The Impact of Social Media Technologies on Business - Case Study Example

Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 INTRODUCTION 3 HOW THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA SUPPORTS E – COMMERCE 3 BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USE TO THE BUSINESSES 4 DEMERITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USE TO BUSINESSES 5 CONCLUSION 6 REFERENCES 7 INTRODUCTION Over the recent past, there has been an increase in the use of social media technologies by businesses. This has been especially so in their marketing strategies. This has been due to the various advantages that have been linked with the use of the social media platform. The advantages that have been linked with it have resulted into the continued use of the platforms among the businesses across the world. Its impact to the businesses has been great and considerable. Despite the advantages that it has to the business, some disadvantages have been linked with the use of the social media platform (Agresta and Bough, 2011). The disadvantages reduce the effectiveness of the measures and the confidence levels of the users of the different platforms. They are as listed below. HOW THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA SUPPORTS E – COMMERCE The use of social media platforms has been linked with many advantages especially so in the business line. This has been due to the way that they support trade and the development of businesses. The main reason for the use is that they support E-Commerce. This is due to the fact that they facilitate the business in its marketing tools. The social media has the benefit of having the greatest number of people it can reach as compared to any other means (Blanchard, 2011). Facebook for example has close to 2 billion users. The other common social media networks include YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Tumblr among many others. The high number of users of the social media sites comprises of actual and potential customers for the products, goods and services of the businesses. Through the businesses marketing themselves in the platforms, they have the advantage of getting the highest number of respondents receiving the information as compared to any other means of marketing. This has the long terms effect of increasing the revenues of the businesses through increased sales levels. Through this, the social media acts as a market niche by itself. A market is a combination of buyers and sellers of a product (Edwards and Edwards, 2011). In this case, the businesses are able to meet the customers to their products and exchange occurs. E – Commerce is also linked with the use of the cheapest means of marketing possible. The use of social media platforms has the advantage to the businesses of being relatively cheaper as compared to other means of marketing such as the use of dailies and newspapers. Through this, the users have access to a large number of people and at very low costs as compared to all the other means of marketing in the market. With the reduced costs associated for the businesses, the business has a reduced expenditure linked with its marketing and advertising strategies (Falls and Deckers, 2012). With the elimination and reduction of the overall costs that are associated with the marketing of the products, the company is able to increase the profitability levels and thrive in its undertakings. In summary, the social media can hence be said to facilitate E-commerce in different ways. The first way is that they make the information of the company to be accessed by the highest number of people possible as compared to any other means. This facilitates the increase in the returns from the sales of the business. It also has the advantage of having a high number of users as compared to any other means (Funk, 2013). This is translated to the returns of the business increasing over time. It is also cheaper as compared to all the other means available in the market. These factors facilitate business growth and expansion over time. Its continued growth is translated to business growth and expansion. It is also associated with increased profitability for the business. BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USE TO THE BUSINESSES The use of social media tools has many benefits that it has to the businesses. One of the benefits of the use of the social media technologies is that the use is associated with many compelling and relevant content. The content attracts the attention of the actual and potential customers. This in turn increases the brand visibility (Martin and Erickson, 2011). The use of the pictures and videos also increases the confidence of the use of the products. This is because people are able to believe in a product which they can see clear pictures supporting its description. This will eventually increase the levels of returns from the sales. The second benefit of the use of social media technologies is that they give room for immediate feedback to the product pictures and videos that are posted by the business. The customers are able to ask questions and air their comments and complaints on the use and also on the product immediately. This makes the management of a business to formulate ways and means to respond to the complaints that are raised. They also know the strong aspects of the products which they need to keep up (Minazzi, 2014). This is an important aspect in product development. The business is able to align itself to meet the demands and specifications that are required in the market. Through this, the returns that are made by the business will definitely increase over time. The social media also has a benefit that it facilitates the improvement of the brand loyalty of a given brand. This is through the posting of supporting images, videos and pictures hat clearly describe the products, goods and services of a company. Through this, the potential customers who are on the social media platforms are able to get knowledge of the existence of the product. The existing customers are able to be easily and quickly notified of the changes that are occurring in the business (Moe and Schweidel, 2014). They also increase their reliance to the product as all the questions that they raise are raised. The social media platforms also give room for links to be shared for the websites of the company. Through this, the customers can be directed to the websites of the company where they can get all the information that they seek to know about the company. This hence aids in the diverting of human traffic to the sites of the company (Smith and Zook, 2011). Through the increase in the levels of traffic for the business, it is able to increase the levels of sales which it makes. It is also able to increase the customer service levels that it offers to the customers. DEMERITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USE TO BUSINESSES Despite having many disadvantages attached t it, the social media also has some disadvantages. They are the leading reasons for the increasing caution levels by the businesses that embark in it. The first demerit of social media is that it lacks a means to control the levels of feedback and comments that come with it. Facebook for example lacks a control measure to the number of people who can reply to a post (Tuten and Solomon, 2013). This lack of control results to very high levels of comments and at times one cannot be able to answer all the questions that are asked. Social media also lacks a control as to the legitimacy of the people who post to the pages. There are many cases of fake people posting on the sites and this can have many effects as to the marketing of the business. Some posters can defame the company and in turn it loses potential customers. It may also be difficult to locate their locations. Such makes the potential customers and he existing ones lose faith in the business (Zimmerman and Ng, 2013). The social media also results to the exposure of the faults of the business to all the people who can access the sites of the company. This makes the competitors and other players in the industry to take advantage of the faults and have better grip of the market as compared to the business. This has a long term effect of reducing the levels of sales that are made by the company and can also result to losses being made. The results of the marketing in the social media can also not be weighed on an accurate measure. They are hence not easy to calculate the returns that result from this form of marketing. This has the effect of that the business cannot be able to know where to allocate their resources based on the returns that it derives from them (Blanchard, 2011). Social media also has its returns based on the long term of the business. Through this, the business cannot be able to make immediate returns for its spending. By this, the business can be on a downward trend until the fruits of the marketing are derived. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the use of social media technologies of the businesses has advantages and disadvantages to the business. These are useful for businesses to be aware of before embarking on them. Some of the benefits as highlighted include the large number of users of the social media technologies that act as actual and potential customers for the business. There is also the benefit of cost. Some of the demerits include the fact that there is no adequate control on the use of the tools and the feedback that is made. There is also the demerit of no immediate returns on the business. REFERENCES Agresta, S., & Bough, B2011. Perspectives on social media marketing: The agency perspective/the brand perspective. Boston, MA: Course Technology. Blanchard, O2011. Social media ROI: Managing and measuring social media efforts in your organization. Indianapolis, Ind: Que. Edwards, P., & Edwards, S2011. Social media marketing. Boca Raton, Fla.: Bar Charts, Inc. Falls, J., & Deckers, E2012.  No bullshit social media: The all-business, no-hype guide to social media marketing. Indianapolis, Ind: Que. Funk, T2013. Advanced social media marketing: How to lead, launch, and manage a successful social media program. New York: Apress. Martin, P., & Erickson, T2011, Social media marketing. New Delhi: Global Vision Publishing House. Minazzi, R2014. Social media marketing in tourism and hospitality. London: Rutledge. Moe, W., & Schweidel, D2014. Social media intelligence. New York: John Wiley & Sons Smith, P. R., & Zook, Z2011. Marketing communications: Integrating offline and online with social media. London: Kogan Page. Tuten, T& Solomon, M2013. Social media marketing. Boston: Pearson. Zimmerman, J., & Ng, D2013, Social media marketing all-in-one for dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Read More