Role of Implementing Social Media to Gain Sales Within Pan International

Background

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This report will focus on PAN International, an event and entertainment management company located in Melbourne. PAN is a member of the PAN Orama Group which comprises a group of businesses working in the areas of arts, culture, education, entertainment, and events. PAN was initially founded in 1993 as PAN Artist Management. PAN International is one of the industry leaders in developing unique concepts to transform a vision into a highly successful event. The company is driven by customer satisfaction. It endeavors to create sterling experiences for their customers by working as an adventurous, energetic and determined team that produces exceptional events for global audiences. Over time the company has diversified its focus on all areas of event production and entertainment management in the arts industry. Their portfolio contains a variety of services that includes the following:

Artistic direction and entertainment programming

Themed event conceptualization and design

Festival production, co-ordination and logistics (indoor and outdoor)

Marketing, publicity, and promotion

Project administration and event management

Conferences, award presentations and festive season functions

Artist liaison and management

Due to the long-standing relationship with Australias leading cultural performing arts groups, PAN has the ability to organize a range of activities for public and private events, where these artists do perform. The company has the capacity to take advantage of the opportunity to select individuals and troupes that present dynamic and authentic performances, suitable for any event. PAN International provides platforms for exciting art forms such as Sand artistry, 3D mapping, and live shadow puppet animation.

Project research problem

The social media is a modern and culturally unique gateway to successful sales performance in any business. Each social network is different from another and caters for different audiences, depending on their sex, social status, interests, and other demographics. Unfortunately, PAN International has not been utilizing the social media platforms to boost performance. Over the years, PAN has maintained the status quo by using the old marketing methods to improve income, and this has hurt the companys sales volumes. During 2011 to 2013, for example, the business had very few clients. Targeting a given social media platform, based on the number of active users, could be the best option for PAN International to attract new customers, and generate more income through the old ones. It is important to note that PAN International has a Linked in and Facebook page. However, the marketing team does not actively use these two platforms; thus making the company fail to realize maximum sales.

The main idea behind this project, therefore, is to find a social media marketing implementation strategy, with the aim of improving the sales prospects at PAN International. This will be achieved through ensuring that PAN Internationals social media sites are actively used during and after the completion of this project.

Focus of the StudyPurpose of the research project

The purpose of this research project is to give an insight into how PAN International can utilize social media platforms to improve sales. It will also explain whether this will have a positive effect on the number of inquiries and how many of them will turn into sales.

Key areas of investigation

The role of social media in boosting sales

The number of social media activities in each week

The effect of future social media strategies on sales

Research questions

The following questions will be addressed in this research:

How will the utilization of social media platforms improve sales at PAN International?

What user behaviour can PAN International achieve by utilizing the social media?

Which social media platform is the most suitable for the customers of PAN International?

How does the organisation view the aspect of using social media to boost sales?

Which social media platform do consumers prefer in the context of PAN International?

Significance of the Project

To some entrepreneurs, social media marketing is the next big thing: a temporary yet powerful fact that must be taken advantage of as early as possible (Seliger & Shohamy 1989). PAN International will highly benefit from implementing social media marketing strategies since the sales will be improved. As a result, these strategies will benefit the other arms of the company, as well as other similar organizations in the world.

Project Related Literature SummaryThe project will cover how PAN International will benefit from implementing social media strategies to gain sales. This is an aspect of Marketing Communication: a subject of my MBA studies. During my MBA program, I have covered marketing communication, particularly social media. This knowledge would help me to develop strategies, throughout this project, that will help me accomplish it.

According to Raosoft Inc. (2004), social media networks are new channels for voice and content suitable for any arena. My initial understanding of the project topic is based on this textbook and a review of the relevant literature. A list of published articles on how any organisation can benefit from implementing social media strategies is provided below.

The article, Blackbox social media (2014), will be used to provide an understanding of social media in business.

Also, the books, Aaker (1996) and Kapferer (2007), will be used to get an understanding of how to build a strong brand in relation to social media. This will help in creating brand awareness.

Huff (2014) and Karkkainen (2010) describe how to get an idea in attracting corporate clients in business. In this project, this information will be used to get in-depth knowledge in business social media marketing.

Furthermore, I will organise regular meetings with the business development manager and the marketing manager, so as to track the progress of the usage of social media as a marketing tool by PAN International.

In addition, PAN International is planning to adopt one of the social media platforms it uses at the moment. This will be used to generate reports on the impact of social media on the organization.

Planned MethodologyResearch Method

The project is a case research report based on the implementation of social media strategies to gain sales within PAN International. This methodology entails collecting real information directly from the current and planned social media activities. The literature review and close working relations with the marketing manager of PAN International will be used to identify the outcome.

The next step is to follow is the literature review. In this case, the section will be divided into two distinct processes. The first one will entail literature readings. This will involve reading of relevant materials such as books, journal articles, and online sources. This will help in analyzing the main concept and forming a clear definition as well as an idea of the keywords. The second process will involve the re-reading of the collected data and trying to relate it to the theoretical terms and details, so as to formulate a clear cut vision. This will help in building content and enabling a clear plan of action for further research. These two processes will clearly help me understand the subject and build a refined insight into previous research on the issue.

The project will then take the approach of research. The data collected through the two processes will be instrumental in building the report in such a way that it matches with the research objectives and helps in answering the research questions. Although there may be other techniques, the most effective research methodology would be a review of current and past literature on the subject, data collection, analysis, presentation, and interpretation of the data. This methodology will be very effective since the conclusions will be valid, objective and reliable.

The data will be collected from two main sources;

Primary Data Collection

As for primary data collection, the following strategies will be acted upon:

Setting up two different social media sites, liaising with the social media marketing team and continuously monitoring the platforms through a survey at the end of each inquiry. This will help in identifying the number of clients reaching PAN International through the social media.

Organizing an interview with the CEO of PAN International so as to determine if the organization has ever used any social media platform to market their products and whether it worked, then, using the companys reports on the issue from 2005 to 2012,compare the details so as to come up with the best strategies to work on

Organizing interviews with five current managers in different departments within PAN International, so as to gather information on the implementation of social media in marketing that will help in adequately answering the research questions.

Contacting the corporate customers who have signed up with the PAN International social media sites and conducting relevant phone interviews with them. This will help in determining what they think about the social media sites so as to provide an idea of what can be done to improve the strategy and keep working towards higher sales.

Attending the PAN Internationals marketing meetings for the next few weeks so as to gather information related to particular social media sites.

Asking all the managers to sign the consent forms so as to include the information they provide as appendices.

As evident in the above activities, the main collection methods for primary data will include observations, surveys, contacting the relevant persons on phone, personal interaction, and experimentation as well as follow-up conversations. Sampling plans on social media sites such as taking into account units, size, and procedures will be conducted. This will help in ensuring the generalizability of the findings. Research instruments such as questionnaires and other mechanical instruments will be used.

Secondary Data Collection

The strategies for secondary data collection will include the following:

Studying the marketing plans and social media strategies which have been used in the past so as to determine their effectiveness in boosting sales.

Going through the relevant information in textbooks and articles so as to find out how social media is implemented as a marketing strategy in various organizations.

Scrutinizing the old minutes of the marketing meetings of PAN International so as to determine what has previously worked or not worked for them.

Following the profiles of PAN Internationals competitors and fellow organizations on social media in order to get an idea of how they use the social media to reach customers.

As evident in the above strategies, secondary data will mainly be collected from previous surveys, company databases and available literature on the topic of research. This will help in systematically comparing the data and giving an in-depth understanding of the connection between facts and available data. This will then go a long way in providing reliable conclusions.

Schedule for CompletionEthical Consideration and Survey QuestionsSocial media marketing provides opportunities for user participation in the creation and display of multimedia data. These popular platforms are increasingly emerging as valuable research tools. There are several aspects of those that provide unique advantages to researchers. First, the social media presents innovative opportunities to examine the displayed online behaviours and beliefs in a context that is natural, as it is part of the participants' daily lives. Second, the social media allows a researcher to reach out and conduc...