heineken, Coca-cola, Pepsi, ZTE etc have no localized Face book, twitter, LinkedIn
pages. Moreover, they are not ready to use opportunities and to minimize the risks of social
media (Internet Usage and Population Statistics for Africa, 2015). So, this research aimed for
giving evidence for marketers about the impacts of Ethiopian social media users in marketing
strategy.
Poor infrastructure, a government monopoly over the telecommunications sector, lowest rate of
internet and mobile telephone penetration, the government‟s strict system of controls and high
cost of internet service have notably hindered the growth of information and communication
technologies (ICTs) (Freedomhouse,2011). These facts force local companies to lag behind
the rapidly developing business environment and make it difficult for the companies to operate
successfully in the international market and hinder them to leverage from using social media
to create brand awareness locally as well as internationally. This fact may cause the local scholars
fail to notice the need to investigate the impact and importance of social media marketing in the
modern business setting.
Therefore, this research focus on filling the empirical gap, as there are few researches conducted
in this particular study area as it is relatively a new business phenomenon. The effect of social
4
media marketing and brand awareness has not been investigated in Ethiopian context till
now and also tried to identify the challenges faced by local companies in using social media
marketing.
1.2Research Questions
These study tried to answer these questions.
i. To what extent exposure to social media affect consumers‟ brand awareness in
Ethiopia?
ii. To what extent „social influence in social media usage‟ affect consumer brand
awareness in Ethiopia?
iii. To what extent engagement in social media usage affect consumer s‟ brand awareness
in Ethiopia?
iv. What is the effect of the „action of social media users on consumers‟ brand awareness
in Ethiopia?
5
1.4 Significance of the Study
This research is important as it provide adequate information on social media and its effect on
consumer brand awareness to marketers in various fields. This study also gives immense benefit
to students, researchers, and scholars who are interested in developing further studies on the
subject manner.
The study was delimited to consumers who are part of one or more international social media
networks that are popular in Ethiopia such as Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and
telegram Plus disregarding all other international and local social media networks such as Ethio
Tube, Dire Tube and Ethio jobs that are gaining popularity in Ethiopia.
6
CHAPTER TWO
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
The purpose of this chapter is to establish a theoretical outline. The literature deals with theories
related to social media, brand awareness, and related terms. All the literature is described and
explained in order to build a theoretical background for this study.
In this section there are two major divisions that focuses on the theoretical framework where
a range of literature on key concepts that are essential for the study are reviewed and the
conceptual frameworks which discusses the model known as Social Media Sales Adoption
Funnel Model by Nichol Kelly which the researcher chose to implement for this study.
7
to talk directly to one another. The content, timing, and frequency of the social media-based
conversations occurring between consumers are outside managers' direct control.” “Social media,
also referred to as consumer-generated media describes a variety of new sources of online
information that are created, initiated, circulated and used by consumers‟ intent on educating
each other about products, brands, services, personalities, and issues (Mandal, 2011).
Social media has gained a lot of popularity over the past few years and as a result of this
popularity, other traditional Media have experienced decline in both business and popularity.
Palmer and Lewis (2009) argued that the main stream media channels have faced many
challenges in recent times that have led to closure with TV facing down turn in their profits
levels. Palmer and Lewis are correlating the performance of these traditional channels to the rise
of social media in marketing and brand management. As a result of completion and tough
economic environment, companies have tightened their budgets especially advertising budgets
which have shifted to online channels.
According to Forrester research study (2011) by Ernst.J, David M. and Cooperstein, Dernoga M,
found that companies (brands) are gradually shifting their advertising priorities to align better
with today's buyers. Today‟s buyers are tech savvy and social media maniacs. Therefore it is the
proliferation of the social media network services in brand management and marketing that bring
us to the attention of social media networks. First, the researcher will define social media and
then outline those networks that are driving the debate.
In the last couple of years, different kind of social media networking services have emerged and
currently there are innumerable social media channels that connect people to each other. The
most popular social network sites that are widely used are; Face book, Twitter, YouTube,
LinkedIn and Flickr. In fact, Facebook, twitter and YouTube are the most common channels
companies use in their online marketing for creating brand awareness or just engaging with the
customers. Though LinkedIn is also widely used by companies, it mainly targets to establish
relationship on a professional perspective and slowly becoming B2B channel compared to other
three networking sites mentioned above. However for the purpose of this study, only five most
popular social networking services are reviewed.
8
The underlying difference between the generic definitions and business definition of social media
is that the users have been replaced with the customers/consumers, thereby unleashing a host of
opportunities for businesses and shifting of power to the consumers.
The term social media has been disintegrated in to various terminologies such as social media
site, social networking sites and so on. For the purpose of this study the researcher will use the
broadest sense of the term, social media, which shall encompass all other terms and definitions.
(Mandal, 2011).
Weber uses the term “social web” instead of social media, and defines the social web as “the
online places where people with a common interest can gather to share thoughts, comments and
opinions. It includes social network such as Facebook, LinkedIn and hundreds more. It includes
branded web destinations like Amazon, eBay and Netflix. It includes enterprise sites such as
IBM, Best Buy, Cisco and Oracle. The social web is a new world of unpaid media related by
individuals or enterprises on the web. (Johansson,2010).
The benefits of social media are many and include company branding, improved brand
awareness, and increased customer loyalty and trust. Recently Social Media has gained
popularity in both business and social networking. The rise of social media in marketing and
brand management forces the use of other traditional advertising media channels such as TV,
newspapers and billboards to decline as well as to lose their popularity. Therefore, companies cut
down their advertising budgets and are shifting to Social media channels which are by far
cheaper and easier to communicate to their target customer. The drastic growth of the use of
Social media marketing and brand management by companies brings the researcher‟s attention to
the study of social media marketing and its impact on brand awareness.
In the past few years several social media networking channels that connect people to each other
have emerged. However, the most popular sites that are used widely in Ethiopia as well as other
countries are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google Plus. For the purpose of this
study, only these networking servicing sites are reviewed.
2.1.1.1. Google
Gooogle, in full Google LLc formerly Google Inc.(1998-2017), American search engine
company, founded in 1998 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, that is a subsidiary of the holding
company Alphabet Inc. More than 70 percent of worldwide online search requests are handled by
9
Canada
Google, and the United
placing it at States, corporations,
the heart and by users‟
of most internet September 2006, to everyone
experience. of age 13
Its headquarters areand
in
Mountain
older to make
view,
a group
California.
with a valid email address. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History of Facebook)
Goggle began
Facebook was aslaunched
an onlineinsearch
2004 and
firm,have
but itover
now1.1
offers
billion
moreactive
than 50
users,
internet
of which
services
350products,
million
from e-mail
users access Facebook
and onlinethrough
document
mobile
creation
devices.
to software
An average
for mobile
Facebook
phones
user is
andestimated
tablet computers.
to have at
Googles
least 130broad
friends
product
and isportfolio
connectedandtosize
80 community
make it one of
pages,
the four
groups
influential
and events.
companies
There in
arehigh
more–
tech 70
than marketplace,
languages available
along withonapple,
the site.
IBMIts main
and Microsoft.
use is to establish
Despiteand
this maintain
myriad ofrelationships
products, its
in
original
work related
search
situations,
tool remains
in political
the coreaffiliations
of its success.
or just among
In 2016friends
alphabet
and earned
families.
nearly
Facebook
all ofhas
its
revenue the
become frommost
google
powerful
advertising
tool for
based
marketing
on userstoday.
search
Inrequests.
April 2011, the company launched a new
service
2.1.1.2. for marketers and interested creative agencies which is a form of online platform (Portal)
LinkedIn
LinkedIn
that allows
started
marketers
in 2002,
andbut
creative
was officially
design agencies
launched to
on May
build5,brand
2003.promotions
Many professionals
on Facebook.
have
joined LinkedIn
Facebook is now in
a direct
recentcompetitor
years to share
of Google
knowledge
in online
andadvertising
insight inand
more
thisthan
new one
service
million
has
LinkedIn
made it possible
groups.for
Thecompanies
companytooperates
create dynamic
the world‟s
commercial
largest professional
graphics or advertisement.
network on the internet
with more than 135 million members in2012).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook, over 200 countries and territories. It is estimated that
more than
2.1.1.4. 2 million companies have LinkedIn Company Pages .There are 14 languages currently
YouTube
available: was
YouTube French,
created
Germany,
in February
Italian,2005
Japanese,
as a video
Korean,
sharing
Portuguese,
websiteRomanian,
on which Russian,
users canSpanish,
upload,
Swedish,
view and share
English
videos
and Turkish.
as an informative
(linkedin.com,
and inspirational
2011). to others across the globe.
In LinkedIn,
The companycompanies
uses Adobehave
Flash
access
Videotoand
a wealth
HTML5oftechnology
informationtothat
display
are amostly
wide variety
user provided
of user
through their
generated video
profile
content.
data YouTube
i.e. company
acts name,
as a platform
job title,for
sizedistributing
of the company
contents
andbyLinkedIn
creatorsuses
and
this information
advertisers as well.
for Over
advertising
3 billiontargeted
videostoaretowards
viewedmembers.
every dayCompanies
and there are
paymore
somethan
fees400
to
advertiseviews
million theirper
products
day onand
mobile
services
devices.
to particular
It is estimated
LinkedIn
that more
members
than or
800affiliation
million people
groupsvisit
on
LinkedIn. every
YouTube The classic
month example
to watch and
is theshare
success
contents.
of Cathay
(youtube.com,
Pacific Airway
2011). through their LinkedIn
company
Just as the page
saying
sends
goesmessages
a picture to
is worth
the people
a thousand
who are
words,
following
picturestheir
havecompany
an impactonin LinkedIn
creating
asking
an image
them
in to
therecommend
mind of a the
person.
company.
This has
Through
giventhis,
YouTube
the company
a competitive
has beenadvantage
able to increase
in online
its
brand awareness
marketing; all inamong
all more
target
businesses
market segment.
are now(marketing.linkedin.com,2012).
using YouTube for their marketing advertising
campaigns. Various companies with outstanding video campaigns have had their breakthroughs
in this form
2.1.1.3. Faceofbook
brand marketing, especially when the videos have gone viral. Most of these viral
Facebook can
successes is a be
social
attributed
networking
to expertise
service and
launched
creativity
in February
of the brand
2004,marketer
owned and
to entertain
operated the
by
Facebook.hence
audience It was
making
founded
theby
public
Markshare
Zuckerberg
the videos
with
with
hisothers.
college roommates and fellow Harvard
University
2.1.1.5. students Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes.
Twitter
The website's
Twitter was created
membership
in March
was
2006
initially
by Jacklimited
Dorsey
by and
the launched
founders that
to Harvard
same year
students,
in July.but
Unlike
was
expanded towhere
Facebook other one
colleges
can in
have
the friends
Boston to
area,
share
the Ivy
different
League,
things,
and gradually
with twitter
mostone
universities
has to get
in
10
11
connected to the latest information on what they find interesting. One has to find the public
stream that interests them and follow in the conversations. Each tweet is 140 characters in length.
One can still follow the tweets regardless of whether they do not tweet at all, and also there is no
limit as to how many tweets one can send within a given day. (http://twitter.com/about, 2011).
Through Twitter businesses now share their information or news faster to a large audience online
following the company, and from a strategic stand point, this has helped companies that uses
twitter to position their brands and also gather business insight through feedback to boost their
market intelligence in order to accurately target customers with relevant services and products or
enhance business relationships. Twitter has helped lift brands, enhance customer relationship
marketing and also improved direct sales by reaching out directly to the engaged audience on the
platform. (http://twitter.com/about, 2012).
2.1.1.6 Telegram
Telegram is a free and open source, cross-platform, cloud-based instant messaging software. This
service also provides end-to end encrypted video calling, file sharing, and several other features.
It was launched for ios on 14 august 2013 and android in October 2013 (Wikipedia). Telegram is
an online messaging app that works like popular messaging apps WhatsApp and Facebook
Messenger. This means that you can use it to send message to your friends when connected to
Wi-Fi or your mobile data.
12
branding, improved
Secondly, it can be difficult
brand awareness,
to guarantee
and that
increased
the person
customer
responding
loyalty is
andthetrust.
person
(AllAfrica.com,
the marketer
2013). they are (Gay et al. 2007, 129).
thinks
Today,marketers
Many social networking
think ofissocial
truly media
a global
inphenomenon.
the context of
While
B2Cword-of-mouth
companies: after
has all,
always
4 inbeen
10
important, its
consumers buyscope
products
was previously
that they've
limited
liked,totweeted
the people
or pinned
you knew
on various
and interacted
social networks.
with on a daily
Yet,
basis. Social
according tomedia
a recent
has study
removed
from
thatMarketing
limitation.Profs,
(Shruti87%
& Anukrati,
of B2B 2013)
marketers use social media
platforms in their content marketing efforts. In fact, of 13 tactics proposed from the content
marketing
2.3Socialarsenal,
Media social media was the most popular. So the question stands: how can a B2B
Marketing
marketer
The topicensure
of the that
study hisisorThe
her role
social
of media
socialinbound campaigns
media marketing forarebuilding
the most effective
brand they can
awareness in
be? (searchengineland.com/guide/what-is-social-media-marketing)
Ethiopia, but first it is important to define the term “marketing” referred to in the title. Marketing
Social media profitable
is managing network are applications
customer that allowThe
relationships. users to build
twofold personal
goal web sites
of marketing is toaccessible to
attract new
other usersbyforpromising
customers exchange superior
of personal
valuecontent
and keepand and
communication
grow current(Palmer and Lewis
customers 2009).
by delivering
Social media
satisfaction according
. (Kotler to Palmer
& Armstrong and Lewis can be characterized as: online applications,
2012).
platforms and media
In the definition above,which aim that
it is clear to facilitate interactions,
first consumer collaborations
brand awareness must and the sharing
be created of
to attract
content.
new customers and in order to keep and grow current customers. Therefore, in this study, the
Fauser et al.
researcher (2011)
focuses argue
only that though
on brand communication
awareness as a process ofiscommunicating
the core dimension of socialvalue
or delivering media
to
networks,
customers.not all platform categories are equally suitable for all marketing objectives because
most of thetoplatforms
According are not equally
Weber, marketing to the well suited
social webfor information,
means to adoptcollaboration,
a completely and
new even
way for
of
cultivating relationships
communicating (Fauser et
with an audience in al. 2011).environment.
a digital The purposeInstead
of social networks is
of continuing as primarily for
broadcasters,
communication
marketers should and exchange
become of ideas of
aggregators ofinterest among
customer peer groupsIt oriscommunities.
communities. According
not about broadcasting
to Gummesson
marketing (2002)
messages however,
to an it is through
increasingly frequent
indifferent communication
audience. initiated
Instead, when by the
marketing marketer
to the social
on
webthe interactive
marketers socialparticipate
should networks in,
thatorganize
a long term friendship can
and encourage bedeveloped
social networks toand maintained
which people
between the business
want to belong. Ratherand thetalking
than customer (Gummesson
at customers, 2002: 10).
marketers should talk with them (Weber 2009).
Janal (1998) on the other hand, insinuates that the information provider (marketer) are the ones
creating their ownhas
Online marketing communities
a plethora ofwith their social
strengths; network
the speed constructs,
of accessing thehence staffersisand
information veryvocal
fast
members of these
and extremely costconstructs
effective, lead discussion.
besides Furthermore
that internet the vocal members
has no geographical become
boundaries. In the opinion
addition to
leaders (Janal 1998:the
cost effectiveness, 214-215). In likewise
marketer this way has
a collaboration between
the opportunity the marketer
to research new and the online
suppliers at a
consumer/or prospectsearch
fraction of previous is developed. This words
costs. In other meansallthat
the without
marketinginformation flow within
research conducted the
through
communities and
internet is very costtheeffective
brand (Gay
whichetin
al. this case
2007, is On
129). the the
business, theyGay
other hand would
et al.be(2007)
no serious
point
engagement amongst
out some major the online
weakness that communities.
online marketing face. The first problem is that cultural and
Monitoring and facilitating
language differences customers
may present interaction,
difficulties participation
in information and sharing
gathering acrossthrough
nationaldigital media
boundaries.
to encourage positive engagement with a company and its brands leading to commercial value.
13
14
Interactions may occur on a company site, social networks and other third party websites.
(Chaffey. D, 2002)
Social media marketing is an essential section of the online marketing world which implicates
how to do consumer conversation on a website or Facebook/ Tumbler/ Twitter. This can also be
done on a forum or blog.
15
The creators, Levine et al. (2000), say: Discussions among individuals‟ has to sound human.
They are directed in a human voice.
Most organizations, then again, just know how to talk in the mitigating, humourless monotone of
the statement of purpose, promoting handout, and your-call-is-essential to-us occupied flag. Same
old tone, same old falsehoods.
No big surprise organized markets have no regard for organizations incapable or unwilling to talk
as they do. Corporate firewalls have kept savvy workers in and shrewd markets out. It will make
genuine torment tear those dividers down.
Yet, the outcome will be another sort of discussion. Furthermore, it will be the most energizing
discussion business has ever occupied with.
Obviously, more than an adjustment in mentality is required to accomplish change on this scale
requires senior administration sponsorship, venture, and changes to procedures and apparatuses,
as portrayed in the following part on change administration.
You can see that the Cluetrain proclamation is a suggestion to act, urging supervisors to change
their way of life and give procedures and apparatuses to empower workers of an association to
interface with and tune in to client needs mindfully.
Brand Awareness is one of the most commonly cited goals of marketers today in order to operate
competitively in today's dynamic business environment. And because social media is recognized
as a cost effective and high-speed solution for generating brand awareness, many marketers
started using social media channels to reach their target markets.
16
Accordingand
expensive to the
often
study
impossible
of (Anupama
even Sundar
to support
andbrands
Jatin Pandey,
with relatively
2012) a small
brand that
unit has
salessome
and short
level
of brand awareness
lifecycle. This is the is
reason
far more
whylikely
manytofirms
be considered,
reduce the number
and therefore
of theirchosen,
brands than
and focus
brandsonly
which
on
athe
few
consumer
brands.isSecond,
unawarefirms
of. Wilson
need to (1981)
acquireconfirmed
the knowledge
the importance
of operating
of top
outside
of- mind
the traditional
awareness
in a study
media channels
which(Aaker
found that
1996).
the higher the position of the brand in the consumer's mind measured
by2.5
unaided recall,
Internet andthe online
higher the purchase intention
marketing and the higher the relative purchase of the
and promotion
brand.
On oneBrand
hand,awareness
the internetcanisadd value by:-
considered as a good and a quite cheap way for companies, big or
1. Placing
small, the brandtheir
to promote in the consumer's
products mind, reach their customers through new marketing tools
and directly
2. Acting2010).
(White, as a barrier to entry to
For instance, thenew un-established
concept brands
of behavioral (Stokes-in
targeting 1985),
opposition with traditional
3. Reassuring
advertising the customer
which disturbsofcustomers
the organization's commitment
(Kotler and Bliemel, and product
2001) quality,
directly and customers
reaches
4. Providing
through leverage
targeted in the distribution
advertising, which matcheschannels (intermediaries
their personal areMoreover,
interests. customersthe
too,internet,
and arewith
just
as
its suspicious as consumers
large number of users, are of unknown
brings products.
an important and(Aaker 1992) audience, which is likely to
significance
5. Learning
improve the Advantage (Keller) of a product, brand, or a company.
image and popularity
6. Consideration Advantage Brand awareness can also affect decisions about brands within the
consideration
Internet set (Hoyer tools
communication & Brown 1990; Keller
like emails 1993).
provide a quick communication between the company
7.
andConsumers may(Vermeulen
its customers employ a heuristic (decision
& Seegers, 2009). rule) to buy only
The internet familiar,
promotion well-established
is also measurable.
brands
Thanks(Roselius 1971).
to a website it is quite easy to know how many visitors had a look at the website, how
long they have stayed on it or what the click rates are. This enables companies to evaluate how
It is predicted
efficient by Aakercampaign
an advertising that withisthe
andmultitude of new
what changes media
could that have(White,
be brought developed and that are
2010).
likely to develop in the future, it is constantly becoming more challenging to create this brand
awareness,
On and
the other that White
hand, the winners
(2010)instates
the battle of raising
that, online brand awareness
marketing will drawbacks.
has also some be those who are
First,
able
sometosmall
coordinate their with
companies branding messages
limited budgetthrough all medias
cannot invest in big(Aaker 1996). online advertising
and expensive
There exists Second,
campaigns. differentitdegrees of brand
is difficult awareness
to evaluate theaccording to Aaker,
legitimacy and it or
of a service is measured
a productthrough
on the
analysis
internet of how companies
where well the customer
cannotrecalls
ensurethethat
brand.
theyThe
arescale startswith
dealing off from the weakest
trustworthy and level:
reliable
Recognition
companies. Third, (the
therecustomer has been
is the problem ofexposed to the distance
geographical brand). between the consumer and the
Recall
company. It (which
may be brands within
a problem forthe product
some groupcustomers
reluctant that the customer can retain)
to be physically isolated from the
Top
seller. The ofinternet
mind (the
canfirst
alsobrand
lead the
to acustomer can(UNWTO,
confusion recall) 2005), where the user can hardly
aDominant
make decision because
(the onlyofbrand
a toothe
high
customer
a number
canofrecall)
offers(Aaker
and information.
1996). In addition, there will
always be people without Internet access or simply people who do not use the internet. In
Maria Johansson
Ethiopia, for example,
2010, suggested
out of more
thatthan
to create
80 Million
brand awareness
people, only
in a0.5%
successful
of the way
population
considering
had
that consumers
access to the internet
everyday
in the
are year
bombarded
2010 although
by more that
and figure
more marketing
will have messages,
grown overtwo
thatthings
last two
are
needed(Africa
years according
Travel
to Aaker:
Association,
First, it2010).
is necessary
And finally
to have
as aargued
broad sales
by Kotler
base. and
ThisBliemel
is because
(2001),
it is
17
18
online marketing is not always appropriate for all products and all companies where there are
some products and services which cannot be sold or promoted over the internet.
In general, with its millions of users the internet has become an important distribution channel. It
has naturally spread over the travel and tourism sector, boosting the development of online travel
worldwide. As a result, online marketing enables companies to reach directly consumers globally
or locally at lower costs than with traditional promotion methods. But the internet also presents
some drawbacks: all companies and products are not promotable on the web and all people
cannot access the internet.
After different evolutions, the internet has given birth to a new form of communication, the social
media, which could be described as a collaborative web, where all internet users can add their
own content, share, collaborate and socialize 13 freely. In other words, social media is the
democratic takeover of the information by the internet users thanks to tools, which facilitate
consumers‟ involvement on the web (White, 2010).
Forums are also an important social media tool. They enable a gathering of opinions around a
topic or a common interest, developed through discussions. Podcasts make it possible to save a
programme automatically, corresponding to the consumer‟s interest. As an example, Portugal
official tourism website offers podcasting to internet users and potential tourists, in order to make
them discover the destination through audio and video files (Mack, et al, 2008).
Therefore, the buying process is not only a one-way process: consumers also need the point of
view of other consumers to make a decision and get the best offer (Culturebuzz, 2007).
As described by Culturebuzz (2007), three humorist movies encourage internet users to talk about
the campaign and the company. This contributes to increase the modern word-of-mouth about the
company and to improve its image. To sum up, Culturebuzz (2007) defines the buzz marketing as
a way of creating modern word-of-mouth, setting up conditions and tools needed for a general
information transmission. It is through the internet and its millions of users that the modern word-
of-mouth has become a serious matter giving the opportunity to increase the perception about a
product, a brand or a company, as pointed out by Gretzel (2007).
19
Social media has somehow changed the information process: the traditional communication
pattern from the business to the consumer seems to be less and less popular. Current customers
want to have direct contact with other customers to know more about the real experiences they
did at a specific destination or with a company. In effect, consumers have become active
contributors of the web (Jespen, 2006). Similarly, it was also argued in as early as 2006 by
Jepsen, that social media has started replacing traditional sources of information. And it was later
supported when it was described as in Inputs- Processing-Response models that social media
might influence the buying behavior process (Fisher and Reuber, 2008). The importance of this
phenomenon was highlighted furthermore by De Valck, et al (2009) who suggested that virtual
communities are becoming important networks of consumer knowledge that influence consumer
behavior.
Hence, it is no wonder that many organizations are monitoring blogs and Tweets, and others are
pushing out news and promotional messages through social media channels. Social media allows
for a level of conversation in ways never before possible presenting enormous opportunities for
research, brand building and the creation of brand followers (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). The
value of social media is that users are highly engaged and want to be heard. So, by listening to
them and approaching them from their own point of view, it is possible to have a positive impact
on beliefs and perceptions (Fischer & Reuber, 2011).
20
Blanchard (2011) and Owyang (2010) agree that the ROI cannot be calculated with the traditional
ROI formula, because it should involve multiple layers of data analysis to connect both
financial (i.e. 16% increase in online sales) and non-financial (i.e. increase in positive mentions)
outcomes of the campaign. However, all sources agree that SMM measurement should include
consumers‟ interactions and reactions as one of the variables on the calculation, because after all
SMM main focus is conversion, which means how well consumers‟ involvements on the social
media sites affect their buying decisions.
The bottom line of SMM measurement practice is its campaign/business objective(s) need to be
very specific and measureable.(Pradiptarini, 2011)
The finding of a case study by Christine Adhiambo Odhiambo in 2012 under the title “Social
Media as a Tool of Marketing and Creating Brand Awareness” suggested that over 90% of the
sales are made offline and only between 5% and 10% of sales are through the company‟s online
shop. However, the company uses Facebook for marketing and according to the management; it
is the most effective marketing platform for creating brand awareness.
Even though the company uses other forms of advertising such as Newsletter and radio, online
channel according to the company is more effective than followed by broadcast channel i.e.
radio. In terms of cost, radio and print are costly compared to online advertising and therefore the
return on investment is much more attractive.
According to( Christine Adhiambo Odhiambo 2012) Social media can help a small business
reach a target market in a very short time because through the network effect, the message gets to
the target market segment almost instantly at a cheaper cost compared to other traditional
advertising channels like print and radio. He also suggested that the management of
customers‟ comments online is a big challenge facing small businesses because some are very
positive and some are “business damaging” meaning negative comments could potentially impact
sales and brand image. Negative comments posted online could be from a competitor trying to
pull down the brand name or turn away customers. The fact that online advertisers do not have
control of these comments is a cause of concern to small business because they have less resource
in terms of human resource and finances to invest in doing online damage control.
21
Shutri Arora & Anukrati Sharam (2013) in their study “Social Media: A Successful Tool of
Brand awareness” in 2013 concluded that There is no escaping the social media these days, either
for individuals or for businesses. Today, it is impossible to separate social media from the online
world. Social media is a strong and potent communication tool. It presents brands with enormous
reach and endless communication possibilities. It allows brands to emerge into a world of peer-
to-peer dialogue and therefore the possibility of harnessing the brand building potential of the
richest communication form available. However, it is important to do it right.
The study of Rashmi Belwal (2012) shows that how social media has become an important tool
for marketing and creating brand awareness. In fact it is foreseen that in the near future there will
be a paradigm shift from traditional advertising to social media platforms. However, Social
media alone cannot be effective without augmenting it with other traditional media channels like
radio, newspaper, or TV even though it is widely reported that the effectiveness of traditional
media and their use is sharply falling.
22
media channel.
Researches and Itstudies
is notare
guaranteed
being performed
that all by
of these
scholars
people
and marketers
saw the message,
these days
butinthere
orderistoa
likelihood that
investigate thethey
impact,
did. the
From
effectiveness,
a public relations
the challenges,
and printthe
advertising
advantages
standpoints
and disadvantages
this would tie
of
to the media
social circulation
marketing
of theand
publications
brand awareness
that were
as itmentioned
is relativelyinaand
newfor
phenomenon
online advertising
in the business
this is
shown as a metric for impressions.
world.
Social media Influence: Why do we measure influence? Influence is not a direct measure, but it
Figure 2.1: Social Media
is an important metricSales Funnel
in the Adoption
sales funnel for understanding social media‟s contribution to
delivering sales. Why? Because people are influencers for a reason, they have an audience of
loyal followers who trust their judgment. When an individual is exposed to messaging through an
SOCIAL
influence, that person MEDIA
is more likely to buy or engage with messaging in some way than if they
EXPOSURE
had seen the messaging as a result of general exposure. These people move down one level in the
SOCIAL MEDIA
funnel. INFLUENCE BRAND AWARENESS
Influence isENGAGEMENT INthat relies on the company‟s view for explanation since it
a subjective metric
SOCIAL MEDIA
Depends on how the company wants to look at whether it is positive, neutral, or negative in
ACTION OF SOCIAL
attitude. In order to calculate the influencer metrics, how many influencers mentioned the brand
MEDIA
and the reach of their audience must be observed?
Social media Engagement, which is the last stage in the funnel related to brand awareness,
can be measured by identifying how many people actually did something with the
message. Engagement is one of the most important measurements because it shows how many
people actually cared enough about the message that results in some kind of action.
Exposure, influence and engagement represent brand awareness in the measurement funnel and
the lead generation funnel is where the brand awareness portion of the funnel ends and the
traditional ROI-driven action begins.
Action and Loyalty of social media users: This can be sustained by how often the audience
keeps commenting on the marketer‟s message. The kind of message the audience post can help
determine whether they are loyal or not. Customer loyalty can be determined with the kind of
testimonials they give pertaining
To the product/ service a loyal customer always makes repurchase of the marketers
product/service and is in most cases retained by the company. These loyal parties are likely to act
as unpaid marketers, who eventually spread word of mouth on the benefit of the marketers‟
products/services.
23
24
CHAPTER THREE
3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The purpose of this chapter is to explain the procedures that is used to answer the
research questions proposed .
3.1Research approach
The purpose of this study was to examine the role of social media marketing for building brand
awareness in Ethiopia, so this study tried to use brand awareness as dependent variable and social
media marketing as independent variable and the approach followed was quantitative method. A
quantitative research method was employed to investigate the role of social media marketing for
building‟ brand awareness in Ethiopia.
Therefore, the researcher uses this method because it is usually a preferred research strategy to
collect large amount of data and to easily compare and analyze using various statistical
techniques.
3.2Research design
The research design for this research is descriptive. Because the research is used to investigate
one or more variables.
25
□ Sometimes
I take a walk to the shop/market
Other
□ Never
_________
NOTE:
11. While* you
Represents questions
are online, have that
you are
evermandatory
respondedto to
reply.
online advertisements displayed?
on social network site?*
Thank u for giving me your precious time!
□ Yes
□ No
12. How do you feel about online advertisements? *
□ Very useful
□ Somewhat useful
□ Interesting
□ Somewhat annoying
□ Very annoying
13. Do you comment, like, retweet, share, download or replay to product advertised on
social network sites? (Please respond Q15 if only your answer is „Yes‟) *
□ Yes
□ No
□I don‟t remember □
14. Why do you like, retweet, share, download or replay to products advertised on
Social networks? (Please select all that apply)
□ To show solidarity (unity)
□ To try and see if they can solve a challenge you have (customer satisfaction) □
□ To be updated in latest news
□ To open communication line
□ I Don't Know
15. Have you ever paid attention for an advertisement that is twitted, shared or
recommended to you by a friend or member of the social network? *
□ Yes
□ No
□ I don‟t remember
16. How often does the information you get from a friend about the product on various
social-networking sites influence you to buy the product? *
44
46