Social Media Affect Business

Social media affect business

The internet has provided a new type for communication and empowered millions of people to network socially beyond the confines of geographical closeness. Online social networking has moved from a niche phenomenon to mass adoption. Social media includes various methods such as social networking, user-sponsored blogs, multimedia sites, company-sponsored website, cooperating websites, prodcasts, etc. From the business perspective for any business, effective networking is an essential component to success. Today's social media tools are bringing change to organizational communication and puplic relations. These technologies have shifted the emphasis of internet services from being consumption-based towards becoming interactive and collaborative, creating new opportunities for interaction between organizations and publics . Therefore considering the growing importance of social media as a strategic tool among organizations, this research aims to investigate the impact of social media usage on organizations. On larger social network sites, individuals are normally not looking to meet new people but are more interested in managing relationships by maintaining contacts with old friends who are already part of their extended social network. It can be implied that usage of social networking is increasing at a tremendous speed, and it is influencing how people share knowledge across the globe. However, impact of social networks is increasingly pervasive, with activities ranging from the economic and marketing to the social and educational. Among the wide impacts of social network sites, they are, anecdotally, becoming increasingly important in today businesses. It seems that some factors are driving this trend. First, regarding the rapid rise in the popularity of social media, the number of potential customers engaged on social network sites was previously underestimated by many organizations. Second, in the current economic depression, where there are fewer customers in general, finding and engaging them get higher priorities.

The audience and attention is shifting to online channels as 52 percent of Europeans are generally online at home. Around 36 percent of European internet users watch less TV, 28 percent have reduced their newspaper reading and 17 percent have diminished listening to the radio since going online. As a result, conventional print and broadcast media have faced major challenges in recent years, with many newspapers facing closure and television channels suffering loss in revenue. An important effect of this phenomena, is the migration of significant amounts of marketing and advertising activities to online channels such as social networks. It is obvious that interactive digital media platforms are changing the marketing scene. These platforms have empowered consumers to connect, share, and collaborate, creating spheres of influence that have deeply distorted the way marketers engage in influencing activities. Twitter, YouTube, and numerous others have begun to alter the state of marketing, advertising, and promotions. This platform have transformed the Internet from a platform for information, to a platform for influence which represents an novel marketing chance for businesses by reducing traditional middlemen and connecting businesses directly with customers. Social network advertising offers an online marketing opportunity that narrowing the gap between sales and advertising activities, which are obtained from tracing consumer reactions.

Social media are used by business firms and governmental organizations as a communication tools.  These entities actively make use of social media for advertising and marketing, communicating with customers, building relationship with customers, branding etc. In order to investigate the usage of social media in organizations we consider the informed and effective use of social media which is an important indication of technology success, which in turn have an impact on organizations. Social media impact refers to the actual benefits organizations receive from using social media.  Previous studies have proved the positive impact of internet usage on organizations in various areas such as enhance practices, provide interactional and transactional benefits,, improve export marketing performance, provide strategic benefits such as Cost reduction, revenue generation and managerial effectiveness, improves innovation, Reduce marketing cost, improve customer relationships, improve company image and  competitive position, etc. Similarly through social media it is possible to perform integrated marketing activities with much less effort and cost than before. Social media can have a dramatic impact on organizations in areas such as enhancing brand’s reputation, improve value, relationship and brand equity, digital advertising and promotion, handle customer service issues, mine innovation ideas and building customer relations. For this study, through interviews it was found that the social media impact on organizations are indicated by various benefits such as cost reduction in terms of marketing, enhanced communication and customer service, improved customer relations and improved brand image.

Social media may not be suited to every business. If you are unprepared and launch your social media presence without proper planning, you could waste valuable time and money.For Example, Not having a clear marketing or social media strategy  may result in reduced benefits for your business, Additional resourses may be needed to manage your online presence, Social media is immediate and needs daily monitoring, If you don't actively manage your social media presence, you may not see any real benefits, Risk of unwanted or inappropriate behaviour on your site, including bullying and harassment, Greater exposure online has the potential to attract risks. Risks can include negative feedback, information leaks or hacking. " Trademark and Copyright Issues”, It is of the utmost importance for companies to protect their own trademarks and copyrights when using social media to promote their brands and products. A company‟s brands and other intellectual property are often nearly as valuable as the products or services that they offer. Social media‟s capacity to facilitate informal and impromptu communication often on a real-time basis can aid companies in promoting their brands and disseminating copyrighted material, but it can also facilitate thirdparty abuse of a business‟ trademarks and copyrights. " Trust, Privacy and Security Issues" , Using social media to promote one‟s brand, products, or services can also implicate trust, privacy and data security issues. It is important for companies to aware of these issues and takes appropriate measures to minimize their exposure to liability related to personal data collection, use, and maintenance. Trust, particularly the unique dimensions of transactional security and privacy. Social Media is a communications channel and not a marketing tactic and it just a tool that people can use it. Working without social media and internet is very weakness and failure. Alternatively, you may opt for a softer approach and allow access within certain limits. When monitoring employees' online behaviour, you will need to take into account the strict regulations set out in Collective Bargaining Agreement ( the conditions under which an employer is authorised to monitor an employee's electronic online communication in the workplace).