Social Media on Contemporary Business Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Role of Social Media on Contemporary Business Communication. Answer: Introduction Social media is created by people creating a network of sharing, reading, news sharing and discovering of information as well as new content. Its a platform that allows for communication from many people to many people unlike the traditional form of communication where only one person would communicate to many people. In social media, people can connect online, create networks and initiate and take part in interactive communication on different topics, be it politics, contemporary issues as well as business (McQuail, 2005, p. 5). In the modern world, technology has taken a toll on people's life and businesses have not been left behind, through social media people can generate business images sales, create a business brand by publicizing the business image, and increase a network for the business. There are quite some social sites that business use, for example, Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Skype, YouTube among others. Business communication refers to the process of business passing and sharing data and information within and outside the organization with the aim of promoting the organizational operations. The use of social media has led to numerous changes in the business from communication to how the businesses operate. Every business has presently embraced one of the social media sites and using it to either market or sell their products or services. Communication creates a large difference in different business; social media has enabled business communications both internally and externally (Newman, 2013, p. 8). Despite the positive impacts that social media have on business communication, its worthy noting that the same social media if not well manage can hurt the companys corporate image. Therefore, it's critical for businesses to have the control over their site to avoid such occurrences. Companies can do this by having social media experts manage their businesss sites. Business communication involves the interactions between the business and either its employees or customers as well as with other stakeholders and stockholders. A business can use social media as a medium to reach its customers at all times (Perrin, 2015, p. 115). The social media platforms have increased the number of prospective clients. Customer communication is a major business process as it allows the business to keep its customers posted in case of any information they need to know regarding the business. This paper seeks to identify the impacts that the social media has on contemporary business communication using Telstra Communications as a case study. Roles of Social Media Connections; business uses the social media to post information regarding their products and services, in addition to which companies also use social media to build connections through business networking. The main aim of business use of social media is to interact and build connections with their existing and prospective clients. Social media has provided great ways for the business to receive and respond to their customers complain an open platform where customers are given a chance to openly ask questions and express their worries regarding the business and its services (Thurlow, 2004, p. 10). Business as well uses the social media to communicate information to their customers regarding their services to the community. Apart from their daily selling of products to the people, they post pictures and videos taking part in helping the community, for instance, Telstra will post pictures of their sponsorship programs as well as post the saving strategies that the company has with the a im of helping the customers and the community as a whole. This strategy helps the company increase the customer's trust in the business (Hung, 2010, p. 713). Building a company brand and image; every business aims at having a brand image for itself. A company image is an important aspect of the company as it determines how the people perceive the business. With the emergence of social media, the business got a platform to use in creating a business image (Herring, 2004, p. 16). By use of these platforms the company assumes an image of a human being, an image that people can interact with the business, the customers can use the companys sites to post their blogs and articles hence expressing their feelings regarding the businesses. Through social media, the company can weigh how popular they are to the people (Hosein, 2010, p. 418). Telstra has managed to create its image throughout Australia significantly through its current advertisements through the social media. The company has grown to be a brand company and the leading in the Telecommunications industry. Business interactions with its target market; use of the social networking sites has helped improve their business networking through communicating with the people. Through the site, the satisfied customers share their experiences with others hence helping the company increase on its network. The sites as well help the businesses grow on their competitive edge by open interactive marketing. The businesses get an opportunity to interact with their customers which provide them with insights on what areas need improvement. This increases the business chances of creating effective marketing strategies that satisfy the needs of their customers (Wicks, 2015, p. 3).Telstra gets a voice from social media through these platforms the company manages to collect the insights and opinions of the people. They can as well interact to identify the exact cause of a problem. This kind of business interaction is very critical to the success of business. Telstra acknowledges the role social media intera ctions have on the companys performance; the ability social media has in shaping the companys service improvement to the people. Creates full-time Business availability; business was traditionally restricted to their communications with their consumers by time. There was no immediate responsiveness to customers questions as phone calls, or emails would only be responded to during the working hours. With the latest social media trend customers have full time access the business at any time of the day, companies can respond to customers immediately after customers posts on their sites (Dholakia, 2010, p. 13). This has enabled the customers to address situations regarding the business at their own convenient time. Social media has as well allowed business to grow their popularity through information sharing. Telstra has proved to be fully available to its customers at all times, this evident through the quick response that customers receive their complaints. This creates a feeling of satisfaction to the customers and helps them feel recognized and valued by the company. A satisfied customer will remain loyal to t he company even when the company faces hard times hence quick availability to the customers when they need the organization is very critical. Creates and expands the business Social business environment; business exists because of the presence of people outside the business that influences the business existence and success. These people comprise of the business environment, thus through social media interaction, the business can create a business social environment. Customers are now using the internet to search for the products and services they need, through the social sites and social information was sharing prospective customers get to learn about the existence of individual businesses hence creating a social environment for those businesses (Kornfield, 2009, p. 23). Its, therefore, important for the business to have a good and appealing image to its customers to help increase its chances of getting positive comments and referrals from its existing customers to new customers hence expanding their social environment. Social media creates a business campaign avenue; traditionally businesses took a lot of time before getting the responses of the customers regarding their services and products. With the latest technology, businesses have an avenue to immediately get the customers positive and negative responses regarding their operation, products, and services. This in return makes it easy for the company to respond to the issues and give their customers their assurance on working on the issue and informs them upon resolving the issue. For example, Telstra informs its customers about technical hitches that may be expected in advance making the customers aware and this helps reduce the inconveniences created by customers. The company as well uses the social media as avenues to campaign for their services and products (Ritter, 2014, pp. 2-4). Social media creates a critical marketing platform for the businesses; the business has a chance of reaching a lot of people. Depending on how well the businesses serve their customers they can act as a good marketer of the company. Satisfied customers act as a good marketer for the customers by posting positive compliments which attract new clients with similar needs. For instance, the Telstra network has gained popularity through the satisfied customers compliment. People using other networks get to learn about the company and decides to close over to the network. This shows the important roles that the social media helps business as a marketing communication media (Kaplan, 2010, pp. 16-18). Customers have grown to be key business marketers through social media. Social media have shaped the customer service operations; when a customer is dissatisfied with the service they get from the company, this information can be received by the top management directly courtesy of the social media. By this it means that the posts, articles, and blogs done through social media reach the highest offices as well, this has helped increase the quality of customer services from the side of the company (Jiang, 2011, p. 134). Customers are assured of their issues being attended to from the responses they get via the social sites. It has well helped to ensure that all customers complaints reach the right departments and are not blocked somewhere along the way as would be the case with other media like telephone and emails. Also, the sites create a more reliable and convenient contact to customers owing to the geographical distances since the customers can be far from a physical contact center. This helps the customers save on costs and time (Deighton, 2007, p. 48 ). Creation of a global image and Global Presence; through social media businesses can communicate with more than just the local customers. With social media, information can flow globally conveniently through low costs and promptly. A company that has operations in more than one country has an avenue to reach all its customers in all its branches. This form of media allows for customers all over the globe to interact. Also the companies can venture the international markets through reaching out to the people all over the intended markets. This means that social media has a big role to play in the flow of information globally (Alberran, 2013, pp. 45-56). Telstra Communication Company in Australia, for example, has to make sure that its information flows through the whole of Australia, reaching through to all of its customers in the states. This process has been made easy by the social media since a single post on its social media sites reaches almost all of its clients at a go. In conclusion, it's worth noting that apart from posting on social media business should take the initiative to create Earned Social Media which allows the customers the client's share and spread information regarding the company, hence increasing the companys popularity. The advancements in technology have made many people turn to social sites. The businesses are using the high traffic c in the social sites to tap more customers (Bosari, 2012, p. 5). Social media concerns itself with the impacts communication can have without necessarily involving the face to face interaction. However, for the business to achieve beneficial results its important for the company to create an interactive ground by assuming a human presence on their site, Telstra has established itself as a market leader in Australian through efficient responsiveness to customers complaints and offering efficient solutions. Through social media companies have been able to increase their customer retention rates. Howeve r, companies should as well focus on the negative roles that social media can have on their business and address them accordingly to avoid the media from tainting their corporate image. References Alberran, A. B. (2013). ) The Social Media Industries. New York: Routledge. Bosari, J. (2012). The Developing Role of Social Media in the Modern Business World. Forbes Contributor, pp.1-7. Deighton, J. A. (2007). Dove: Evolution of a Brand. Boston M.A:: Harvard Business School Press. Dholakia, U. M. (2010). The Effect of Explicit Reference Points on. Marketing Science, p.13. 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