The Impact of Social Media to the Business World - Essay Example

Social Media Over the years, social media has changed how people communicate across the globe. The change is evident through the transition that human race has undergone from the use of land-line telephone and physical meeting of persons to the current mobile and internet technology. Today, one can send emails, talk through cell phones, send text messages and interact through the internet characterizing how the social media tools have redefined information. The paradigm of social media has altered the basic rules of communication between companies and their audiences. This is because social media websites such as Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook present a huge opportunity for businesses to get the attention of customers while at the same time building a brand image. Some of the tactics a business can employ is by creation of brand profiles on social networks. This paper discusses the impact of social media to the current business world. Social media has defined the way information about organizations and their product and services is shared. This is evident through the benefit that people get when they share information through mobile devices. Also, the people have a meaningful dialogue with the companies and are involved in the process of creating a satisfying product. It is apparent that social media has enabled a better insight into customers behavior and improved office productivity through internal networks (Noor & Allen, 2012). Social media has also improved conversation in organizations as the communication is no longer one-way. The multidimensional conversations have led to the involvement of many relevant parties. The platform provided by the social media has enabled companies to take advantage of word of mouth tactic. It is evident when people are connected on a global scale, and they get to interact with each other lives through online observation. The act of liking a company brand on Facebook has proved that it can spread quickly throughout different social media channels. This is because individuals tend to trust the opinions of their friends far more than a newspaper advert. The word of mouth comes into play at such situations. The result of these has been that millions of people review products and services through social media sites such as Youtube, the information is then shared and disseminated to other social media websites. The current trend is that the public depend on the social media to get the reviews of different products and services to enable them make buying decisions. Due to this opportunity companies have created their own Youtube channels with branded videos of their products (Noor & Allen, 2012). Organizations have also been enabled by the social media to communicate effectively with their customers. Social media encourages comments and feedback from anyone who is interested. This may be in form of feedback that can be positive or negative. Companies now are able to reach the unsatisfied customers, who give the negative feedback and within their own social media they are able to restructure innovative ways of improving the product or service. Social media also has enabled the exchange of information between the organizations and it audience. As there is that collaborative platform created where organized information is easily distributed to the potential clients (Noor & Allen, 2012). Firms have benefited from the social media through the internet since it only takes a click to obtain information. Thus, companies have gone a step ahead in creating their own sites of connections as it is the best way to be competitive in the current corporate world. It is apparent that the HR departments are embracing social media platform to connect with Job seekers and digitalize the application process. The sales teams have embraced social media to track customers as they move the sales funnel. This has proven that social media is a networking tool that any business requires in its operations (Noor & Allen, 2012). Facebook can be used to communicate business plans, proposal and reports. When one create a fan page it provides the business with a branding outpost on the web where customers, prospects, vendors and the media can find information about the firms products and services. Though Facebook personal profiles are only accessible to members only, the Facebook fan pages are public-facing by default. This means that for people to view a business fan page they need to be logged into Facebook. The result of this is that so many people get to access the information one post. Thus, it is a good tool for communicating business proposals and reports as the information will reach the masses (Ray, 2013). Facebook is a site that earns more page views regularly than any other site on the web, and it is true that it has more users than the population in U.S.A. Fan pages do not resist on driving Facebook traffic to websites thus it is encouraged to link your business fan page to your website. The result of this is that fans are turned to customers. The fun page content has the potential to generate search engines results for ones business and brand. Facebook fun page also enables one to engage with the customers on your site in a cheaper way. This is evident as one can have a branded fan page in minutes, where customers can post on your wall, ask and answer questions (Ray, 2013). Facebook is a social media communication tool that can be accessed easily by the masses. This is because the internet is everywhere even in the developing countries. Thus, when one posts business proposals on Facebook account, potential investors from all over the world will access it and invest in it. Social media tool has also led to increase in the marketing technique of various products and services. Statistics have proven that about 25 percent of Facebook members want to be sold to, but the higher percentage is of praising the quality of the company's product to their Facebook friends. This calls for a business to establish a relationship with some influential members who have plenty of connections which can authentically market the business (Ray, 2013). Twitter is a social media communication tool that can be used in businesses. One of its advantages is that it increases the customers' satisfaction through provision of better customer services. It is apparent when potential customers can follow an individual’s business updates from Twitter account. This provides an opportunity to adjust the business activities instantly as per the customer's reactions. Twitter also helps to break the distanced corporate image through communicating more effectively. This is because Twitter enables one to tell his followers about business values and goals for the long-run purposes (Nejati & Mostafa, 2011). Twitter experiences difficult to target a specific audience as part of its disadvantage to a business. This is because the people who chose to follow an individual are self-selecting. Also, some view an individual’s messages when they are retweeted. Another con of Twitter is that there is a limitation of space. The 140 character thing deters most organizations from promoting their ventures online. Thus, one need to know how to tweet efficiently or else there Twitter account may be hacked (Nejati & Mostafa, 2011). In conclusion, it is evident that social media has changed the way information is exchanged from the organization to the customers. It has led to effective communication of what the customers want, making the company come up with products that satisfy their needs. Facebook has been used as a communication tool by businesses about their goals and objectives thus creating awareness to the potential customers. References Nejati, M & Mostafa, N. (2011). Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal.USA: Universal Publishers. Noor, S.Hana & Allen, H.John. (2012). Social Media: Usage and Impact. United Kingdom. Lexington Books. Ray, R. (2013). Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing. Indianapolis. John Wiley & Sons. Read More