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Analysis of Research

The recommendations in this report are based on 200+ hours of internet based research. A local study was also conducted by our team to determine what the audience looks for when it comes to brands and businesses on social media. Through extensive research, we obtained the following information that is beneficial to growing and building a brand through digital marketing:

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Micro-Influencers & How They Can Assist Small Businesses

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After corresponding with Hampton Designs Studio’s owner, Adam Hampton, we found that his small business needed better marketing strategies to maximize their social media presence. While Hampton Designs Studio has multiple social media accounts, like Facebook and Instagram, they are not being utilized in the most effective way. 

 

Through extensive research on how to use social media marketing and the various benefits of utilizing it correctly, we concluded that working with micro-influencers would allow Hampton Designs Studio to spread word about their products to a more targeted, engaged, loyal, and responsive audience. In order to get a better understanding on how beneficial these relationships with micro-influencers are, we explored the many benefits of these connections and how exactly these social media experts can grow a small business. 

In 4 Ways to Use Micro-Influencers to Grow Your Business, New York Times bestselling author and co-founder of NP Digital, Neil Patel, explains how micro-influencers are successful at assisting a businesses growth. Patel states, 

  • “17% of companies spend over half their marketing budget on influencers

  • A study conducted by Markerly focused on 800,000 Instagram accounts, each with over 1,000 followers, in order to analyze how engaged their audiences were in comparison to major celebrity influencers. This study found two things:

    • As the follower count increased, like rates dropped significantly

    • Comments and engaged users decreased as followership increased

  • Micro-influencers achieved 22.2 times more conversations than average consumers when they recommended products

  • 82% of consumers reported that they were highly likely to follow a recommendation made by a micro-influencer” (2021).

 

Once Hampton Designs Studio understands just how much success micro-influencers can have at increasing customer engagement, they can start the process of actually working with them. This process can be made easier by following the four steps that Monique Thomas, a content marketer, laid out in her article How to Use Micro Influencer Marketing to Grow Your Business. Thomas lists:

  1. “Outline Your Goals and Expectations

    1. Define what metrics will be essential to measuring success

    2. Make sure to outline a set budget at the planning stage

  2. Find and Verify Micro-Influencers to Work With

    1. Preferably work with influencers who have high engagement rates, posts consistently, and has a distinct personality or voice

    2. A few ways to find and verify influencers would be to pay attention to your Instagram comments and tags, monitor your branded hashtags, and use third-party influencer tools

  3. Negotiate Fees and Create an Influencer Agreement Contract

    1. Rates can fluctuate - so be ready to negotiate a fee based on your budget and expected deliverables

    2. When the fee has been agreed upon, create a contract that includes all relevant information, including: payment, briefing materials, content deliverables, deadlines, approval process for deliverables, length of the contract, usage rights, exclusivity clause, endorsement disclosures, and cancellation clause. 

  4. Track and Monitor Results

    1. Tracking, monitoring, and measuring the results of your micro-influencer marketing campaign will allow you to see how the content performed and use it to inform future campaigns

    2. There are two main ways to track content performance: using Instagram’s branded content tools and sharing trackable links with influencers” (2021).

 

Both articles provide insight into the relationship between small businesses and micro-influencers which will help increase Hampton Design Studio’s customer engagement and sales. 

 

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Our local study supplied us with evidence that supported the points made by both Patel and Thomas. Figure 1 shows how comfortable people feel buying from a business that does not engage on social media, and the responses were more in favor of the uncomfortable side. 

 

This information helps us with this recommendation because it shows that most individuals who took this survey would prefer a small business that not only has social media, but also engages with clientele as well. For example, out of the four options given, 67% of recipients said that they would feel uncomfortable being a customer at a business that had no social media. This supports our idea that social media is vital for the success of a small business because it allows business owners to network with micro-influencers on these platforms which will only increase their potential customers. 

 

The results of this survey also highlight how none of the participants feel that a small business should not have social media accounts, which will just add extra support for this recommendation. This statement is supported by the fact that 0% of the people who took the survey said that they would feel very comfortable buying from a business that had no social media. 

 

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Overall, with the material provided in both articles and the evidence laid out by our local study, we have determined that building up relationships with micro-influencers will be essential for Hampton Designs Studio to build a loyal, engaged, and responsive audience while also increasing sales.

Social Media Marketing & Advertising Skills 

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In conclusion of working with Hampton Design Studios owner, it has been noted that this business could really use some outside help with marketing and promoting their small business. Being able to effectively use their social media platforms is an area that could use some fixing in order to help with their marketing techniques. After long hours of substantial research on the most efficient methods of social media marketing and promoting, it has been concluded that using certain social media platforms in specific ways due to the different audiences and age groups using these platforms is a good way to start the process of better advertising. For us to receive the best information on how larger companies and businesses advertise, we explored different articles that clearly explained this process in the most detailed way. Facebook Can Transform Your Business: How One Small Start-Up Stimulates Sales (2013), affirms that Facebook is a valuable tool for reaching targeted audiences. The article states:

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  • Business willing to branch out into the electronic marketing strategies have seen substantial increases in attracting and maintaining customers.

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  • Having a social media account for a business is something that is common among businesses because it allows a way to interact with customers using photos and videos that advertises the business.

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  •  Facebook is a platform that has many pros that include free to use, quick and easy to set up, and doesn’t require any skills in order to operate the account.

After learning different techniques of how to advertise smartly on platforms such as Facebook, Hampton Design Studio can begin the new journey of their business marketing in a better and more effective way. An article by Ximo has all of the steps and answers to make this happen. The article states:

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  • Experiment with Different Social Media Platforms:

Using different social media platforms depending on the targeted audience and which platforms show the most engagement with customers with different topics.

  • Set Up Additional Sales and Marketing Channel:

After customers have seen and engaged with the social media platform, provide another source that has further details about the business and what is being promoted.

  • Increase Customer Engagement:

Commenting and answering questions to all customers is a great way to show engagement and increased activeness between the business and their customers.

  •  Engaging Topics:

Use topics that are fun and will allow people to want to respond and have an input on that topic in order to have a better take away of what customers are wanting.

 

Both articles equally contribute to tips and strategies to use when it comes to social media marketing that is effective and easy to do. These strategies are most helpful for small businesses such as Hampton Design Studio because of the great influence it has on increasing sales and bringing in new customers. Figure 2 shows that many people are neutral when it comes to ads on social media. So bringing in new and better tips for this matter will really be beneficial to the business. In conclusion, with the information from both articles and other research findings, we have begun to use our new knowledge to revamp Hampton Design Studio’s social media platforms in order to accomplish a better outcome with this area of their growing business.

Social Media Engagement and How it Helps Build a Brand

 

Hampton Designs Studio wants to take their business to the next level through the use of social media. Although the owner of the business, Adam Hampton, has created social media accounts on multiple platforms, there is still an opportunity to create more traffic and clientele for the business by understanding what platform(s) the target audience utilizes most and how to engage with them. The following figure implies that Instagram and Snapchat are most popular among the audience.

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Rebecca Battman, founder and manager of RBL, a brand and marketing business states in a recent article, “Building an effective social media presence helps you to reach out and create positive interactions, with each interaction building on the last (Battman, R. 2021).” Positive engagement can leave an imprint and even create a loyal brand following. With well-intentioned engagement, a follower may shout out the brand or recommend it to others which can lead to more movement for the business. Positive engagement includes but is not limited to:

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  • Responding to your consumers and followers in a timely manner

  • Conversing with the audience

  • Listening to what your audience wants and considering their feedback

  • Creating content that draws your audience in

  • Using a platform that is most popular and allows for more interaction

Suvashree Bhattacharya, Deputy Manager at REVE SYSTEMS published an article describing effective techniques to use when engaging with the target audience. When thinking about engagement, consider the following questions:

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  • What platform is your audience spending the majority of their time?

In the localized study conducted, nearly 66% of its respondents stated that they use Instagram and Snapchat the most. Of course, it is wise to branch out on multiple platforms. However, Instagram should be utilized the most since there are a number of ways to engage with the audience i.e. posts, stories, reels, live feeds.  

  • How can there be more engagement with your audience?

There are multiple ways to engage with your audience such as creating questionnaires, polls, contests, giveaways, etc. When posting an image, ask questions that are curated around the image so your followers can respond with their own thoughts. Polls and questionnaires give an opportunity to see what your audience wants. This allows for a richer experience and greater customer feedback.

  • Are you creating quality content?

The content posted should be consistent. Consistent content creates more traffic due to Instagram’s algorithm. Brands who are pumping out more content are more likely to appear on the users feed. The content posted should align with your company’s values and what your brand is about. Images and videos that are blurry or have low pixilation are less likely to appeal to your audience. Clean and crisp content is more appealing to social media users.

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Both articles mentioned reference engagement tactics that have proven to be very effective in audience engagement. I encourage Hampton Designs Studios to take these points into consideration when using social media as a means to market and expand their business. 

Attract Business With The Use of Social Networking

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After discussing with Adam Hampton, Hampton Design studio’s owner, we learned that his business needed to reach out to other businesses to grow his social media presence which would, in turn, attract more customers. Hampton Designs already owns a Facebook and Instagram account, which is a great start, but they could make the most of these platforms by posting narrative-driven content and experimenting with other marketing strategies. Through research on the advantages of utilizing social networking, we concluded that Hampton Designs Studio would benefit from this approach to further grow their clientele. To further apply this method, we researched how social networking helps a business not only attract new customers but also keep those customers. In The Importance of Social Media Marketing, Gary Henderson discusses the advantages of social networking. Gary Henderson provides us the following examples: 

  • "You Get To Tell Your Story"

    • Interacting with your audience on social media increases your exposure and helps you better understand your audience.

    • "Your customers will be able to know you and relate to your stories on a more personal level as well, and this is exactly what you need as an entrepreneur in this digitally connected world."

  • "You Can Grow An Audience With A Small Budget"

    • With so many different advertising tools available on these social media forums, you can take advantage of this opportunity to market your product in a cost-effective manner.

  • "Stay Top Of Mind With The People Who Matter The Most"

    • "For a target audience with the potential of becoming buyers, it is important that you are connected with them through these social media forums, creating an impression on their minds so much that your business is on top of their minds whenever they search or think about buying a similar product."

    • This relationship between a company and a potential consumer is crucial in turning them from a potential customer to a loyal and regular one.

  • "Learn The Buying Patterns Of Your Ideal Customers"

    • "Learning these patterns helps you focus on the things that you are not following while designing content for your page, and therefore aiding you in becoming better at your digital marketing strategies to attract the right customers and meeting their demands"

  •  "Increase Your Overall ROI"

    • "Social media marketing and advertising can help you increase your return on investment, as the cost of advertising on these social media forums is often less than the return, giving you more revenue."

  • "Increase Your Brand Awareness"

    • "This can be done through proper social media marketing strategies and content marketing campaigns that will imprint your brand name on anyone using any of the social media networks you choose to use."

  • "Can Promote Products And Services"

    • "Promotion of products and services on social media platforms like Facebook is much easier in the digital world, where you can put up professional images of your product and their details, and let the audience engage under these albums."

After learning about the advantages that social networking provides we can conclude that Hampton Designs Studio can apply these techniques to grow its business. In Customer Retention Strategies for Small Businesses, Katherine Paljug provides us with the following list of strategies:

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  • "Sell to old customers, not just new ones"

    • "It generally costs five times as much to acquire a new customer as it does to retain an existing customer, according to Forrester Research."

  • "Understand their expectations"

    • "Customer retention depends on customer satisfaction. Customers should have a realistic picture of what they are buying, including the cost of their purchase, what it includes, what they can expect as a result, and any return or refund policy you may have in place"

  • "Offer to improve"

    • "No matter where the mistake or miscommunication occurred, customers expect you to make the situation right – and doing so enthusiastically can turn even a disastrous situation into a loyal customer."

  • "Communicate and connect"

    • "Communicate regularly with your customers through a newsletter or email list, keeping them informed of changes, developments, and special offers"

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Both, Gary Henderson and Katharine Paljug, stress the importance of businesses having a presence on social media. A strategic marketing presence on social media could make a world of difference for a company. Increasing clientele numbers and maintaining future and current clients are positive outcomes seen with well-managed social media accounts. The implementation of social media marketing, as supported by the articles, should only provide positive results for Hampton Design Studio. Data from the local community coincides with the importance of social media in business and marketing. Local consumers voiced their opinions and the data shows that these marketing efforts are effective. As seen in figure 5- consumers would enjoy seeing merchandising advertisements. Hampton Design Studio can implement the same strategies to increase their revenue and clientele.

Promoting “Park-Once-Then-Bike” Environment

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Focusing on centralized, shared parking creates a park-once-then-walk environment. (Banerjee)

 

It is in the best interest of Hampton Designs to promote Irvington’s local free parking to potential customers. Adding a visible sign for the store or that tells customers passing by where they can park would make them more likely to stop at your studio. Seen in this diagram of a birds eye view of Hampton Designs, the local parking at Layman and Washington Street would conveniently allow customers to cross over the crosswalk on Washington Street to enter the store. Advertising a park-once-then-walk environment for Irvington shops would increase your business’ productivity, as well as other businesses in the area. Going one step further than a park-once-and-walk ideal is encouraging physical exercise such as biking across the street and down the strip mall of shops. Inserting a bike rack near Hampton Designs that the shop promotes would better the likelihood of cyclers stopping to come inside to look around, and it would also show the initiative of the company caring for its’ customer’s health and well-being. 

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The Indiana District Office is open at Circle Suite 100 in Indianapolis every weekday. Through the United States Small Business Administration, inside the Indiana District Office, help with more in-depth ideas you may have for your business is available. You may contact the following via phone number or email:

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  • District director- Stacey Poynter

  • Business opportunity specialist- Vernice Mathis

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Sharing these new projects through a Snapchat account directed toward your clientele would be most effective as mentioned previously in Figure 3 to maximize the benefits in all aspects for Hampton Designs.

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