Date of Conferral

2017

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Business Administration

Advisor

Steve Roussas

Abstract

Social media have transformed business commerce and consumer communication, yet organizational leaders lack clear strategies for using social media platforms to their advantage. The purpose of this qualitative multicase study was to explore social media marketing strategies for increasing sales. The relationship marketing conceptual framework grounded this study. Data collection included semistructured interviews with 5 organizational leaders from 5 different organizations in the San Francisco, California, Bay Area and a review of participants’ documents including marketing materials, social media posts, and published sales reports. Data analysis included coding, categorization, and identification of major themes. The thematic assessment approach revealed 5 major themes from participants’ responses that aligned with findings from the literature review. Themes included identifying the target audience, developing a customer roadmap to convert prospects to consumers, managing customer relationships to increase brand loyalty, and developing key performance indicators to measure the success of social media campaigns. Study findings may increase local organizational leaders’ knowledge of social media strategies that they can use to increase brand awareness, brand loyalty, and sales for their organizations. Implications for social change include the opportunity for local leaders to increase sales, which could lead to more jobs and improved economies in local communities.

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