The Impact of a Social Media Strategy as Part of an Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Campaign

Social Media Marketing Strategy

The effective management of social media within the context of small businesses remains only a rare subject of research, despite the converse plethora of literature regarding social media and larger organizational contexts. This study examines the role of social media within the context of an integrated marketing communications (IMC) campaign for a small real estate agency. In applying an exploratory-descriptive case study approach, the core data sources will be semi-structured interviews of participants representing various stakeholder groups, including agents, assistants, buyers, and sellers, and document analysis of relevant corporate documents reflecting marketing goals and outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine the implications of a social media strategy as part of an IMC campaign for a small business, with the following research questions serving to guide the study: RQ1: How does the emergence of social media affect traditional IMC? RQ2: What challenges and opportunities to social media present to small businesses, specifically? RQ3: What are the best practices in blending social media into an IMC campaign for small businesses? Overall, this study seeks to yield generalizable conclusions regarding optimal strategies for small businesses' social media's usage for marketing purposes.

Relation to Previous Research

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) have emerged prominently since the advent of the twenty-first century as a means of binding various marketing channels together in order to both support and convey a core message from businesses to their consumers. The promotional mix to which digital space is now integral often includes advertising and other online communications, with social media recently becoming primary in IMC campaigns for firms of various sizes. Despite apparent trends in scholarly discourse that frame social media as paramount to contemporary IMC, few studies have examined the ways in which social media and IMC exist within the contexts of small businesses; this has generated an unfortunate gap between IMC theory and practice. This study will bridge the theory-practice gap visible in the current body of evidence by applying a case study approach to a small real estate agency aiming to use social media as its central channel for IMC.

Social media has transformed the nature of communications between businesses and their customers, with the latter group of stakeholders generally and unprecedentedly afforded more power as both consumers and producers of information (Mangold and Faulds). Businesses are then both challenged as well as afforded opportunities by social media, as consumers now wield more control over the ways in which information is disseminated.

Kaplan and Haenlein posit that social media is a dynamic concept that precludes a stable and static approach to IMC, as it is constantly affected by technological innovation and other forces of globalization. Social media includes blogs, mini-blogs such as Twitter, social networking forums such as Facebook and MySpace, business-specific community forums, and file-sharing sites such as YouTube, with all types of social media potentially providing advantage or disadvantage to organizations depending on how effectively they are managed. Social media is changeable and far-reaching, with organizations forced to adopt a consistent and proactive approach to social media management.

Mangold and Faulds highlight that social media is integral to IMC for three, core reasons; these are that it provides a channel for firms to communicate with consumers, consumers to communicate with one another, and consumers to communicate with businesses. Firms then make use of social media, ideally, to monitor brand reputation, promote brand loyalty, and generally assess the opinions and perspectives of consumers. As part of an IMC strategy, social media marketing is an organizational initiative that communicates with target markets in order to develop or support a unified, customer-focused message and achieve various marketing objectives.

Lacho and Marinello posit that small business owners, in particular, lag behind larger firms in their use of social media, still relying on traditional and mass media communications; this is despite the evidence highlighting that social media is a cost-effective means of reaching a wide audience. The authors highlight that small businesses resist social media for a wide spectrum of reasons, including a perceived lack of interpersonal connection between firm and consumer, but are charged to integrate social media into their marketing initiatives if they are to remain viable in the global economy.

There is a dearth of scholarly literature regarding the variables of IMC, social media, and real estate agencies' use of social media in marketing initiatives. This study will examine these interrelated concepts using a case study approach that will be generalizable to small businesses operating in various industries.

Proposed Methods

The purpose of this study is to examine the implications of a social media strategy within the context of IMC for a small, real estate agency to which this researcher has access. In applying an exploratory-descriptive case study approach, the study's conclusions will be generalizable to small businesses, including but not limited to other real estate agencies. Three research questions will guide this study:

- RQ1: How does the emergence of social media affect traditional IMC?

- RQ2: What challenges and opportunities to social media present to small businesses, specifically?

- RQ3: What are the best practices in blending social media into an IMC campaign for small businesses?

The methods employed in answering the research questions are qualitative in nature, grounded in data collection from two, key sources; these are document analysis and semi-structured interviews.

The role of the researcher in a qualitative context diverges considerably from that in a quantitative research context, as s/he is the primary instrument of the study rather than an objective observer. Qualitative methods are conducive to this study as the researcher has access to the real estate agency in which this study will take place, and this methodology will allow him the flexibility of inductive reasoning. While quantitative research allows conclusions to be deduced from data and hypotheses to be proven, qualitative research embodies the benefits of yielding comprehensive results not limited by predetermined expectations.

The case study methodology allows for the study to serve as a microcosm for broader sets of phenomena. Yin posits that case studies investigate relevant and contemporary issues within real-life contexts, with questions regarding how a phenomenon occurs, in contrast to how often or how much, more conducive to case study design. Case studies are internationally applicable despite their comparatively limited research context, as results can be extended to a wide spectrum of organizational domains if the research design is effective.

Yin posits that the sample size does not impact the generalizability of research findings, as they allow for more in-depth and detailed study of a particular phenomenon. Furthermore, case studies can be framed as exploratory, explanatory, or descriptive in nature, with most case studies embodying at least two of these categorical definitions. Multiple sources of data add to the strength of the case study and allow for a more optimal understanding of cultural forces affecting or being influenced by the particular phenomenon being studied and boost the internal validity of the methodology. Yin asserts that semi-structured interviews and document analysis are two, central means of data collection during a case study.

Semi-structured interviews will be conducted in order to represent multiple stakeholder groups. In total, approximately eight to twelve interviews will take place of real estate agents, assistants, buyers, and sellers. Semi-structured interviews are ideal in case studies as they allow for desired themes to be examined without rigid limitations based on entirely predetermined questions. Document analysis in case studies can be articles, agendas, letters, memoranda, and corporate documents. The documents examined within this study will be marketing plans, inter and intra-agency communications, and promotional materials. The interviews will be digitally recorded and transcribed, with dominant themes in both sources of data sought during the analysis stage.

Reflections

A central limitation of this study is the potential for researcher bias, as the researcher has held a professional role in the real estate field for several years, has working relationships with some of the participants, and will inevitably be affected by predetermined prejudices regarding real estate marketing. In order to overcome this limitation, reflective practice will be consistently applied. Specifically, the researcher will engage in active journaling throughout the study and at all stages of the research process, aiming to identify ways in which researcher bias may emerge.

A salient advantage of the researcher's professional role within the context of the study, however, is that few practical obstacles are anticipated. Professional connections exist between the researcher and the participants, with key decision-makers in the firm providing permission to examine the documents required for the case study. Additionally, few theoretical or conceptual difficulties are anticipated as significant research exists regarding IMC theory and social media. The only potential weakness of the study's theoretical framework is the lack of previous literature regarding IMC, social media, and real estate agencies as co-existing variables. However, the scholarly literature that does exist regarding these variables separately or in dual combinations is strong enough that conclusions can be generalized.

The core, ethical issues regarding this study exist with respect to the participants; it is critical that the participants understand the purposes and procedures of the study, are aware that their confidentiality is protected, will be supplied a copy of the research results, and are cognizant regarding the researcher's commitment to protecting their anonymity.

Overall, however, the position of the researcher in the political field, specifically within the same cultural context in which many of the participants exist, has weighted implications for the study. The researcher aims to remain as objective as possible throughout the study, but the qualitative nature of the methodology renders the researcher's cultural context not only an inevitable factor in the study but also an integral one. The researcher's cultural lens will be viewed as a resource rather than an obstacle, with constant reflective practice providing a mechanism for countering the impact of inadvertent prejudices and opinions.

Conclusion

This study will fill a gap in the existing literature by establishing optimal practices for small businesses' usage of social media as part of IMC. Following proposal approval, the next steps will be to begin journaling as part of reflective practice in order to establish the researcher's cultural perspective and circumvent limitations presented by researcher bias. Additionally, the researcher will begin a thorough review of the existing literature regarding the research variables of IMC, social media, and small businesses, additionally exploring any implications of literature sourced from the real estate profession specifically. In particular, attention will be afforded to relationships between various stakeholder groups, social media, and marketing goals.

The literature will then be synthesized in order to provide a firm foundation for construction of interview protocol and document analysis. Participants will be selected based on identified stakeholder groups but will likely include agents, assistants, buyers, and sellers existing within the operating environment of a single agency to which this researcher has access. An overview of the study as well as an ethical agreement that establishes respect for participants' anonymity and confidentiality will be prepared in accordance with university guidelines, and the research process will proceed from that point toward data collection and analysis. No major obstacles or limitations are foreseen with respect to this study's design.

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