THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING IN PROMOTING MAKEUP PRODUCTS

Mayuri Talreja[1]
Dr. Vanya Chaturvedi[2]

ABSTRACT

Social media is the new sensation and is very popular amongst the current generation. Almost 70% of the people are active on social media for more than about 6 hours in a day.^[11] According to the advertising statistics social media advertising has increased by 38% since 2016.^[22]This is the major reason why all the businesses use social media for promoting their products or services online. Social media advertising can be defined as a marketing tactic for promoting products or services online through social media by targeting the potential audiences. It is the most used promotional tool by brands and businesses in today’s time. It has the power that is capable to reach the target audience with its varied and diversified target features based on interests, location, media, timings, age, gender, lifestyle, education, economic background. It has brought the culture of promoting products or services online with ease and cost- effective methods. These unique features of the social media advertising as a promotional tool have attracted various academicians and researchers. Accordingly, the main aim of this research is to comprehensively examine, conduct a study of social media advertising andcheck itseffectiveness in promoting makeup products. The research tries to find out the effectiveness of social media advertising with the help of primary research (questionnaire) and alsoanalysing data from previous studies and reports. The researchalso tries to study and analyse different types and strategies of social media advertising.

KEYWORDS: Social media advertising, social media, social media strategies, promotional tools, advertising, media, Instagram, social media platforms.

INTRODUCTION

Social media is a platform which is used by all for various purposes such as entertainment, education, gathering information or news, reaching large audiences, driving traffic to websites, disseminating thoughts or opinions, connecting and feedback, branding, advertising of products or services, etc. Social media is widely common tool which is easy to access and use. It is a platform which can be accessed by anyone who has internet on their devices. The various types of social media are social review sites, social networking sites, image sharing sites, discussion sites, video presentation sites, community blogs, etc. Social media involves Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, WhatsApp, You tube, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit, Linked In.

Social Media Advertising can be defined in simple terms as using social media platforms for promotion of products or services by identified sponsors. All the activities done for promotion on social media sites by brands or individual comes under social media advertising. One of the biggest advantages of social media advertising is that advertisers can take advantage of the demographic information of users and can target ads appropriately and accordingly. It involves creating content, engaging with the followers, and then running advertisements. Advertising on social media can help advertisers reach large number of users at a low cost in comparison to the other media used for advertising. It helps in branding and brand visibility on digital platforms. 

Advantages of Social Media Advertising:

Social media advertising is the fastest growing trend which enables the advertisers to conduct promotions at reasonable cost. It helps reaching a large number of target audience through which they can connect and turn them into permanent customers.

1. It helps increase brand loyalty.
2. It improves brand recognition and visibility.
3. It improves conversion rates hence improving sales and profit.
4. It reduces marketing costs hence helping advertisers to advertise at a very low cost.
5. It helps in better search ranking hence increasing SEO rate on the web.
6. It Increases web traffic.
7. It improves content visibility to target audience
8. It improves better and effective brand recalls
9. It helps builds a strong social media presence.
10. It provides valuable customer insights

Strategies used in Social Media advertising:

In a landscape of so much competition and race you definitely need a succinct strategy to serve your goals and objectives to ace the social media advertising task for your brand or business.

 Following strategies can be adopted in advertising on social media:

1. The advertiser should set goals and objectives before starting to advertise on social media. For ex: the goals can be to increase brand awareness, increase sales, drive traffic to the site, boost community engagement, generate leads and sales and grow the brands audience.
2. During advertising on socialmedia, one should research about the target audience who they want to cater to. There are various applications that help determine who follows you, who unfollowed you, the likes, shares, subscriptions, etc. This helps monitor and understand that which platform should you advertise and how much should you spend on each platform.
3. One should create and curate engaging and interesting social media content that creates a conviction in the minds of the audience and lead to tapping on the like, follow or subscribe button the platform. There are various free applications that help you to create and curate content for social media even if you are a novice. There are also apps that help you decide all you want to post in advance.
4. Try to make your social media presence as timely as possible. Timeliness is an imperative factor in acing the social media advertising task. Try to find out the best times to post social media content when your target audience is active the most, that time of the day, week or month. Decide on the timing to post so that you reach maximum audience to fulfil your advertising goals.
5. Assess for your brand or business, what is exactly working and what is not and what has to be subtracted from the social media plan. Monitor the metrics behind the campaigns in real time that allows you to fulfil your strategies rather than the ones which just consumes time.
6. The social media strategy should always be data driven that helps to align with your goals and objectives. An effective social media plan is rooted in numbers and these numbers align with the original goals that the business or brand needs to accomplish. Focus on the metrics that matter for a business such as reach, clicks, engagement, hashtag performance, follows, likes, shares, subscribers, organic and paid likes, etc.

OBJECTIVES

 The objectives for the research are as follows:

1. To determine the effectiveness of social media advertising in influencing customers to buy makeup products.
2. To determine the effectiveness of Instagram as a media platform to advertise makeup products online.
3. To determine the importance of social media advertising in promoting makeup products online.

LITERATURE REVIEW

1. Neha PopalghatBIMM, Sri Balaji University, Pune (2020)^[1] stated advertising on digital platforms involves connecting with the customers personally. Digital advertising is a technique that involves using internet as a medium to get site traffic and hence helps in promoting messages to the potential clients. Social media (59%) is the most important platform for creating awareness. Video ads are the most popular followed by Photo Advertisement, Carousel Advertisement, Stories Advertisement, Messenger Advertisement and E-mail Advertisement. The findings state that advertising on digital platforms is a key factor for consumer decision and all brands should have presence on social media for digital advertising.
2. Vivek Bajpai; Dr. Sanjay Pandey; Mrs. Shweta Shriwas (2012) ^[2] in their research paper articulated the 5 ADVANCED SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR SMALL BUSINESS:

Strategy 1: multimedia usage,

Strategy 2: integrate offline and online advertising,

 Strategy 3: message adaptation,

Strategy 4: local social networks, other than yelp

Strategy 5: discounts, contests, and giveaways.

The research stated that social media like Facebook creates a loyal connection between product and individual which leads to large advertising opportunities.

3. Jaysing Bhosale, Dr. R.G. Phadtare (2020) ^[3] in their research study on social media advertising by small businesses identified various techniques used by advertisers to create a presence on social media and the strategies involved along with analysis of types of content that works most effectively on each social media sites. They discussed about various fascinating tools on Social Network Marketing such as Sharing of Information, Sharing of Video or Image, Discussion Forums, Wall-Postings, Weblogs, podcasts, Instant Messaging,etc. The research also stated the reasons why people follow or unfollow a particular brand on social media.
4. Kesavan, Annamalai University(2020) ^[4] examines the effectiveness of social media advertising in India. It describes the process, types, activities involved in social media advertising by various brands and businesses in India. According to the research social media works productively in the aspects of advertisement networking, advertising, and marketing, e-commerce, education, entertainment, fashion and lifestyle, food and beverage, travel, and tourism, etc. The research finds out that total spend on social media advertising amounted to US$3,283m in 2019.
5. KhusbooJanakBinwani and Jessica Sze Yin Ho(2019)^[5] The research study states that in addition to Facebook and Twitter, emerging platforms such as Instagram and YouTube have generated a trend of creating products that are made to accommodate a social media related lifestyle thus transforming the course of consumer purchase decision. Social media marketing activities among cosmetic brands can influence the three equity drivers, only two out of three (relationship and brand equity) are subsequent enough to influence consumer purchase intention.
6. Himadri Buch (2020) ^[6] in her article stated that Nykaa as a brand uses 360degree digital marketing strategies for advertising its products (Nykaa Fashion and Nykaa Beauty). The research article states that Nykaa prefers to use Influencer content more on social media mainly Instagram. In a campaign to launch Kay Beauty, Nykaa used all influencer-based campaigns on social media to advertise their newly launched products. The article states that social media advertising strategy is important for any big or small brand to succeed in the market.
7. Mohammad Mazibar Rahman & Md. MamunarRashid(2018) ^[7] The research stated the link between the attitude of customers towards social media and social media advertising and the relation between purchase decision and their behaviours on social media. The study provides a detailed theory on advertising done on social media and its effectiveness. The social media sites of such companies should announce contests, offers, incentives and post more videos to draw attention on the page. These content advertising strategies helps the brands to get more likes, views and subscribers.
8. Egbeh, P.C (PhD); Oguguo, F.C, EdomobiOkey&Iwuoha, B.C(2020) ^[8] The research identifies that social media advertising is becoming the medium to advertise by advertisers not only because of its reach but also its feature of cost effectiveness and interactive nature. It also states the frequently used method for social media advertising that include banner ads, pop-up ads, ticker ads, flash up ads, floating ads, video ads, rich media ads, expanding ads, etc. By the end of 2020, digital ad spend will be accounting for up to of 53.6% of total ad spend by advertisers the world over

METHODOLOGY

            The research was conducted using convenience sampling method as the sampling technique. An online survey was conducted through a questionnaire. The target group for the research was females aged 15-45 years. Google Forms with a questionnaire were forwarded/floated across WhatsApp chat to get responses. The responses were then recorded, and data was analysed using pie charts and bar graph. The favourable sample size was 100 respondents given the short time to execute the survey.

FINDINGS

Total Respondents: 100

Geographical Area: Bhopal

Gender: Female

1. The age group of the respondents was from 15-45 years. Majority of them were 15-25 years old, which comprised roughly 42% of the respondents. 35% of the respondents were from 26-35 years of age. 23% of the respondents were from 36-45 years of age.

2. To which majority of the respondents i.e 48% chose online followed by 40% depends on various factors and only 12% of the respondents chose offline as an option to buy makeup products offline.

3. 70% respondents responded that they are influenced by advertisements of makeup products on social media and only 30% of the respondents denied that they are not influenced by advertisements of makeup products on social media.

4. 65% of the respondents agreed that they click on social media advertisements to buy makeup products online whereas 35% of the audience denied that they do not click on social media advertisements to buy makeup products.

5. Out of 100 respondents, 79 people use Instagram the most which is the highest, followed by Facebook with 12 people and You Tube with just 9 people.

6. 70% of the respondents said Yes that advertisements on social media leads to buying makeup products online whereas 30% of the respondents denied that it doesn’t lead to buying makeup products.

7. According to the data received 71 out of 100 respondents use Nykaa to buy makeup products online, followed byMyntrawith12 people, Amazon with 9 and Flipkart with 6.

8. Do you think social media advertising leads you to buying makeup products online?If Yes, then Explain why?

Most of the respondents answered that Ads captivates people’s attention.

• They are tempted to buy, seeing the offers, the price, the product and quality.
• The Product details are well established that influence them to visit the websites and hence buy the product.
• Digital influencers review about the products and provides information regarding the products in a detailed way which convinces the customer to buy the products.
• The advertisements are captivating and discounted price attracts them in social media ads.
• The advertisements are constantly shown that make a mark so eventually people tend to buy the products.
• The way they explain the uses and benefits of the products.
• Through social media it’s easy to know so much brand products available in the market.
• It highlights the key features of the product and also shows how to use.

9. What is the best thing about buying makeup products online?

Most of the answers from respondents included that:

• The variety of products which are available online.
• The amazing discounts
• The convenience to shop from anywhere
• It saves time
• Easily available
• Product presentation
• Cheap as compared to offline
• Access to brands that are not available offline
• Good price
• Reviews and offers, etc

10. What is the worst thing about buying makeup products online?

Most of the answers from respondents included that:

• Shades are not clear
• Cannot try and buy
• The duplicate copy of products
• Lack of authenticity and trust for products
• The products break at the time of shipment
• Defective products
• Quality is not known, etc.

CONCLUSION

The study and findings suggest that social media has become an imperative part of advertising and promoting makeup products online. Studies conducted show various strategies used by advertisers to conduct advertising on social media. According to the findings, Instagram is the most effective platform amongst all to promote makeup products online and maximum social media advertisements leads the customers to buy products. Also, social media advertising constantly triggers customers to buy makeup products online. According to the findings from the research, Nykaa is the most used application in terms of buying makeup products online. That hence proves that Nykaa’s social media ads are highly effective. Also, the various reasons that people prefer buying online after watching social media advertisements are: – the variety of products which are available online,the amazing discounts, the convenience to shop from anywhere, it istime saving, easily available, product presentation is shown, cheap as compared to offline, access to brands that are not available offline, good price, reviews and offers, etc. Suggested by a research paper, social media is now incorporating various bloggers and vloggers to help the brands advertise more effectively and reach out to the masses (target audience). Effective strategies can be built by identifying the goals and objectives, identifying the social media platforms, assessing the timeliness of the advertisement, deciding upon the target audience, monitoring the metrics for calculating the reach, analysing the various types of content strategies. Social media is an upcoming challenge to the traditional media due to its proven effectiveness and cost efficiency in advertising products or services. According to the researcher all the brands who use social media in their advertising campaign should focus on running promotions, offers, incentives, price discounts, giveaways, valuable information such as tips & tricks to attract audience to convert into their customers. Since social media is a two-way communication platform which involves feedback, so it becomes easy for brands to solve the queries of the customers which again is a reason why brands prefer to advertise on social media. To conclude here are some strategies which helps increase reach on social media while running advertisements:

1. Clarify the goals & objectives: Identifying the objectives of social media advertising helps to clarify the reason for advertising and helps to achieve them with an intelligible vision
2. What is the content strategy: The advertisers should work upon the types of content ideas(created or curated), the different types of content for different platforms, how often the content has to be posted, what time of the day or week or month that particular content should be posted, what type of content has to promoted, how it has to be promoted, using which tools, what form of content( video, blog, vlog, static creatives, BTS(behind the scenes), images, live stories, human touch videos, etc.
3. Who is the target audience: The major task is to find the target audience who is or will connect to your brand and business? Certain demographics that include age, sex, income, interests, location, etc should be chosen to target a particular section of the society. This makes it easy to target the audience that are or maybe interested in the brand or business.
4. Looking at current social media status: If the advertiser knows what the current scenario is, then he will be able to run future ads better and more effectively because he then knows what strategies worked and what did not.
5. Analysing the social media ad metrics: Having a look each time at the previous campaign to have a better idea of what the next ad campaign is going to be. Based upon this the things that are not working can be revised and new strategy can be built. This is a continuous task while doing social media advertising.
6. Using analytics to track progress: There are various analytical tools that are available to track the reports of the ads that the advertiser has run. The tools such as google analytics, Facebook ads manager and google ads helps to easily understand which campaign performs and which doesn’t.

The studies conducted draws a direction for future scope to develop and understand content strategies on social media to be used by brands, that can be used for brand promotion on social media.

The future research scope can be to define the types of content for social media advertising; its impact on consumers, detailed research on the content liked by people, competitors content strategies, its monitoring and analysis.

REFERENCES

1. Neha Popalghat (2020) To Study the Impact of Digital Advertising of Nykaa on Consumer Purchase Decision in Pune Region, Journal of University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Volume 22, Issue 12, December – 2020,pp 289-304
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[1]Ph.D Scholar, Sage University Bhopal, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, SAGE University, Katara Hills, Sahara Bypass, Bhopal- 462 022, Madhya Pradesh, India,

[2]Associate Professor, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, SAGE University, Katara Hills, Sahara Bypass, Bhopal, Email- vanya.c@sageuniversity.edu.in