International Journal of Research Studies in Management

2023 Volume 11 Number 10, 7-13

The effectiveness of social media marketing techniques

applied by milk tea shops in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro

Ramos, Mary Jane S.

Divine Word College of San Jose, Philippines (ramosmaryjane102@gmail.com)
Limos-Galay, Jenny A. ISSN: 2243-7770
Divine Word College of San Jose, Philippines (jennygalay05@gmail.com) Online ISSN: 2243-7789

OPEN ACCESS
Received: 18 June 2023 Revised: 20 July 2023 Accepted: 18 August 2023
Available Online: 25 August 2023 DOI: 10.5861/ijrsm.2023.1108

Abstract

For years, numerous sectors have developed and employed social media content strategies as
a means of promoting business and swaying consumer choices. The basis for why they work
for these techniques should be thoroughly investigated so that we can learn more about the
successful and unsuccessful tactics. This study contributes to understanding the best social
media marketing strategies applied by milk tea shops in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro. This
study focused on the social media marketing applied by milk tea shops. A qualitative
phenomenological research study undertakes this paper. The researcher interviewed 30
participants using simple random sampling taken from the whole population. Primary data
was utilized using an adaptive interview research question. In order to determine the
effectiveness of social media marketing applied by the milk tea shops in San Jose, Occidental
Mindoro, after the data gathering, thematic coding analysis was employed. In comparison to
traditional media, social media marketing is an efficient and effective tool that allows you to
promote your business for considerably cheap expenses. Moreover, 36.67% of the
respondents claim that with the aid of engagement marketing, they improved their
relationship with their customers which lead to increased referrals, sales, and reputation. Via
engagement, they build up the trust of their current customers and demonstrate to their new
clients that they are honest sellers. Milk tea shops should focus on the timing and content of
their social media posts. Thus, it will enable them to direct audiences successfully.

Keywords: social media marketing, milk tea shops, thematic analysis, engagement marketing,
Occidental Mindoro

© The Author(s) / Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND

Ramos, M. J. S., & Limos-Galay, J. A.

The effectiveness of social media marketing techniques applied by milk tea shops in San
Jose, Occidental Mindoro

1. Introduction

Milk tea becomes one of the most popular and in-demand beverages today. It is the most purchased drink,
especially by Generation Z. This drink is a combination of milk and tea with added flavor. It is well known not
only because of its great advantage on our health but also because of its unique taste (Ong et. al., 2021). There
are a variety of flavors that customers may choose from. Aside from that, the very good thing is that you can
adjust the sweetness of the tea for those health-conscious clients. Customers find the drink relaxing while having
a talk or socializing with their friends. It serves as their bonding moment while sipping milk tea. In San Jose,
Occidental Mindoro, milk tea started to boom in the year 2019 to 2020. It is considered a fast-growing business
during that year. As the demand for milk tea increases the number of competitors also started to multiply
(Bastasa et. al., 2022). As a result, milk tea shops owner started to market their product for the longevity and
sustainability of their business.

One of their applied strategies is through social media marketing also known as digital marketing or
e-marketing. SMM or Social media marketing is a form of digital marketing that leverages the power of popular
social media networks to achieve your marketing and branding goals (Ong et al., 2021). They use social media to
look for a new client and keep their current ones. However, SMM is not just about setting up your business
account and posting just when you feel to do so. SMM includes preserving and improving your profile, creating
and posting content that will promote your business and draws in the right audience. You should also follow and
interact with your followers and clients.

There are numerous pros of using social media in marketing. 1. It reaches a larger audience, according to the
study of Dean (2023) 4.48 billion people use social media worldwide, up more than double from 2.07 billion in
2015. Doubtlessly, with this wide range of users of social media, it is not impossible to reach a significant
portion of a target market. 2. Less expensive, making connections with an audience through SMM is far less
expensive than traditional marketing methods like print advertising or television commercial. The fact that
creating a social media account is free is another benefit social media marketing offers over other marketing
methods. 3. Customer adherence, through social media, businesses can appear more approachable to their
followers, building loyalty and trust. According to PPC and PAID SOCIAL (2021), social media interaction with
customers can aid in the growth of devoted loyal customers. When consumers see your business posting on
social media, especially replying to customers and posting original content, it makes you appear more credible. 4.
Fast, conforming to Martin (2018), nearly 64.5 percent of people now get breaking news from Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram rather than traditional media. When you publish something on a
social media network, your audience around the world can see it right away. With that, SMM is your greatest
option if you are seeking one of the quickest ways to reach an audience. With news or other information, you can
count on SMM to take action quickly and provide results. Being active on social media offers many advantages.
Social media platforms give you access to a huge audience, many of whom might be interested in your goods or
services and end up becoming clients. These platforms also allow you to learn a lot more about the general
audience, which can help you tailor your business's future success.

Bear in mind, only when social media marketing is done correctly and successfully will it be a success
(Bastasa et. al., 2022). But everything has a flip side, including SMM. There are some cons of using social media
in marketing, 1. Time-consuming, in accordance with Oza (2018) is one of the biggest cons of social media
marketing. Even though sharing content on social media is free, yet, developing content might take a lot of time,
money, and effort, depending on the platform you use and the kind of information you want to post. This kind of
marketing typically calls for extensive study, which would take a lot of time.

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 Effectiveness of social media marketing techniques applied by milk tea shops in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro
Additionally, social media marketing calls for prompt responses to users who might leave comments or ask
questions on your site. 2. Nonfavorable publicity, due to the ease of access to the internet, some people
constantly seek to harm someone’s reputation, Owen (2023). If you post something online or on any social
media platform, you can receive some unfavorable feedback or comments. Even though you have no control
over how others will perceive your firm, you do have power over how you react to others' comments about your
product on social media. Try to answer as promptly and effectively as possible to improve your chances of
retaining current clients and to show a new market that you are a reliable brand. Indeed, social media advertising
has both benefits and drawbacks. But in many cases, the advantages outweigh the drawbacks. Social media
marketing is a simple, affordable, and customizable way to simultaneously market your goods and services to
millions of people. Due to the fact that so many people nowadays rely so heavily on technology, it is crucial to
take time to understand how social media might affect your business.

Research Objectives - The research objectives for this study were to: assess the challenges encountered by
the milk tea shop owners in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro with regard to their social media marketing strategies
and analyze the effectiveness of social media marketing applied by the milk tea shops in San Jose, Occidental
Mindoro.

Significance of the Study - This study has significance to the following: First, the Milk tea shop owners,
will get suggestions or guidance on various marketing tactics that they can use to develop their entrepreneurship
skills and boost the effectiveness of their business. Teachers, this study will help them give insight into social
media marketing strategy-related challenges that they may discuss with their students. Community, another goal
of the study is to make suggestions to interested parties on how to best spend their resources for their marketing
strategies in order to achieve the best results. To future researchers, this research will serve as a reference guide
for more investigation in this field of study. Overall, this study offers practical suggestions to the private sector
and business community in order for them to learn the other marketing techniques that they may apply in their
business.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study - This market research paper is limited to the milk tea shops in San
Jose, Occidental Mindoro. This study addresses the social media marketing strategies used to sustain the
operation of the business. Furthermore, the researcher interviewed the owners or the representatives of each
business in the sample. Therefore, the accuracy of the information given in the interview question is limited to
their knowledge about the marketing strategies used in their business. This study does not investigate economic
development and other related aspects. As a result, the conclusions of this study cannot be applied to every issue
that the milk tea stores in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, encountered.

2. Methodology

Research Design - A qualitative phenomenological research design was used by the researcher for this
research in order to understand a phenomenon within a real-world context through the use of open-ended
interviews. The creation of concepts that properly emphasize the meanings, experiences, and points of view of
participants is what makes it possible to comprehend social processes in natural rather than experimental
settings.

Respondents of the Study - In this study, the total population is forty-eight (48) milk tea shops around San
Jose, Occidental Mindoro. However, the researcher covered thirty (30) participants only who were chosen
randomly to serve as a representative sample of the entire population. Simple random sampling also known as
probability sampling enables the randomization of sample selection, meaning that each sample has the same
chance of being selected to reflect the entire population. It enables the collection of objective data, which enables
the study to draw objective conclusions (Thomas, 2023).

Research Instrument and Data Collection Technique - Primary data was used in this research. The study
employed an adaptive set of interview questions to analyze the success of social media marketing milk tea

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Ramos, M. J. S., & Limos-Galay, J. A.
businesses in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro. The researcher consulted her professor and the expert to review and
critique the set of questionnaires utilized during data collection. After the interview question was approved the
researcher began the interview. The participants were informed about the aim of the study. The researcher also
ensures that the participants understand the questions. The researcher was available during the completion of the
interview to assist with any difficulties or if further explanations were needed. The gathered data were
synthesized to determine the effectiveness of social media marketing.

Statistical Treatment of the Data - In order to analyze and determine the effectiveness of social media
marketing of milk tea shops in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, thematic coding analysis was employed as a
qualitative method. Medelyan (2019) defines thematic coding as a type of qualitative data analysis that finds
themes in the text by analyzing the meaning of words and sentence structure. Thematic analysis is a good tool to
learn more about people’s perspectives, ideas, experiences, or values from a collection of qualitative data, such
as interview transcripts, social media profiles, or survey results.

3. Results and Discussions

NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS
0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Facebook Twitter TikTok Youtube Others

Social Media Platforms

Figure 1. Social Media Platforms used by Milk tea Shops in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro

Based on the interview of the researcher, all participants have social media accounts that they used in
promoting their businesses. 100% employ Facebook in marketing their milk tea business. In agreement with the
study of Munson (2022) as the most used social media platform, Facebook has proven to be an ideal space for a
majority of businesses. It provides significant marketing options for many types of businesses, making it
essential for every business or brand to have a Facebook business page. It also serves as an ideal location for
inbound marketing. Facebook, indeed, is an excellent tool to interact daily with your audience by informing them
of your new business news, promoting sales, gathering feedback, and offering excellent customer care. In this
study, a tie frequency of seven (7) participants used TikTok and Twitter as the next most used platform.

TikTok is in the top 5 and Twitter is in the top 9 most-used social media platforms in marketing according to
a study by Munson (2022). TikTok is the social media platform with the highest engagement. TikTok users spend
about 45 minutes per day scrolling through the app and opening it eight times a day Thomas (2023). Gaining a
follower on social media is a necessary component of digital marketing for a tea brand, and TikTok in particular
is a clever business-building technique that can influence the success of your business. However; even though
Twitter doesn’t have as many users as Facebook, it still made it to the top. Twitter, as opposed to Facebook, is
frequently more appropriate for businesses whose target market is between the ages of 18 and 29 which is best
for the milk tea business, the findings were supported by Florance (2023), young adults and teenagers are largely
the target market for milk tea. This supports the idea that younger generations are more likely to be enticed to
novel food and beverage options. However, it’s necessary to keep in mind that milk tea is a drink that people of
all ages can enjoy, and there are surely older drinkers who appreciate the flavors and textures of this drink.

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 Effectiveness of social media marketing techniques applied by milk tea shops in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro
Social Media Marketing Techniques

POSTING – 100% (30)

Relevant posts, Photos, Videos,

Lives, Stories

SOCIAL ADVERTISING – 16.67% (5)

MEDIA
Paid methods of reaching target
MARKETING
audiences

ENGAGING – 36.67% (11)

Like, Share, Comment, and Follow

Customers

Figure 2. Social Media Marketing Techniques used by Milk tea Shops in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro

Figure 2 shows the social media marketing techniques used by Milk tea shops in SJOM, where five (5)
respondents used three techniques (posting, engaging, and advertisement). Eleven (11) used both (posting and
engaging), and the rest which is the fourteen respondents solely rely on posting their business on social media.
This study reveals that posting is the most commonly used by the milk tea shops in San Jose, Occidental
Mindoro to promote their business. They post images of their merchandise, reviews left by clients, and photo
proof as documenting sales. Thirteen (43.3%) respondents claimed to post every day, while seventeen (56.7)
respondents said to wait in the range of 3 to 7 days before posting again. This result is in agreement with the
article posted by Ferreira (2023) who stated that posting content worth engaging with is number 1 on the list to
increase your social media engagement. It is important to post frequently and consistently if you want to increase
business exposure, stay at the forefront and keep your customers devoted.

Engaging, or keeping interaction with the clients is next in the result. 36.67% of the respondents claim that
with the aid of engagement marketing, they improved their relationship with their customers which lead to
increased referrals, sales, and reputation. Via engagement, they build up the trust of their current customers and
demonstrate to their new clients that they are honest sellers. Selling quality and clean milk teas. This result is in
line with Coalson (2019) who says that a fully engaged customer spends an average of 23% more than
disengaged customers. This means that customers often choose to buy from businesses whom they trust. The
longer you can keep them, and the more devoted they will be to you, the better involved they are. In the end, this
will support the expansion of the business, lower customer churn, and boost revenues as devoted clients give you
more money. Each like, share, comment, retweet, or @mention is a form of manifestation of customer interest in
their product.

Challenges Encountered

Based on the interview results, nine (9) or 30% of the respondents didn’t encounter any challenges with their
social media marketing techniques. Every post or engagement was done accordingly and smoothly. Five of the
respondents mentioned that having enough staff to cater to the needs of the business gives them trouble-free
social media marketing. On the other hand, twenty-one (21) or 70% of the respondents experienced various
challenges in their SMM meaning they are dealing with limitations in various aspects. These challenges include
time, money, and effort. Some respondents said that they cannot lend much time to doing creative content, taking
attractive photos, and posting on time. Time is really a challenge in social media marketing this is in agreement

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Ramos, M. J. S., & Limos-Galay, J. A.
with the study of Gray (2023) who said that SMM demands constant attention. SMM can take up a lot of time
for organizations, especially if nobody is specifically allocated to monitor the various social media accounts you
have. You need someone who can constantly monitor and maintain the pages updated because social media is
available around-the-clock and immediately affects your business. Ignoring clients will result in bad customer
service and dissatisfied customers who were previously devoted buyers of your goods or services. Customers
expect businesses to be active on any website at all hours of the day to react to their inquiries. As a result,
making it is tough for them to keep up with the competition in their line of business. In addition, although
posting and engaging on social media like Facebook is free yet, taking eye-catching photos of their product is a
little bit hard because they don’t have a good camera, and buying a new or updated version of a cellphone to take
photos will cost them money. Other than that, 4 or 13% of the respondents said that they don’t have many social
media followers and it causes them to limit their social media activities.

Effectiveness of Social Media Marketing

Effectiveness is the ability to be successful and produce the intended result (Cambridge Dictionary, 2023).
Effectiveness can be assessed in a variety of ways. In this study, the word effectiveness was defined by analyzing
if the profit generated by the milk tea shops was increased and maintained the business in the industry in spite of
multiple competitors all around the municipality. The result of the interview revealed that 100% of all 30
respondents agreed that social media marketing is effective in the operation of their business. This is in line with
the study of Marzouk (2016) social media is used for building or enhancing brand awareness and in turn this
leads to increasing sales revenue and sales process effectiveness. In this study, 60% of the respondents claim that
their social media marketing activities have boosted the visibility of their business. The sales climbed by 15 to
20% as a result of posting, engaging with followers, and advertising, which significantly contributed to the
sustainability of the business. Though some respondents encountered obstacles in promoting their business on
social media they cannot deny the fact that SMM is a great help in raising the revenue of their business.

4. Conclusions

The findings from the interview responses from a sample population revealed that milk tea shops with social
media presence have the capacity to significantly influence business income. Realizing the significance of social
media in the daily lives of those who are most likely to become your consumers can help you determine the
value of using social media in marketing your business. However, milk tea shop owners should keep in mind that
the aforementioned limitations when utilizing social media marketing should not be used as a barrier to social
media marketing adoption. Instead, they should be seen as timely safeguards that must be taken in order to
achieve comprehensive and measurable success. Nevertheless, we cannot rely solely on the success of our
business in marketing there are other factors to be considered such as the price, the place, and the quality of the
milk tea to be sold. In comparison to traditional media, social media marketing is an efficient and effective tool
that allows you to promote your business for considerably cheap expenses.

Recommendations - In light of this research, the following recommendations were made: social media can
be used by milk tea businesses to monitor their competitors. Milk tea shops should focus on the timing and
content of their social media posts. For the milk tea owners, they need to add contact details, links to other social
media accounts, any pertinent links from recent postings, and links back to your website or online store. This
will enable them to direct audiences successfully.

5. References

Bastasa, K. D. S., Maravilla, V., Espellita, S.R., Dela Calzada, R. & Alquez, J.M. (2022). The Popularity of Milk
Tea Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic: Perspectives of Selected Entrepreneurs in Minglanilla, Cebu
Philippines. Economics and Business Quarterly Reviews, 5(3),
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4183698

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https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/effectiveness.
Coalson, K. (2019) Reasons Why Customer Engagement Leads to an Increase in Sales.
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Dean, B. (2023) Social Network Usage and Growth Statistics: How Many People Use social media in 2023?
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