Critical Review/Critique of Academic Journal Article - Essay Example

In analyzing the impact of social media to the selling process, this paper will check into the articles strengths and weaknesses considering the fact that social media have impacted the business field as the authors present. The article bases its results on a qualitative method of a research whereby several key informants give their results after applying social media. The approach has omitted those businesses that failed because of application of social media. The article shows how social media has a positive impact business, an aspect applicable in promotion of new products and services to the global market.

In their analysis, the authors believe that since there are several millions of users of social sites, the information will reach a reasonable population of potential, able, and willing customers of the firms’ products. In a social media, the firm and its customers are able to have a strong relationship. Customers will be in a position to experience a sense of satisfaction in the relationship when they satisfy their needs in terms of information on particular products and services. Most customers have the urge to learn more about different products or services.

Social media can play a great role for the firm to educate its customers with detailed information through articles, videos, pictures and blogs. Therefore, social media is not just a medium of promotion and marketing of a firm, it is a tool of running a business strategically towards its set goals. It requires a lot of commitment and monitoring continuously for it to influence the business positively. The article has not clearly stated what types of businesses thrive well by using social media.

Businesses such as online book selling and software selling can thrive well since there is no need of physical delivery to the customer. The customer can get the product via the internet. Some other businesses can make it to have online transactions but delivery of the goods is very expensive. Professional businesses such as law firms and psychologist firms are very difficult to thrive via the social media unless the business has a wide coverage all over the world. To make delivery of goods and services cheaper, a company must have branches distributed all over the world in different countries.

However, this is a demerit for some of the small businesses, which do not have the capability to open more branches in each country. Some large businesses can market their goods and services globally using the social media if they have branches all over the world. However, the best role that social media can play for all types of business is marketing and advertising. Transactions and purchases are hard to conduct for some businesses. Another important thing that a company should do is to ensure that their customers are safe from online thieves who are good in misleading customers and end up gaining from them.

For a good relationship between customers and the firm, the firm must focus on; what the customer wants and the reviews he or she makes concerning a certain product or service. The firm must be in a position to listen to its customers’ reviews concerning the products or services. Social media is a good strategy that a firm can use to reduce cost of marketing, selling and delivery since its work output is equivalent to the output of around one thousand, six hundred