Social Media for Small to Medium Enterprises - Book Report/Review Example

 Social Media for Small to Medium Enterprises Introduction Technology has considerably helped and changed the human cause. Technology affects individuals’ lives in terms of economic, social, and political lives. Technology, especially, is critical to modern business in terms of production and coordination of marketing. The internet, a technological phenomenon, has had a profound impact on modern businesses and related entities. In recent times, the internet has helped towards globalization and internationalization of businesses as products, credit, resources, and ideas flow across borders. The internet performs a dual role in business. In this sense, it can either optimize the benefits of a business or destroy the existence of another business. The internet has helped expand previously small businesses as well as diminish the relevance of previously large businesses. The social media is one of the modern critical internet platforms that are bound to change how modern businesses are conducted. In the context of Anoto Company, a small and medium business (SMB), social media initiates new benefits and risks in conducting business. The Anoto Company uses a variety of social networks such as YouTube, Flickr, and Twitter. It is useful to define social media as a platform where content is created and shared by possible users. A small business looks up to such a tool as a means of expanding its production capacity and optimizing its sales (Schambers, A. 2010, 25). It also participates in public relations and marketing communications. Anoto business cannot ignore a phenomenon as huge as social media because it is gradually becoming a necessity (Thomas, D. B., & Barlow, M. 2011, 23). This means that it needs social media tools to stay relevant in modern business. Besides, social media helps in acquiring a competitive edge. Competitive advantage, however, does not only rely on using social media but on effectively utilizing aspects of social media in improving one’s business (Scott, D. 2008, 90). It also necessitates choosing a package of social media tools that are relevant to an industry and a form of business. SWOT analysis The company possesses notable strengths and weaknesses. For instance, the company is a technological entity that easily appeals to the consumer base. It exists within the context of digital revolution that demands convenience in the use of products (Anoto 2014, 1). In addition, the company faces limited competition from other brands because their business is a unique innovation that other businesses cannot easily adopt (MarketLine 2013, 3). It is essential to highlight that, the entity uses limited costs in production because of the technology involved. In addition, it does not require a huge number of employees thereby eliminating excess wage costs. The company faces a weakness in terms of the limited product line that it produces. It also possesses a narrow consumer base. In terms of opportunities, the company faces a wider customer base in terms of individual customers. In addition, the company has a potential in producing smart pens that can easily link with smartphones. Over time, individuals will demand luxury items such as digital pens. On the other hand, since the company operates in the technology industry, the company faces the threat of innovation that may destroy their brand (Hinchcliffe, D., & Kim, P. 2012, 102). Marketing communications Marketing occupies is the fore of modern businesses. Marketing is a necessity in modern businesses, as monopolies are constantly broken and competition increases. Most companies have reached the peak of their profitability. In the traditional business set-up, business relied on effective and efficient use of resources as a means of gaining market share and enhancing revenues. This explains the emphasis on huge capital bases as a means of controlling given markets. As large businesses expanded, they needed to invest tools beyond mere use of resources. This led to the discovery of huge benefits of marketing to businesses. Increased competition demanded the use of proper public relation skills and the establishment of profound brands that could attract customers. In the recent times, marketing entails considerable percentage of corporate costs. This is because modern businesses require critical knowledge of the needs and behavior of their consumers. Social media profoundly participates in such a role. It is essential to view social both as a reflection of consumers’ behavior and as an innovation in conducting business. Consumers increasingly demand convenience in their daily lives thereby forcing businesses to adapt to the behavior of consumers. Besides, the modern consumer has considerable knowledge in the operation of markets. In terms of innovation, businesses rely on social media as a means of reducing marketing costs and increasing the accessibility to knowledge about given products. This, especially, is beneficial to a small business that cannot risk investing in costly marketing programs at the expense of other core programs. The development of social media in marketing is evident in surveys in the US that realized 57% of companies used in social media in 2007 (Svatošová, V. 2012, 3). In 2011, the figure improved to 93%. This suggests that involved companies do not underrate social media as a mere entertainment platform, but as a context for promotion of brands. In marketing communications, social media provides the major advantage of a two-way communication. Besides, social media allows instant updates of opinions, discussions, and comments of participants. Social media breaks down into many forms. For instance, social networks include Facebook and MySpace. Shared multimedia include YouTube and Flickr. On the other hand, discussion forums include Yahoo answers. There are also videoblogs, blogs, and micrology such as Twitter. Other definitions of social media comprise Wikipedia because it helps spread information about a brand. There are major advantages entailed in investing in social media. To begin with, it attracts possible consumers to a site. This is because it relies on the creation of a fans’ site, which is open to free subscription from any interested party. As individuals add onto a fans’ site, they, in a big sense, become possible consumers to a product. In close relation to the concept of immediate audience, social networking sites offer ready information about a product, brand, and company. In this perspective, a SME business easily avails the information about its operation to possible consumers. A small business benefits from the instant exposure that does not necessarily rely on physical expansion into markets. For instance, Zappos is an online fashion retailer that sells clothing, shoes, and accessories. In their Facebook custom welcome tab, the company shows their customers that they are in an equal relationship (Porterfield, A. 2011, 1). A customer only sees the content of their stores when they click the like button. Zappos manifests care about its relationships by allowing customers to sign up for an email list. Social media helps SMEs in learning about their consumers. Social media such as Twitter entails the building of profiles that help profess information about individuals. This includes information such as education, age, marital status, hobbies, and education. This helps in profiling and precise targeting of customers. Behavior of consumers also reflects in their updates. A company that invests in studying updates may attain a generalized knowledge about a consumer base. This is because updates reflect the emotions, needs, and opinions about trends. In this perspective, a small company may easily adjust its operations to suit the evolving nature of the market and business. Social networking sites increase the chances of viral marketing. Viral marketing is a profound means of gaining wide market acceptance that might have previously took considerable years to acquire. This is possible through shared media such as Youtube. This is because individuals do not engage their reasoning to understand video content. When few consumers spread favorite content, other consumers become susceptible to the perception. Viral marketing relies on the psychology that consumers demand proof before consuming certain products. For instance, the 2006 Nike viral campaign helped market the Tiempo Legend shoe by using the soccer legend, Ronaldinho, as a choreographer in a video. Over 23.5 million people watched the advertisement on YouTube. Social media allows the use of multiple forms of promotions. This entails factors such as banner advertising, creation of groups, updates, and videos. Updates are the most convenient and the quickest forms of promoting brands. In addition, it helps initiate two-way communication between customers and businesses (Gitomer, J. 2011. 25). It is essential to note that that social media allow enable consumers freely express their opinions because such communication does not involve face-to-face interaction with business executives (Hinchcliffe, D., & Kim, P. 2012, 120). Social media also allows demonstrative marketing such as videos. Videos create visual memories in consumers’ psyche. Consumers easily understand the content of videos because such content is entertaining. Public relations and branding Public relations is necessary for the health and sustenance of brands. In the previous years, public relations mainly occurred through press conferences, press releases, and physical advertisements. Current times demand that companies use multiple forms of contemporary media and new channels such as social media. For instance, in 2013, Southwest Airlines Flight 345 slid on the runway with the nose first as it landed. The company immediately posted the incident on Twitter by saying that they would in constant touch with the public. In this way, the public received the information immediately thereby assuring the customers that Southwest Airlines were concerned with the safety of their clients. In a highly competitive world, small companies can easily lose brands that take enormous resources and time to build. The consumer base is over-expectant of corporate responsibility in case such incidents occur. Social media avails the tools of easy contact with the public. In addition, it avails two-way communication channels that enable companies respond to queries by customers (Walter, E. 2014, 1). Besides, social media avails the platform for continual public relations. Consumers with considerable knowledge will constantly ask questions about the quality and development of products (Solis, B. 2012, 129). In this sense, the customers ensure that companies are not shortchanging them into buying low quality products. Social media, therefore, ensures that public relations is not necessarily a reactive activity in a small and medium business. Risks and challenges In as much as social media is a significant tool for marketing and public relations, it is largely considered an informal platform. Conservative consumers may view such platforms as less serious ways of marketing. This is worse in the case of small businesses that have not established their brands (Simon, S. 2010, 5). It is essential to highlight that large businesses with established brands face low limited costs of experimenting with new marketing tools such as social media. On the other hand, small businesses may loss of reputation in marketing through social media. Established wholesale businesses may require a large presence in traditional media such as television in proving the worth of a business. The use of social media in SMBs entails serious security risks. Inadvertent closure of information and malware are the greatest security risks to organizations. This creates uncertainty with the use of social media sites as malicious individuals can hack into company accounts thereby soiling the reputation of companies (O'Leary, S., Sheehan, K., & Lentz, S. 2011, 29). According to a research by Sophos, the report highlighted that cases of malware are increasing in media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. A 2009 survey reported that 24% of companies complained that employees using social media sites, downloading media, and interacting in peer-to-peer networking sites, compromised their security systems (Chi, M. 2011, 4). Marketing in social media is sensitive to flaws in presentation of information. Once a company makes a mistake in its marketing content, the error becomes irreversible (Hallam, J. 2013, 89). It is essential to highlight that such mistakes are easy because numerous cultures confront globalized businesses. Certain marketing campaigns have raced claims of racism and sexism in their marketing content. This also entails the risk of negative reactions that devalues the impact of a marketing campaign (Gitomer, J. 2012, 6). Recommendations Social media does not present immediate benefits if companies do not design effective ways of using the multiple channels. To begin with, it is essential for the Anoto Company to regard social marketing as a serious form of promotion. This means that the company should design the policy that guides its use. The company also requires a social media-marketing department that guides the use and studies the market for proper ways of engaging well thought out advertisements. Besides, the company should establish proper security systems that bars malware and ensure systems are safe against hacking (Jacobson, J. 2009, 67). In addition, it is essential for the Anoto’s management to identify the best platforms of social media that are appropriate to their business and clientele base. Making such a decision requires studying the nature of one’s business and expectations of one’s possible customers (Benwell, S. 2014, 1). In this context, Anoto both classifies as business-to-business brand as well as a business-to-customer brand. In both of these circumstances, the company mainly deals with the business-oriented customers. Twitter and LinkedIn are the most appropriate social media sites for the Anoto Company (Bosari, J. 2012, 1). Platforms such as Facebook are regarded as less formal and fit for mostly teenagers. This means that the company should have already established idea of how it should present itself to the market. 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