SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING(SMM): MEASURING ITS EFFECTS TO RESORTS IN BATANGAS PROVINCE, PHILIPPINES

ABSTRACT In recent years, social media has become ubiquitous and most important for social networking, content sharing and online accessing. Marketing which occurs via social media is known as Social Media Marketing (SMM). The study aimed to assess the use of social media marketing in order to measure its effect on resorts business in the Province of Batangas, Philippines. Specifically, it determined the profile of the selected resorts in terms of classification, years of operation, location, and the years media marketing was introduced in the business; identified the forms of social media utilized by the selected resorts; cited the positive and negative effect of social media marketing in the resorts business; specified the problems encountered by customers in using social media; ascended the differences of the responses of the selected resorts on the effects of SMM; and proposed a development plan for the proper utilization of SMM. The descriptive method was used with a self-made questionnaire as the main data gathering instrument. Different statistical tools were used to answer the objectives of the study. Frequency distribution, ranking, weighted mean, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were employed to interpret and analyze the gathered data. It was concluded that the majority of the resort businesses in the Province of Batangas are classified as American Automobile Association ( AAA) which is the highest quality rating for resorts and operates 10 years and above. Most of the resorts are found in the 1st District of the Province of Batangas and have started introducing SMM from 2006 – 2010. All of the Resorts owner and customers were using the Facebook account. Both owners and customers of the resorts strongly agreed that there was a positive and negative effect of SMM. Among the problems encountered in the use of SMM, frequent posting as well as account not maintained or updated. A proposed action plan was made for the proper utilization of SMM