Investment in a Social Media Strategy - Essay Example

INVESTMENT IN A SOCIAL MEDIA STARTEGY By Location Investment in a Social Media Strategy Introduction Social media is a form of interaction that involves human beings creating, sharing, and exchanging ideas and information through virtual networks and communities. Social media can also be defined as a number of internet reliant applications that build on the technological and ideological of Web 2.0, thus allowing the development and exchange of contents that are developed by the users. Social media has a high dependency on web-based and mobile technology to develop platforms that are highly interactive through which people can co-create, share, modify, and discuss contents that are generated by the users. As a result of social media there have been pervasive changes in the way individuals, communities, and organizations. Lately, there have been improvements in the ways in which business organizations make use of social media to get in touch with the public. This is because of developments such as globalization which makes it very hard for business organization to use face-to-face communication for customer service. This paper aims at discussing how a business organization can use social media for customer service. Customer service is a very important aspect of business management. The customer service is in most cases referred to as the process of identifying and fulfilling the needs of their customers. The customer service is considered to be very important because in most cases it is always the only way through which customers can contact a business organization. Given the fact that business organizations have been satisfying the needs of their clients as one of the primary goals, customer service is one of the most reliable ways of determining if they are fulfilling this part of their goal. Customer service can also enable a business to know in which ways they should improve in order to completely satisfy the needs of their customers. Customer service is also a channel through which customers can make inquiries on goods and services produced by a certain business organization (Shaw, Dibeehi & Walden 2010, p. 111). Benefits of using social media There are various factors that promote the use of social media for customer service. One of such factors is the manner in which the use of social media enables business organizations to deliver better customer service. Researches have proved that twitter is in most cases the first option for customers who want to make pre-purchase inquiries. This proves that many people can be attended to through social media customer service. This is enhanced by the fact that a very big percentage people in the modern world use social media for communication on a daily basis. The implication in this case is that customers can get in touch with the business organization from anywhere, regardless of their geographical locations (Thomas & Barlow 2011, p. 89). The use of social media in customer service will, therefore, allow a business public relations department to respond to the inquiries of their customers promptly. Social media can also be used to drive a business organization’s differentiation and brand building. Given the fact that there is a very big percentage of the total global population uses social media, a business would take this as a chance to create its brand awareness. This is because the use of social media for customer service accord a business organization a human voice that most people can easily relate to. The result of such activities will be the enabling of customers to interact with the company’s activities in a social setting (Kerpen 2011, p. 127). This will mean that the rate at which the business organization gets feedback from its customer will highly increase. Given that Taylor & Stych specializes in the sale of bespoke and designer menswear all over Europe, using social will be advantageous to them in distinguishing themselves from their competitors. Social media can also be used as an effective tool for managing a business organization’s reputation. Reputation is a vital part of business operations. A business organization with a ruined or stained reputation is likely to pay the price through the loss of customers. However, social media gives business firms a chance to have a quick and effective way of attending to their publicity. When comments and complaints that are given through social media are responded to promptly then the company in question will be in a good position to save their reputation (Sweeney & Craig 2011, p. 134). Too many complaints usually ruin or stain the reputation of a business organization. This is always made worse if the complaints are not attended to in good time. Through social media customers can forward their complaint to the business organization from whatever geographical location and they will be able to get an immediate response from the company. Given the nature of activities that this business specializes in, winning the trust of their customer will be very vital to their success. There are very many alternative business organizations that do provide the same products to the public. The business will therefore need to find a way in which they can increase the trust in them and their brand. With the improvement of the various applications used in social media, consumers have developed the urge to acquire information on the authenticity of the business firm that they are dealing with for the first time (Bradley, & McDonald 2011, p. 92). When people see that a business organization is active on social media they always get the impression that the business has a concern for their customers. This will definitely lead to the increase in public trust in the business and its brand. Because of the high dependence of the willingness of customers to buy their product, taking their insights into consideration can be of high importance to Taylor & Stych. The business can use the insights of their consumer to influence their strategic decisions. When the insights of customers take into consideration, business organization will be able to win the loyalty of their customers. This is because they will be able to mould their activities to match the expectations of their customers (Gallagher 2013, p. 107). Failure to take these insights into consideration might lead to the loss of customers to their competitors. That fact that they would have failed to take the insights of their customers into consideration does not mean that their competitors will make a similar mistake. The use of social media for customer service can enable Taylor & Stych to increase their website traffic. An increase in website traffic can be of benefit to the business in various ways. When a business organization has a website with high traffic, they will have more exposure of their products. This might translate into higher sales volume. Social media can contribute highly to the increase in a business’ website traffic. This can be possible through directing the customers who communicate with them through social media to their website (Gibson 2012, p. 94). Sometime it is basically hard for people to go directly to the business’ website. In support of this fact, several researches have revealed that a high percentage of people who visit most business organizations’ websites do so after being directed through social media. If Taylor & Stych is doing everything concerning marketing right, then people will be definitely talking about them through their social media profiles. When this happens, businesses would really want to get hold of the things that the public says about the products that they sell. This will only be possible if the business itself was available in the social media. Their availability will enable them to know how the public rates their performances. Being available on social media can also help business organizations get information on various things that their customers think that they can improve on (Orsburn 2012, p. 102). This will help them in satisfying the needs of their customer, thus increasing their market grip. The use of social media can also be described as cost effective. In modern societies, people are highly reliant on technology and social media. By using social media for customer service, Taylor & Stych will keep their business current. At the same time they will be reaching out to a very big percentage of people all over Europe. The good thing about this is that they will be doing it at a very minimal cost. Apart from the cost of connecting devices, the connection network, and personnel to attend to the inquiries of their clients, there is usually no other cost incurred in using social media for customer service (Laredo 2013, p. 201). This proves that despite enabling the business to reach out to a very big percentage of people throughout Europe, it is also among the most affordable ways of contacting customer service. Importance of a strategy For a business organization to effectively use social media for customer service, proper planning and strategizing is vital. This is because without proper planning and strategizing it will be almost impossible for a business organization to completely benefit from the use of social media in customer service. The planning comes in because of the difference in business goals and activities. For instance, it is not expected for a business organization dealing with transportation of petroleum products to use social media in the same manner in which a fashion store uses social media (Hill-Wilson & Blunt 2013, p. 119). Taylor & Stych being dealers in bespoke and designer menswear will have to come up with an appropriate plan in the way they will be using social media for customer service. The factors that should be considered in this case is the targeted population, geographical location, and products being dealt with. Strategy development Business organizations should take social media as a tool for building real customer relations. Many business organizations see social media as another way of advertising themselves. As a result, they fail to give response to the posts that their customers put on their social media accounts. When used as a tool for customer service, all the posts must be responded to (Collier 2011, p. 123). The response might come in the form of clarification, answers, or appreciation of the post. This kind of response will lead to an improvement of the relationship between the business organization and their customers. When developing a strategy for using social media for customer service, the business must make sure that they focus on a base for customer advocacy. In cases where customers have had a bad experience with a certain business firm it is most likely that the first place they will talk about this is the social media. A business should, therefore, make sure that their products and social media interactions are of high smartcards such that whenever such complains appear on social media then they will always be recommended. The system should also be designed in such a way that customers are able to interact with the business in comfort. Such comfort can only be made possible through courteous, precise, timely, accurate, and helpful response to inquiries made on their social network accounts (Clapperton 2010, p. 107). The business should also take social media as an avenue of showing care and honesty. Customers are likely to be attracted to a business they feel like care for and is honest with them. Taylor & Stych can therefore make sure that they use honest information on social media and communicating in a manner likely to show that they care about whatever their customers are going through. This can be done through activities such as offering to help whenever their customers have some problems with the products after purchasing them. They can also make recommendations on product details such as size, quality and prices. This will result to an increased satisfaction with the products and services offered by this business organization. When using social media for customer service a business should make sure that they abide by the policies that are related to using social media. For instance, they should avoid using social media to show any form of criticism of their clients and the government. The business should also make sure that they respond to the comments of their clients professionally and respectfully. People who are entrusted with the responsibility of interacting with customers through social media should always try to refrain from bullying, harassing, and intimidating customers on social media (Brown 2009, p. 144). They should also avoid posting inaccurate information knowingly. This is because this might lead to decisions that are based on wrong information. Complete compliance with these policies will enable the business organization to effectively make use of social media for customer service. Risks of using social media Despite the fact that social media can be effective when used for customer service. There are various risks that are involved in its use. One of the risks that are involved is social media gaffes. This can take place when wrong or conflicting information is posted on social media. For instance, when a person mistakenly posts something they intended to post on their personal accounts on the business’ account. This might lead to a negative reaction from the public. The ultimate result might be the loss of both already existing and potential customers. The risk can also come in the form of a breach of the social media account. Breaches take place when an authorized individuals gain access of the social media accounts. Most breaches are always motivated by ill motives toward the organization involved (Cook, 2008). The result might be posting comments that can be raging to the public. In such cases the business’ reputation is always highly ruined. This kind of ruin can be very punishing for a business organization and can take a really long time for a business to recover from it. A business organization using social media to reach out to the public can be a victim of a spoofing attack. A spoofing attack takes place when and individual or software is successful in masquerades as the business through the use of falsified data (Klososky 2010, p. 87). The result of such activities is the gain of illegitimate advantage over the business. As a result the public always gets confused on the legitimacy of both thus losing trust of the business organization involved. Solution to risks For a company to avoid the occurrences of these risks, it is very important for them to come up with social media policy. Social media policy will give the involved employees the guideline and regulations on how to use the business’ social media accounts. As a result of using internal social media policy, the business will be able to reduce risks that are caused by human error and those caused by lack of diligence. The company will also be able to make sure that all the security measure that are involved in using social media are taken. Therefore, the policy will enhance accountability and security in the usage of social media. Conclusion It is clearly evident that social media can be of high benefit to business organizations. This is because of the numerous advantages it gives the business. When social media is used for customer service, it enables active and reliable interaction with customers. Given that customer service is always about being able to listen and attend to the clients, it is undoubtable that social media is a perfect thing for that job. As technology advances, a business organization should therefore take advantage of technologies such as social media to make sure that they make their businesses more competitive. 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