Impact of Social Media Marketing on Businesses - Dissertation Example

Current Themes in Business Introduction Social media has a very fundamental impact on the modern business. Whether small or big corporations, social media plays a role that is too big and too significant for business today. Regardless of the fact that social media has grown for a very long time, there are some critics who argue that the current social media bubble is bound to bust sometimes in the future. However, whether the buddle will bust or not, it is clear that that social media will always affect business. Literature review Social media plays a very imprint role for any business and it is necessary for any business to have a clear and a well maintained social media strategy. According to Moses (2014), social medial has many roles in the modern business, including creating the best platform for feedback. According to him, firms should no longer see negative commentary about them on the social media as a negative issue, but as a chance to understand customer needs and thus help in quality improvement. As Wilken (2014) says, social media has three critical dimensions for a business. These include; Advertising Social media offer any business a cheaper, more effective way of marketing and this cannot be ignored by any business that wants to have sustained growth. Unlike traditional advertising means, social media offer a better way of reaching out to the customers. With the growth of social media as a tool for advertizing, the art and science of laser advertising has been developed. Laser advertising refers to the art of advertising and that is accurately targeted to the right audience. Unlike the other types of advertisements that use broadcast method, such as the digital media and the print media, social media marketing offers firms and even individual a targeted form of marketing which can be targeted to the right people within the right location. This is made possible because the social media have personal information about all the people in the network making it positive for them to direct advertisement towards those people within certain demographic and geographical parameters. This means that every person who is reached by the advertisement will have a higher chance of being relevant to the marketing campaign. At the same time, social media advertisement is cost effective because the firm only pays for the advertisements which have the highest rates of coveting. A good example of this is the Google ad words where the advertiser only pays for the advertisements that have been clicked on by potential customers. Public relations Public relations is also another important aspect of social media for firms. Firms that are smart know how to use social media to make sure that they are able to create a positive public image that the customers can relate with. This is actually very important because as Ernest (2011) says, it will not matter whether a firm actively uses social media or, not, the firms will be affected by the issue, negative if it does not have a proper social media strategy in place. Research and development As has already been identified, social media can offer the firm with feedback from customers, whether positive or negative. Social media today is the best way for any firm to measure the temperature out there in t market and therefore know how to react to the issues in the market. As William (2013) says, firms that ignore the power of social media in its particular regard are going to suffer, because customer have found a way to get their voice with regard to the kind of service and products they get from firms. Part 3: research objectives The objective of this research is to identify the ways in which the social media is effective with regard to affecting business and to identify how business can use social media to advance their interest, serve their customers in a better way and inverse their profits. It will seek to identify the ways in which the modern business, big or small can benefit from the social media while at the same time, taming the negatives of the social media. In this regard, it will seek to identify both the opportunities and the threats that the social media platforms provide the modern business and then identify the ways in which the business can take advantage of those opportunities and at the same time neutralize the threats. Methodology The study will look at how some businesses have been successful in exploiting the various opportunities that are availed by the various social media platforms. There are a numerous firms that have benefitted from the various social media platforms that are available today such as face book, twitter, linked in and interest. The study will also look at the various firms that have affected drastically negatively by social media for lack of an effective social media strategy. A very good example of this is the United Airlines that broke Dave Carroll’s guitar and was thrashed on social media. The examples are many and different and this will provide good way to identify how social media can affect businesses in a positive as well as in a negative way. Data will be collected and analyzed about these firms in order to identify how firms and companies can either benefit or suffer from social media. This data will be used in order t show the effect of social media on business in the past, the current time and the future. This will provide data as to how the social media has affected business in the modern works and how the future of the relationship between the modern business and the business world will be. The other kind of data that will be used is the financial data with regard to how firms are spending on social media. Research type The kind of research that will be done will be surveying businesses to determine how social media has affected their business. Two categories of businesses will be considered. The first category will involve businesses that have a well laid social media strategy and the second will \be those that don’t have a social media strategy. Data will be collected and analyzed to see which of these two businesses are able to benefit more from social media. Research question How does a social media strategy affect the way a business is affected or benefits from social media? Significance The truth is that all businesses will still be affected by the social media, either negatively or positively. As a result, it is absolutely imperative that any business have a social media strategy in order to benefit from it instead of suffering from it. This study will be important in determining whether a social media strategy helps a business to benefit more from social media and at the same time avoid the negative impacts of social media. Timescale The project will take about two months. First two weeks; Preparations on data collection methods including designing and refining the design for questionnaires. Next four weeks: Data collection including surveys and interviews Last two weeks: Data coding and analysis Bibliography Ernest, W. (2011). Impact of Socila Media on Business and Marketing. New York, NY: Guille Books. Moses, D. (2014). Modern Busines and Social Media. London, UK: Tarlor & Francis. Wilken. (2014). Looking at Social Media and Modern Busines: A Critical Review. New York, NY: Pearson Books. William.G. (2013). An Investigation into the Socila Media Today; an Impact on the Business Strategy. London, UK: Cengene Books. Read More