According to Bhanot (2012), social media depends on web-based technologies through which individuals and communities share information, ideas and modify the user-generated content. Contrary to the traditional media that operated on a monologic transmission system, where data flows from one source to several receivers, social media uses a dialogic transmission system, where there are several sources and receivers. As such, social media has created a highly interactive platform that individuals and organizations use to communicate their ideas. Today, the social media usage has escalated beyond mere social sharing. The social media helps to create careers, building individual or organizational reputation through advertising, as well as a source of income to some people (Tang and Whinston, 2012). The purpose of this report is to discuss the reasons for using the social media by businesses. The report also discusses how social media influences the running and performance of a business.

More than half the number of adults in the world today are using social media through a personal computer, and smartphone, tablet, internet enabled television, a music place or even an e-reader. The rate of usage of the social media by businesses increased proportionately with the rate of increase in the number of people accessing the social media platforms. For instance, there was a tremendous increase in the percentage of companies that used the social media; from 42% in the year 2007 to 75% in the year 2009 (Barnes, 2010). Moreover, according to Barnes (2010), 66% of the global businesses were found to use the social media in marketing their brands. According to Kaplan (2012), the mobile media is sensitive to time and location, making it suitable for marketing research, communicating with other entities with similar interests, promoting sales and enhancing customer loyalty.

Social networking is a top online activity that a huge global population uses to make purchases. More and more people are using the social media to search for products and reviewing brands for more information before purchasing any products offered. Consequently, a business have adopted this trend and uses the social media to not only advertize their brands but also make it possible for the consumers to purchase and get the product delivered to them. Logofatu (2012) asserts that a business uses this platform to give more information to the customers. This information is based on the usage of the products, new products being developed as well as get the opinions of the customers concerning the products and services offered. As such, the business entities can use this kind of information from customers in making a better decision that ultimately satisfy the needs of the customers. Both small and large corporations are aware of the social media influence-borne and are now using it in their favor through social media campaigns. The corporations send free product samples for prospective customers to review as well as developing other effective marketing strategies to leverage the evolving online techniques. Otherwise, a business would fail because their online presence in the social media is a basic strategy meant to reach the consumers.

Businesses should be ready to advance their online marketing strategies in order to keep the pace in the highly competitive business world because consumers tend to purchase a product that can fully satisfy their needs. Some customers look for business’s social media accounts that are well organized, smart, and funny, with detailed information about the products and the business. To some, the social media is quite unprofitable as a strategy for marketing. However, understanding the benefits brought about by social media and developing subtle techniques meant to achieve best results creates a huge potential for increasing sales. In addition, elevating your customer base requires some level of expertise because without any prior experience or insights into social media marketing could be quite challenging.

A huge percentage of firms use the social media for the purposes of hiring the workforce. The social media is an all-time high recruitment platform with all kind of business institution utilizing its services and constantly advertising for job vacancies using top social networks like the LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. (Logofatu, 2012). Therefore, the jobs should be allocated to the personnel according to their qualifications and make sure that they are well trained on how to interact with the customers.

It is essential that a business in an industry know their audience as it a key to successfully operate and meet all the set objectives. Through the social media, this is made possible as the business could learn what language is commonly used, the age, location, interests and gender of the audience. With this information, the business can facilitate campaigns and products that best suit the target population leading to better investment returns. In order to communicate a certain message to a specific population who speak in a particular language, the business could use social networks like Facebook, which have tools to reach the consumers through geo-targeting. The business also uses the social media to locate their customers, create meaningful relationships with them, inform them of promotions, as well as look for more potential customers.

The social media helps the business get instant feedback from the consumers that provide some valuable information, which the firm could use to make appropriate decisions on the market. For instance, a business could post a new product on the social media and let the people comment about its effectiveness. When a business entity understands its target population, it become easier to voice their ideas, display products that match the needs of their clients and resonate with them. Social media provides the easiest way to authenticate a certain business.

t the competitors that they use to make strategic marketing decisions that help them keep pace with the competition. This information can also help the business develop new ideas and products that the competitors lack. The social media not only does it help to create awareness and build brand identity but also helps in establishing a brand’s personality and a voice to the business that customers can relate. It helps the business connect with the people at an emotional level, which is an added advantage against the external competition.

The business uses the social media to share its content in a much easier and faster as the customers share the contents with their followers. Therefore, a business should make sure that its social media content is hand-in-hand with their brand and the needs of the customers. The content should provide utility through being useful, relevant, and adding value to the customers. This information could serve the purpose of answering the customer’s questions or satisfying their needs in a way that is relevant to the business’s objectives. Leaving the customer’s questions, unanswered portrays a negative image for the business as people view it as unprofessional. As such, the business should always be visible to the public and ensure that all the channels relating to the brand are frequently monitored, and any question posed to them by the public are answered. Additionally, the content could contain information that demonstrates the business’s knowledge and expertise in their field.

The social media is the most efficient way of establishing and monitoring the business’s reputation, which is an essential aspect of in making marketing decisions. It makes it quicker and easier for a business to get feedback from the public, giving a clearer picture of the pain areas that needs to be addressed. Through offering swift turn the negative sentiments to positive in a public way. It will make the customers happy, the negative posts will cease, and, on the other hand, the business will have displayed a strong customer service and effective problem resolutions, thus attracting more customers.

Barnes (2010) identifies several aspects in the social media that a business should be cautious about, including:

1. A business that depends on a small number of customers should ensure that they use the personal contacts of these customers when communicating with them.
2. The individuals using the social media to facilitate the company’s activities should be well knowledgeable in the area in order to efficiently serve the customers and benefit the company.
3. It is essential that the businesses abide by the legal standards set and mind what response they give to the public for the questions asked.

In conclusion, people use the social media to interact with others, and this could have a significant impact on the reputation of the business, thus affecting its sales. If the customers are not satisfactorily served, they could ruin the business image being posting negative comments in the social media. As such, the businesses should be cautious on how they handle the people, keenly determine the negative effects of the social media, and establish methods of avoiding them for success. promotions, as well as strengthen the relationship with the customers. This report only provides information on why businesses use social media around the world. However, the information is quite limited, and further research on the area should be conducted to obtain more details.

Tang, Q., Gu, B., & Whinston, A. B. (2012). Content contribution for revenue sharing and reputation in social media: A dynamic structural model. Journal of Management Information Systems, 29(2), 41-76.

Kaplan, A. M. (2012). If you love something, let it go mobile: Mobile marketing and mobile social media 4×4. Business Horizons, 55(2), 129-139.

CLICK BUTTON TO ORDER NOW