Importance of Social Network in Business (Essay Sample)

Importance of Social Network in Business Student's Name: Instructor's Name: Course Code and Name: University Date of Submission: Importance of Social Network in Business Executive summary Social media has been the latest technology that businesses are embracing in an effort to make them grow bigger. Many organizations, currently, can attribute their success on the use of social media, since they have increased their market base, and also they are able to handle by complaints that are brought by customers. However, there should be a system to monitor some of these sites because they may be used for the wrong purpose When employees get addicted to the sites in social media, they tend to give a lower productivity when compared to those companies that do not use social media. Among the best practices to adopt include training employees to recognize scams, updating them on the latest threats, updating software and keeping a close eye on the sites that employees visit. Through this, there will be reduction of threat that the social media offers. The research below shows how social media can be used, and when it should be avoided. Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….4 The Importance of social media in businesses……………………………………………………………………………………..4 The Impact of using social network on business organizations and the society…………………………………………………………………………………………5 Critical and controversial issues…………………………………………………………………………………………..7 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………7 Suggestions for Future Research………………………………………………………………………………………7 List of references………………………………………………………………………………9 Introduction Social network media has been playing a vital role in business since it is behind significant advertising and business promotion that businesses have been gaining. Such social network sites that have been promoting businesses include Facebook and twitter. Through such sites, companies and individual businesses have been in the frontline to make awareness regarding their businesses and merchandise. They have been engaging in interactive sessions with their customers, and this has helped in making sure that all complaints and suggestions are dealt with appropriately. In this connection, businesses have also had chances to get ideas on how to improve their services with their customers, and this has ensured customer loyalty. Through this, companies have improved their sales, and hence, profitability, owing to the large contributions social networking sites has made for their success (Klein, 2008). The Importance of social media in businesses Social media is the most appropriate platform that has been used in business transformation, which has been experienced in years. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have strategized on capitalizing on social sites so as to earn much for their businesses through these sites. Through these sites, they are able to interact with their target markets and hence, understand each other in a semi-formal environment. In such a platform, the business is able to figure out on the nature of the customers it has and everything around them. This includes their incomes and their purchasing power, as well as, their preferences and tastes. They are able to determine what they like during business hours and even outside business. In social networks, people have the courage to reveal what they like and how they like it, and this can be made use of by the business in improving the nature of the products in such a way that it suits the interests of the prospective customers (Wight, 2013). Many business managers have agreed to the fact that once the social networks are used properly, they are worth to gain some attention for the business. Online marketing has been the order of the day in Facebook and twitter. Consultant businesses have thrived as these sites have offered a large market base for their customers. They are able to give business advice and referrals, and also helping important people connect for business purposes. Facebook and twitter have proved to be helpful in attempting to notify people concerning something a business wishes to promote or even an incoming event that is useful to the business. Large networks such as Facebook are most essential in tapping larger audiences. The interaction in these sites is more useful, especially when it is focussed on a specific subject matter. People interact more intensively, and the business is able to get feedback on the best way to handle some of the main challenges it is likely to face in its operations (Brossman & Mcgaha, 2011 pp 175-183). In a recent research conducted, various managers were interviewed on the role of social media on their businesses. Most of these managers concurred that without these social networks, marketing would not have been the same. Their role in the marketing industry cannot be undermined. The founder of Bramble Buzz, Julia Bramble confesses that the absence of businesses in social media will affect Claire Mitchell, the founder of The Girls mean Business, also praises social media after she used Facebook to offer webinars, coaching programmes and also e-books for female entrepreneurs, which later led to the formation of the successful organization. Adam Ball, the owner of Concept Cupboard, asserts that through Twitter, he was able to expand his network, where he was able to know people he did not know, and are ready to work with his idea for better results. This led to the formation for his design company. The Impact of using social network on business organizations and the society Businesses have faced positive effects from the social media, as well as negative ones. From research, most of the businesses have reached their high levels of operations because of using social sites wisely. In the recent years, social media has extensively expanded in the whole world, and it accounts for more than 700 million users in one social site. There has been impact on business culture, as well as operations in many organizations, since communication is the backbone of business operations. Social sites, as previously mentioned, allow people interact, share ideas, pictures and also connect with new people or businesses. For social media to make the right impact on a business, the business should make the right choice of the site being used. Different sites in the social media have already created different perspectives, and this means that an organization or an individual has to consider such factors when deciding which site they would use for their operations (Qualman, 2013 pp 56- 63). Facebook is used for closer friends in most cases. In businesses, it is used by already established organizations that have their own privacy and share it with fewer customers. Facebook is the best platform in which customers can lodge their complaints and concerns that need to be worked on for the building of the reputation of the business. When managed well, a business can make a working relationship with its customers appropriately owing to the fact that the customers get satisfied with the attention given to them by the organization through Facebook. Most relationships created in Facebook are for friends and acquaintances where they can set their privacy depending on the nature of their relationship. Through Facebook, people are very successful in organizing events and big parties since it has many users. This chance can be used by businesses whenever they are organizing events to launch new products, or for other purposes. In Facebook, large companies create fan pages where they are able to interact with their customers. Such events are easy to organize with the help of Facebook since awareness is easy to make at such points (Armano, 2011). Twitter is the best site to interact with people who do not know each other. Most users of Twitter do not know each other on personal dimension. It is the best platform for people sharing the same interests where they are able to share great ideas within the limit of 140 words which Twitter offers per each post. For instance, managers of different companies can interact on Twitter and help each other out on making management decisions despite the long distance between the two companies. What makes twitter different from the other sites is that one can follow people or things he or she likes. He or she does not have to know the p...