THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN DIRECT SALES OF MYANMAR

By

Phone Myat Tharaphy

Dr. Steven Koski, advisor

December 2014

Senior capstone project submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree in communication

At the College of Saint Elizabeth

Morristown, N.J.

2014

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The use of social media in direct sales of Myanmar

Executive summary

Myanmar is a developing country located in Southeast Asia, neighboring to

China, Thailand and India. With recent political changes, the country is open to new

opportunities and resources. However, under decades of suppression and dictatorship,

Burmese people are new to social changes, including use of Internet and social media.

Facebook seems to be the most revolutionary social media platform with 2 million or

more daily users in Myanmar. Therefore, a campaign is tested on Facebook to find out if

entrepreneurs and grass root levels have business opportunities by using social media.

Tharaphi cosmetics and beauty supplies is used as a test run business by five Burmese

entrepreneurs, promoting products via social media and making direct sales as well.

Over the course of four months, Tharaphi cosmetics had done project plan,

recruited sales representatives, made sales and reached out for prospective customers via

Facebook page. The business had maintained around 500 social media audiences who

regularly engaged to business page and received 4.1 out of 5 stars in business review. The

business is well functioning and if time permits, it could grow with more staffs and sales.

The findings prove that social media indeed helps the small businesses known

among online users. If the business knows how to target specific audiences, it could have

more audience reaches and perhaps, more sales. Knowing the local culture and consumer

behavior is also important in running a successful business. The concept of beauty is

different in Asia, unlike western countries. The income, age of customers and buyer’s

purchasing power also need to be considered in business plan.

To conclude, the social media campaign of Tharaphi cosmetics in Myanmar is a

success. Social media can make business opportunities and promotion of services and

products possible without spending much. The low cost of using social media is effective.

It is good news for small business owners, who do not have enough cash flow to run a

business.

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Acknowledgments

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to my capstone mentor who is

also chair of the communication program at the College of Saint Elizabeth, Professor Dr.

Steve Koski for giving me the opportunity to write my senior thesis in social media

campaign of Tharaphi cosmetics as well as having faith in me. I would like to thank you

for guiding our class to be confident in writing senior thesis and presenting it to public.

Your advice in writing a strong thesis and in career has been priceless.

Secondly, I would like to thank my main supporters of Tharaphi cosmetics for

making the social media campaign and business run smoothly. Without any help and

support from Myanmar, this overseas business could not happen. Social media campaign

will not be effective if there is no sales representative spreading the brand through words

of mouth and encouraging friends and family to spread the news. Special thanks to my

family for having faith in positive change and in me who always bring up bizarre

business ideas every day.

Last but not the least, I thank my fellow graduating seniors of communication:

Dana Ahern, Ibmatu Sesay, Kelly Carnivale and Lisa DiDomenico for stimulating

discussion, positive criticism, editing and correcting each other for better, stronger senior

theses. Without everyone’s help, I could not have reached this far for graduation.

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Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................... 2

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................................................................... 3

INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................................... 5

THEORY REVIEW ................................................................................................................................................. 7 SOCIAL MEDIA ..........................................................................................................................................................7 A.I.D.A MODEL ........................................................................................................................................................9

PROJECT PLAN ................................................................................................................................................... 11 SETTING UP A FACEBOOK PAGE....................................................................................................................... 11 RECRUITING SALES REPRESENTATIVES......................................................................................................... 12 ADVERTISING - RECRUITING FACEBOOK FANS .......................................................................................... 13 OPTIMIZING THE PAGE ........................................................................................................................................ 14

EVALUATION........................................................................................................................................................ 14

PROJECT OUTCOMES .................................................................................................................................... 18

LEARNING OUTCOMES................................................................................................................................. 20

WORKS CITED ........................................................................................................................................................ 22

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Introduction

Emergence of social media affected companies’ marketing strategies (Erragcha

and Romdhane, 2014). Social media transformed traditional ideas of marketing from

opening storefronts to going online. It caused companies to develop new marketing

strategies: how products and brands will be promoted against competitors’. Social media

is accessible where there is Internet and spreads quicker than word of mouth marketing.

Without limitation to geography and time, using social media as a marketing tool could

indeed reach target audience anywhere, anytime. Its impact is not only concerned in the

developed world but also in developing countries.

This paper conducted a case study on use of social media in direct sales of

cosmetics in Myanmar (Burma). Facebook, the most popular social media site of 2

million daily users in Myanmar, was used as a platform to study social media’s influence

in direct sales. Direct sales were managed by five Burmese mid-career women who were

hoping to start up a business together as extra income to their households. To get new

customers and expand network outside of their work, these Burmese women used the

Facebook page to promote their products as well as to educate body image, using

cosmetics, skincare and etc. As a free tool provided by Facebook, Facebook Analytics

gave page insights that tell demographic data about audience, how people are discovering

and who is responding to posts. Using the insights, the Burmese entrepreneurial women

can customize different kinds of cosmetics and social media strategies to reach

consumers.

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Due to absence of online shopping in Myanmar, the cosmetics business is direct

sales, i.e. customers coming to their storefronts to buy products. Since this social media

plan is a test project, it runs for a short time with limited cosmetics products and brands.

The cosmetics are popular drug store brands such as L’Oreal, Maybelline, Cover Girl and

Revlon. The sales are targeted to middle and working class women who heard about sale

from social media like Facebook or words of mouth, and would like to buy under

affordable prices.

Marketing strategies are very much traditional in a developing country like

Myanmar where people go to the market and buy things they need. However, emergence

of social media makes small businesses and family owned local stores known among

social media users. Having a social media page to show case products develop endless

possibilities for business owners and consumers, i.e. being able to save time and money.

Besides, social media creates participation, information exchange and community within

a Facebook page and its fans. Marketing then changed into participatory seller-customer

relationship since consumers are able to provide feedback and seller gets to know how to

improve his or her business.

The aim of this paper is to mention findings from using Facebook as a marketing

tool in direct sales. The case study is a four month project plan, starting from opening a

Facebook page, recruiting mid-career women to sell cosmetics as extra income, getting

page fans, selling products and finally, them making some profits.

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Theory review

Establishing a business via social media is not mainly display of products and

consistently calling out consumers to buy. It is entirely different from traditional ways of

selling such as TV commercial or ads section from newspaper. Businesses need

interactive marketing strategy and vice versa, prospective customers also expect a

personal touch from such businesses. While the end goal of Tharaphi cosmetics and

beauty supplies is to make sales and profits, its mission aims for a sustainable business

engaged to have long-term consumers. Because Tharaphi is a low budget, storefront

direct sales business, social media is the best choice for its effectiveness, cost, quality and

reach to prospective consumers.

Social media

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, social media is defined as forms of

electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and micro blogging)

through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal

messages, and other content (as videos). The role of users is promoted in social media as

content creators, or even promoters of brands and products (Cooke and Buckley, 2008).

Unlike TV or newspaper ads, which viewers have no chance to provide feedback, social

media like Facebook provides a platform for 2-way communication, either business-to-

business (B2B) or business-to-customer (B2C). Such approach becomes facilitator-

marketing strategy: sharing contents with customers or between customers (Pablo et al,

2006).

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There are many reasons why social media stands out among many other

marketing strategies. According to Welhoff (2012), social media is known for its five

characteristics: (a) participation, (b) openness, (c) conversation, (d) community, and (e)

interconnection. Having a Facebook page suggests the business existence on social media

and that it is open to conversation, feedback and so on. Posting beauty blogs and ideas

creates online community with shared interests. Having five characteristics will make a

business run successfully in social media.

Not only interaction is the strength of social media but also Internet increasingly

invading consumers’ daily lives is possibly one more reason why business owners should

care about social media marketing. According to Niseln’s social media report 2012

(Hughes et al. 2012), time spent on social media in U.S. increased 37 percent from 2011

to 2012, meaning people devoting more time on social media than any other media

outlets.

In the mean time, many social media platforms emerged and each platform served

a different purpose. Tharaphi chose Facebook as a marketing tool because of

effectiveness and accessibility in Myanmar. Myanmar is a developing country and its

Internet technology has recently become available to most households in the country. The

Internet speed is not as fast as that of developed countries and there is limitation in

streaming videos and others that need high bandwidth. Of all the delimitations, Facebook

app seems to outperform in Myanmar with low bandwidth; Burmese language can be

used and it became the most used web/mobile application in the country. According to

figure.1, brand engagement such as: browsing specific brands and wall posts are more

frequent on Facebook than on Pinterest, a platform mainly for visual discovery and

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sharing. Besides, Facebook significantly surpass Pinterest in Burmese audience reaches.

Since cosmetics business is both a visual discovery of beauty and a community to engage

dialogue, Facebook is the best option for Tharaphi cosmetics.

Figure. 1

A.I.D.A model

People use social media not only for news/ information consumption but also for

interaction. Having likes, comments and sharing on Facebook page suggests that there is

attention. If a person has been motivated to take action due to advertisement, he or she

has been influenced by A.I.D.A model known as “Attention, Interest, Desire and Action”

(see figure.2). AIDA model is commonly used in TV commercials and direct mail to

make purchase or take action. With emergence of media, the model can be adapted to

social media marketing. The attention part comes in the beginning and it gives

prospective customer a reason to notice. In Tharaphi Facebook page, makeup techniques

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and DIY (Do it on your own) ideas written in Burmese and devoted to Burmese culture &

festivals grasped attention to Burmese female audience.

Once people started following and liking the page, the next step to look forward

to is to maintain interest in products that Tharaphi page is offering. There should be

incentives to keep fans and give prospects to want more. Tharaphi page manages to post

ideas everyday. Weekday posts are work and school related such as make up for school,

class, etc. Weekend posts are different. Friday would be about Friday night out and

Sunday’s might be skincare routine for weekdays. Changing themes and always seeking

new ideas could entertain interests of prospective customers.

At desire section, the objective is to tell why these products are must haves for

their daily lives or saviors of all problems. At this stage, clear explanation of product

benefits and features is important. Otherwise, if a customer did not meet her expectations

with purchased products, dissatisfaction could damage the business’s reputation,

especially on social media.

The final step is to persuade the prospects to take immediate action, i.e. buy the

products now. Action is the end goal of all businesses. Promotions, sale and clearance are

used in Tharaphi Facebook page as action step.

Figure 2. A.I.D.A model

Attention Interest Desire Action

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Project plan

The four-month project plan was based in Yangon, former capital and most

important commercial center of Myanmar. The project aimed to test out whether there

was an opportunity in Myanmar for women to open small businesses with use of social

media as well as having a career at the same time.

Setting up a Facebook page

The project started in August 2014 by launching a Facebook page to start

recruiting prospective customers. The page was created as “Tharaphi – cosmetics and

beauty supply” under https://www.facebook.com/Tharaphi. The logo and banners were

created in Burmese language to specifically target Burmese audience (See figure. 3 and

figure. 4 below). New banners were regularly designed and posted on Facebook to

announce new products and upcoming sales. The information about where and how to

order products was also written on the main page. In the “About” section on the

Facebook page, the mission of the business was written as below:

Tharaphi aims to empower women in Myanmar through affordable, high quality

cosmetics sale. It is also a future social initiative to provide proper education about

health, social wellness, gender, and importance of the role of women in the society.

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Recruiting sales representatives

The project successfully recruited five Burmese mid-career women of different

ages: two graduating medical school students, one associate lawyer at a consulting firm,

one receptionist at a tourism company and one single mother of three children who has a

tailor shop at home and was looking to make extra income to make ends meet. Each sales

representative had her Facebook account linked to “Tharaphi” Facebook page as

contributors to make posts, announce new products and to reply to customers’ feedback.

Customers who visit the page would see phone numbers on the main page and could

contact them if they would like to make a purchase. A few social media rules were

regulated to each sales representative in order to avoid unauthorized use of logo and

products. The rules were as follow:

1. Tharaphi is the official supplier of products sold by each salesperson.

2. Sales representative can announce products on her Facebook page but must give

credit to @Tharaphi.

3. For beauty tips and posts shared from Tharaphi’s facebook, hyperlink should be

provided to redirect Tharaphi’s page.

Figure. 3

Business Logo

Figure. 4

Cover photo (Banner)

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Advertising - Recruiting Facebook fans

Facebook gives users options to advertise their businesses using paid ads. The

daily paid advertising costs from $5 or more depending on how many audiences the

business owner wants to reach. Such social ads are

effective marketing tools because Facebook precisely

targets to the audience the owner chooses. The ad

customization allows specific demographics to reach

audience such as geography (Myanmar), gender

(female) and age (16 and older). Moreover, Facebook

paid ads allow the business to be part of people’s daily conversations. Every interaction,

like or feedback that a friend made on a page will be visible to all of his or her friends

(Holzner 2008).

However, in this project plan, the starting budget was limited. Since the mission

of the business was to use most sale profits to empower women’s entrepreneurship, paid

ads were not used in advertising the business. Instead,

organic reaches such as inviting Facebook groups whose

users are mainly Burmese and inviting Burmese friends to

join Tharaphi’s page were used as alternatives to paid ads.

Similar to paid ads, every interaction that people

did on Tharaphi’s page will be visible on his or her

friend’s timeline. Therefore, social interaction or ratings

on page make audience more interesting and relevant. Such

online feedback reached audience quicker than words of mouth. The outcomes were very

Figure. 5 Customer ratings

Figure. 6

Number of likes

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impressive and the page gained many prospective customers in a few weeks even though

getting likes and interactions with fans might not be as high as businesses that use paid

Facebook ads (See figure. 5 and figure. 6).

Optimizing the page

Tharaphi’s Facebook page posted beauty tips and how-to every day. For example,

makeup ideas for Valentine’s Day, Halloween and how to create waterproof makeup for

Burmese water festival were posted depending on the seasons. Not only selling products,

but also educating skin care and body image promoted the page as female user-friendly

page with Burmese cultural background.

The main concept behind posting beauty, body image and cosmetics every day

was to keep the page entertained to fans and to draw more prospective customers. Every

like or comment counted on the growth of business. Every reply from salesperson to

customer feedback meant the business cares for its customer. Since using social media in

business is an interactive marketing tool, social media helps the consumer consider him

or her as an active player in the marketing process, not a single receiver (Erragcha and

Romdhane, 2014).

Evaluation

The mission of Tharaphi cosmetics and beauty supplies is to find out if Burmese

women have opportunities to start up their own small businesses and if such local

businesses are likely to prosper under the use of social media, especially using Facebook.

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Regardless of whatever product or service that are for sale, customer growth and

branding is possible if one knows well to use all social media features to target audience.

Within four months of project plan, Tharaphi cosmetics Facebook page

successfully reached 493 likes. 11 customers checked into Tharaphi page that they

bought the products and shared the news with their friends. The business received 26

reviews and got 4.1 out of 5 stars. Without any paid Facebook ads and by organic reach

alone, getting nearly 500 likes during four months of business seems promising.

Celebrity endorsement is also one of the reasons why Tharaphi page received

attention from Burmese Facebook users. Such endorsements are not only from celebrity

(singers, actors) but also from Burmese people who are popular on Facebook with

thousands of followers. As a member of the generation of social media, I happened to

have a few Burmese friends who are “Facebook popular” because of their status and

photos posted on Facebook and received hundreds of likes. I asked them a favor to

advertise the Tharaphi page and in return, gave them a small token of appreciation, either

a lipstick or mascara from the inventory.

The endorsements acted as customer referral, since friends advertise the page as

customers of Tharaphi that they have tried the products. The words of mouth spread

quicker than TV commericals. Product feedback on social media makes Tharaphi page

receive more likes and shared information with one another because social media creates

a community for participation, openness and interconnection.

Customer reach and recruiting prospective customers are the most satisfying

results of Tharaphi cosmetics. The like, share contents and customer engagement results

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proved that social media can give Burmese entrepreneurial women the opportunity to

receive attention of their businesses without spending a dime.

One of the difficult tasks while setting up Tharaphi Facebook page is getting to

know the customers and their demographics. According to Facebook Analytics, an

average customer is between 19 – 25 years old. More than 80% live in the former capital,

Yangon, Myanmar. As expected, the majorities are females. From the data obtained from

Facebook, Tharaphi has recruited the right target audiences. However, approaching the

audience and selling the appropriate cosmetics need to be strategic.

The first batch (month) of cosmetics sale was almost a failure since we didn’t

know the kinds of cosmetics our audience was looking for. Most face products

(foundation and concealers) and a few lipsticks were sold out but not a piece of eye

products (shadow, eyeliner, etc.). Most sales came from the older customer (age of 30

and above), the users who may not have Facebook accounts. Later, sale representatives

were told to ask customers if they’d like to try eye products. Most people said no and

preferred not to use eye makeup. . From sale representatives whenever they had made a

sale, customers requested to let them know about new products and types of cosmetics

they were looking for. It came to realization that

Tharaphi needs to promote specific products on social

media to get younger customers.

Tharaphi Facebook page had started introducing

products and how to use them, depending on types of

audience. Customers in their 20s love exploring colors

and playing with makeup. Most of them could not

Figure. 7

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afford high-end cosmetics. Customers in the 30s and above have a promising income.

However, they are mostly brand-loyal and will use same cosmetics over time. In

Myanmar, Revlon and LÓreal are the most well known brands in cosmetics market.

Therefore, the social media-marketing plan for young audience is to introduce low budget

drug store brands and their eye products. Figure.7 is a perfect example of how we have

approached youths with brighter colors of eye shadows, eyeliners and lipsticks.

Tharaphi also followed similar cosmetics business pages for webpage

development and better target audience reach. Facebook provided an analytic tool for

page owners to watch similar business pages to compare customer engagement, page

likes and overall performance. Figure. 8 is an example of how Tharaphi has conducted

research on page productivity, using “pages to watch” tool. The tool is most useful during

holiday seasons when businesses started posting sales and discount to attract more

customers and Tharaphi can know their marketing strategies.

Figure. 8

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Overall, the social media campaign of Tharaphi cosmetic is a success, getting to

know cosmetics market in Myanmar, without spending a dime in advertisements. Those

‘unused’ costs were contributed to the total inventory of beauty supplies. Thus, the

business had more purchasing power to stock up items and sales representatives can

make more money out of it. Having a free social media page is a blessing for small

business Burmese entrepreneurs, who do not have much to invest in both sales and

advertising. Therefore, the finding is everyone can dream to be an entrepreneur if he or

she knows how to make use of social media to promote businesses and services.

Project outcomes

Tharaphi cosmetics and beauty supplies gained attention in both social media and

direct sales. Prospective customers started to recognize and engage in promotional

activities of Facebook page, i.e. by liking, commenting and sharing the post with friends.

An average post reaches between 100 to 150 people (see figure. 9). One in three

prospective customers respond to the post. Therefore, the business strategy in future is to

get more customer engagement by analyzing the types of posts people might respond

more.

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In addition, we were able to recruit more sales representatives who showed

interest and prospects from the business. Recognition is the very first step of a business to

success. We want to be recognized by customers and sales representatives as well. The

growth of Tharaphi relies on number of sales representatives who are willingly to

promote products through word of mouth or, by any means.

We have received trust from customers in terms of product authentication, price

and quality. It is our talking point that other businesses cannot beat. Tharaphi is not a

profit seeking business but to support Burmese women looking for extra income.

However, we have some weaknesses. Growing Korean pop culture is widespread

and has already rooted in Myanmar. Fashion, food, music and cosmetics markets are

influenced by Korean brands. People like to pay more for Korean products than others. In

the future, Tharaphi will try to improve product-packaging, brand-recognition in order to

compete with other cosmetics in the market. Sales representatives will also receive

leadership trainings and learn marketing strategies since being a representative requires

confidence and general knowledge about products she is selling.

Figure. 9

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Learning Outcomes

The mission of the College of Saint Elizabeth inspired me to initiate a start up

business for Burmese women. The mission highlights promotion of women as full

partners in society, leadership and as well as social responsibility to others. Born and

raised in Yangon, Myanmar, I knew how Burmese people were dying to reach out for

opportunities even during suppression of military regime that ended a few years ago.

Now that the country is open to development and democracy, I wanted to be a part of

positive change. With background knowledge of communication and sociology learnt

from College of Saint Elizabeth, Tharaphi is an offspring for positive change and women

entrepreneurship.

Cross-cultural communication course taken during my freshman year helped me

create the project plan - the direction the business will be leading in future. As beauty is

defined differently in different culture, the approach to sell cosmetics needs to be

different and must adapt to local culture. For example, introducing a product that

Burmese audience is not familiar with requires demonstration. Many are not familiar with

waterproof makeup and most do not know how to creak such look. Tharaphi facebook

page posts information about how to make waterproof makeup and why it is essential use

for going to beach, pool party and especially, the most highlighted festival – water

festival in April.

Public relations writing class helped me how to pitch the business page for

celebrity endorsements. Public speaking course gave me confidence in my business.

During four months of running a small business, I had come through a lot of obstacles

that had made me lose faith in my business or in my abilities. Public speaking abilities of

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finding my talking points – i.e. strengths of Tharaphi business assure me that I’ve come

this far to succeed.

Despite some struggles with business management such as inventories, this social

media campaign is my lifetime success of being given the opportunity to express my

skills and ideas. I believe, the failure I have faced in making of Tharaphi business will

make me proud and succeed one day as Sophocles quoted in Antigone “All men make

mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil.

The only crime is pride”.

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