Personalized Social Media Marketing Strategy and Customer Loyalty in the Kenyan Telecommunications Sector

Ali Abdirahman Mohamed1, DR. Kiprop Kibos2, PhD, & Dr. Daniel K. Langat, PhD3
The Co-operative University of Kenya, Kenya
DOI –
http://doi.org/10.37502/IJSMR.2024.71109

Full Text – PDF

Abstract

Customer loyalty is pivotal for the sustainability and profitability of businesses, especially in competitive sectors like telecommunications. This study investigates the effect of personalized social media marketing strategies on customer loyalty within Kenya’s telecommunications industry, focusing on the ability of personalized digital interactions to retain customers and enhance brand loyalty. The research applied an explanatory design with a sample of 384 respondents from major telecom companies in Nairobi, Kenya. Descriptive analysis indicates that frequent social media engagement, such as consistent posts from the telecom brands, positively influences loyalty. Correlation and regression analyses reveal a strong positive relationship between personalized social media marketing and customer loyalty (r = 0.758), with personalized strategies accounting for 57.5% of loyalty variance (R² = 0.575). ANOVA results further confirm the significance of this relationship (F = 349.486, p < 0.001), leading to the rejection of the null hypothesis. The findings underscore the importance of personalized content and regular engagement, suggesting that tailored social media strategies can effectively build and sustain customer loyalty in the telecommunications sector. Recommendations include optimizing posting schedules, investing in data analytics for audience insights, and prompting customer feedback to enhance loyalty further.

Keywords: Social media, Customer Loyalty, Digital Marketing

References

  1. Aduvagah, S. P. (2019). Influence of Social Media Engagement on Performance of Safaricom Plc Brand.
  2. Arslan, I. K. (2020). The importance of creating customer loyalty in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. Eurasian Journal of Business and Management, 8(1), 11–20.
  3. Arslan, K. (2020). THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATING CUSTOMER LOYALTY IN ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. Eurasian Journal of Business and Management, 8(1), 11–20. https://doi.org/10.15604/ejbm.2020.08.01.002
  4. (2023). Kenyan Mobile Sector Records Growth in Revenue and Investments | Communications Authority of Kenya. https://www.ca.go.ke/kenyan-mobile-sector-records-growth-revenue-and-investments
  5. Casula, M., Rangarajan, N., & Shields, P. (2020). The potential of working hypotheses for deductive exploratory research. Quality & Quantity, 55(1), 1703–1725. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-020-01072-9
  6. Chou, S., Chen, C.-W., & Wong, M. (2023). When social media meets low-cost airlines: Will customer engagement increase customer loyalty? Research in Transportation Business & Management, 47, 100945. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2023.100945
  7. Ebrahim, R. S. (2020). The Role of Trust in Understanding the Impact of Social Media Marketing on Brand Equity and Brand Loyalty. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 19(4), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332667.2019.1705742
  8. EL KHAZRI, A. (2022). The effects of e-marketing in enhancing customer loyalty in Moroccan hotels: The moderating role of social media. IJBTSR International Journal of Business and Technology Studies and Research, 4(1), 19-pages.
  9. Fetais, A. H., Algharabat, R. S., Aljafari, A., & Rana, N. P. (2022). Do Social Media Marketing Activities Improve Brand Loyalty? An Empirical Study on Luxury Fashion Brands. Information Systems Frontiers, 25(2). springer.
  10. Holmes, G. R., Pettijohn, C. E., & Mitra, S. (2020). Dealer loyalty and brand loyalty: United or divided? Journal of Marketing Channels, 26(4), 263–275. https://doi.org/10.1080/1046669x.2020.1844839
  11. Kagollah, M. O. (2019). DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY AND SALES PERFORMANCE OF SAFARICOM PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY, KENYA.
  12. Kaur, K., & Lalit Mohan Kathuria. (2023). Analysing productivity of digital marketing investments through selected metrics. International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 32(1), 126–146. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijbir.2023.134257
  13. Khairawati, S. (2020). Effect of customer loyalty program on customer satisfaction and its impact on customer loyalty. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), 9(1), 15–23.
  14. Kithinji, J. M., Langat, D. K., & Muthoni, D. K. (2023). Social media content marketing influence on purchasing decisions in Kenya.
  15. Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W.: (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30(3), 607–610
  16. Kumar, V., Ashraf, A. R., & Nadeem, W. (2024). AI-powered marketing: What, where, and how? International Journal of Information Management, 102783–102783. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2024.102783
  17. Rane, N., Choudhary, S., & Rane, J. (2023). Hyper-personalization for enhancing customer loyalty and satisfaction in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4641044
  18. Suharto, S., Junaedi, I. W. R., Muhdar, H. M., Firmansyah, A., & Sarana, S. (2022). Consumer loyalty of Indonesia e-commerce SMEs: The role of social media marketing and customer satisfaction. International Journal of Data and Network Science, 6(2), 383–390. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.ijdns.2021.12.016
  19. You, Y., & Joshi, A. M. (2020). The Impact of User-Generated Content and Traditional Media on Customer Acquisition and Retention. Journal of Advertising, 49(3), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2020.1740631
  20. Yusuff, M., & Odubanjo, A. O. (2020). Effect of social media marketing and human relations management on brand loyalty in Nigerian telecommunication industry. LASU Journal of Employment Relations & Human Resource Management, 2(1), 141-157.
  21. Zaid, S., Palilati, A., Madjid, R., & Bua, H. (2021). Impact of Service Recovery, Customer Satisfaction, and Corporate Image on Customer Loyalty. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 8(1), 961–970. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no1.961