My Live Project
An Introduction
During my final year of university, I conducted a 12-week research project in partnership with a digital marketing agency. The purpose of this project is to research something independently alongside a partner organisation, using the skills I have gained so far at university to be able to achieve this. The project intends to benefit the partner organisation, therefore, the purpose of the project has to be agreed upon by both parties before any research takes place, to ensure it is worthwhile for all involved.
"Exploring the Potential of TikTok as a New Marketing Platform for Seed’s Digital Marketing Services"
My Project Partner- Seed
Who are Seed and why have I partnered with them?
For my project, I have partnered with Seed, a local digital marketing agency in Brighton. Seed currently provides services in search engine optimisation (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC), and paid social media marketing. Their paid social media marketing currently focuses on the platforms of Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
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I chose to work with Seed due to my previous experience working for them during my four-week placement in second year.
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Project Aim
To establish whether it is beneficial for Seed to introduce TikTok as a marketing platform for their paid social digital marketing services.
Research Objectives
RO1
List which relevant digital marketing agencies use TikTok as a marketing platform.
RO2
Summarise the characteristics of the marketing campaigns of those agencies.
RO3
Explain how success is measured in a marketing campaign on TikTok.
RO4
Explain the features of a successful marketing campaign on TikTok.
RO5
Explain Seed’s particular requirements for a successful marketing campaign.
Why This Project?
Throughout my time at university, I have found social media and marketing fascinating to learn about, this is where my interest in digital marketing began. In my second year of university, I was lucky enough to undertake a four-week digital marketing placement with Seed, this experience introduced me to the basics of digital marketing which heightened my interest in this sector even more.
For my live project, I wanted to focus on the industry of digital marketing due to my previous experience in this sector, and my interest in joining this industry upon graduation from university.
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​Through this project, I will help Seed to determine whether it would be beneficial for them to introduce TikTok as a new marketing platform for their paid social media marketing services. This project will allow me to assist them in researching an extremely popular and current social media platform that may be beneficial for them, without using up a significant amount of their time and resources.
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Research Design and Methodology
For my research, I decided to use a mixed-method approach of qualitative and quantitative methods. This enabled me to reach a better understanding of the problem being studied and allowed me to overcome limitations that a single qualitative or quantitative method may have had. My two methods were content analysis and interviews.
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For my content analysis, I analysed 500 adverts on TikTok.
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For my interviews, I interviewed 3 of Seed's employees who have vast experience within social media and digital marketing.
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Click below to download my report on my research design and methodology.
What I Have Gained from my Live Project
Throughout my time at university, I have learned many valuable skills. However, I have learned the most through conducting this research project.
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This project has taught me how to:
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Manage my time effectively
Plan a research project
Research in-depth
Work under high-pressure
Contact companies in a professional manner on telephone and email
Create a website
Conduct research independently
Create an effective social media advert