The Internet Has Impacted the Way Companies Conduct Business - Coursework Example

The Internet has Impacted the way Companies Conduct Business Introduction In the current information age we live in, people have found the internet through social networks to be an indispensable tool for connecting and communicating with each other. Through social networks, public forums, media sharing websites or blogs, people today can have interactive dialogues with others to share experiences and any important information. Although many people had argued that social media would slowly fade away, research shows that social networks will continue to grow in strength for years to come. Currently, the internet via social media serves various purposes among them blogging, collaborative and group interactions, product and service reviews, job interviews, entertainment, selling and buying, advertising and professional networking, to name but a few. Internet marketing a. Social media Today, Social Media Marketing has become exceedingly popular among businesses of all sizes. The advent of social media has seen millions of people from all over the globe connect, create, and share content like never before. The numerous videos, news, status updates, video views, and comments clearly reflect the enormous participation of people in such social networking sites. As such, the large numbers of people social networks enjoy make them a perfect platform for businesses irrespective of size to market themselves globally (Joshi n.p). b. Business autonomy Personal autonomy and freedom that the internet provides, allows people today to share their opinions and experiences about products and services they have seen, heard of or even tried comfortably. This is a big motivator for businesses, since they are able to know exactly what existing customers and potential ones feel about their products first hand. This type of upward communication is fast, convenient, and cheap because it eliminates the conventional intermediaries who previously had to collect this information. Further, businesses have the ability to create their own pages and have people subscribe to their feed on social sites (Sharma 82). c. Increase brand awareness Marketing online especially via social networks has the ability to increase product and brand awareness, customer loyalty and web traffic while at the same time improving a business’s Search Engine Optimization. Therefore, it is easy for people to understand about business brand since all information concerning the product is online. Further, the internet via social media marketing presents competitive edges and various advantages for success. This is because social networks promote communication around products, services, and brands and by so doing enhancing both positive and negative word of mouth around a business and its goods (Joshi n.p). In this case, people have access to only positive news and the benefits they get for purchasing a product (Tuten 49). The internet has increased brand exposure in the foreign country. In business, an increase in brand exposure is arguably the main benefit that businesses get for implementing social media marketing strategies. The exposure of a brand takes place when a customer or potential customer becomes aware of a particular service, advertisement, or product by perceiving it through any of their senses regardless of whether or not they paid attention to it. In turn, they work on our favor since people pay attention to our adverts. In addition, the internet via social media channels helped our new brand to establish itself in the market. Further, it helped foster awareness among future customers. In the case of existing brands, social media channels raise awareness (Kelly 83). d. Easy business communication Through the internet, our company was able to have unlimited interactive dialogue between businesses and their current as well as prospective customers. Social media websites allow consumers to leave feedback and share their opinions with other consumers, future customers as well as the businesses themselves. Customers also have 6 the ability to request help from the company customer-support personnel (Tuten 33). We had a direct interaction with their target audience allowing them to know their true thoughts, attitudes, and feelings about their products or services. Such interaction is not only important because it informs businesses on what their customers really want, but also because it fosters positive relationships between companies and their customers. The company was able to conduct research and monitor the activities of our competitors, it that it was possible to collect data on both consumers and competitors. People leave numerous amounts of data in the archives of social media sites. Therefore, businesses can easily access information such as demographics, behavior, and characteristics of customers. This data facilitates market insights helping business heads make wise and informed decisions (Donnelly 67). e. Low cost of doing business It is significant to note that the internet is assisting businesses to decrease or lower costs across the demand and supply chains, enter new markets, redefine their business relationships, and establish additional revenue streams. Internet business permits an organization to sell any good online, which implies that it is able to reach out to many customers all over the world. The internet has lowered business advertisement and marketing costs in that via social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, an organization can advertise its products at a cheaper price as compared to traditional way of doing business where marketers and sales persons would physically move to advertise the product or service. In addition, introduction of high-speed communication enables businesses across border to share information at a speed level. This helps managers to share vital information that can transform their businesses (Kelly n.p). f. Business outsourcing jobs and downsizing workers Businesses have successfully used the internet as their main mean or way of conducting business in the sense that when they carry out their online activity, they consider privacy, copyright issues, and security. In addition, a firm finds it easy to outsource jobs such as customer service to other countries. Through outsourcing marketing, businesses are able to save time, capital and receive an external perspective about the business brand, improve productivity and decrease operation costs (Sharma 81). For example, businesses are in a position to conduct product or service advertisement with less time and money by outsourcing what they have. Outsourcing has decreased business operation stress in the sense that when some jobs are distributed across border, it enables businesses to concentrate on other jobs (Donnelly 57). Negative aspect of the internet and business Despite the internet positively changing the businesses are conducted, it has also negatively affected many organizations. For instance, via the use of internet ads, people’s revenues are drastically cut which affect their thinking towards a certain firm. The ads siphon money from a website viewer once they are clicked. This is seen to be tricky to people and can be very costly if a person is not well conversant with such things. The internet is also seen to increase fraud and impersonation of intellectual materials, which are supposed to remain personal property. This is achieved through the copy and paste technology as brought by the rapidly increasing technology (Sharma 78). Conclusion Businesses have been transforming drastically because of new technology. In the last decade, the internet has made rapid development. Internet marketing has helped firms to change the way they conduct their businesses. For instance, via internet marketing, it is able for a business brand to penetrate foreign country since people are in position to learn much about the brand easily. Further, customers are in a position to interact with the brand. Works Cited Donnelly, James. Marketing management. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2009. Print. Kelly, Leon. Teenagers’ Perception of Advertising in the Online Social Networking Environment: An Exploratory Study. 15 July 2013. Web. 16 March 2014. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/26966/2/Louise_Kelly_Thesis.pdf Joshi, Neha. "How the Internet Has Changed Advertising." Inside Business 360. N.p., 11 March. 2013. Web. 16 March. 2014. . Sharma, Arun. "Trends in Internet based Business to business Marketing." Industrial Marketing Management 31.2 (2002): 77-84. Print. Tuten, Timothy. Social Media Marketing. New York: Prentice Hall, 2012. Print. Read More