Social Media on Small and Medium-Sized Businesses - Case Study Example

Name: Tutor: Title: Social Media on Small and Medium Sized Businesses Institution: Date: Executive summary Social media has altered how individuals relate and communicate, and how businesses sell products. Implementing social media into business especially small and medium sized businesses can be of great value. This is because social media provide a basis for direct communication between companies and their potential clients. A number of companies have made great strides in controlling social media to build up more helpful development strategies. Prior to implementing the correct social media application, it is important to identify the right strategy of implementation, measure the effectiveness of the implemented application and analyze the policies required. Social media is not only a zone of building and strengthening relationships, but a place where businesses can strive in the competitive market. Many clients want to keep par with the digitalized world and so are the businesses. Therefore full exploitation of social media is greatly beneficial. Introduction Social media is a cover name used to illustrate social communication through a set of technology based tools, several of which are based on the internet. Tools of social media appear to be free or accessible at a very low price relative to other types of media and users are not required to have a lot of technical knowledge (Qualman, 2009). This allows a greater number of people to access and circulate material compared to traditional forms of media like radio. Small to medium businesses can benefit a lot from the use of social media. For instance, they can use social media to market their brand names. Whether consumers engage directly with the company’s brand or not, they will still have the brand name in the networks they exploit. Therefore, brand awareness is essential for the ongoing success of the business. This context illustrates the applications of social media in small to medium sized businesses. Social media applications in small to medium sized business Identification and brief description of relevant social media applications There are various applications of social media used by small to medium sized business. These include and not limited to: Facebook: As one of the leading social sites of networking in the universe of social media, Facebook boasted over 750 million individuals actively utilizing its service (Qualman, 2009). Facebook allow small to medium sized companies to educate, communicate and directly share information with their present and prospective clients. YouTube: This is a video distribution application of social media. This application also helps small to medium sized businesses to communicate and share information with potential clients. The content in the form of video helps small businesses to share information in a way that is less formal and creates the factors of know, trust and like that influence the process of decision making. Meetup: This is another social media application. It is basically a tool of event coordination. This tool supports small to medium sized businesses as it brings the individuals they want to draw directly to them and therefore brings direct communication feasible. Linkedln and Twitter: These are also important applications of social media where small and medium businesses can gain a lot. Through these social sites, clients can be retained and thereby the productivity of the company is increased. Small to medium sized businesses use social media’s factor of entertainment to create online database of connections and contact, be visible to potential clients, and get the word out in artistic means like YouTube video to make individuals smile and share the word. Description of how businesses can fully exploit social media applications The exponential development of social media, from Twitter and Facebook to YouTube and Linkedln, offers businesses the opportunity to join a chat with millions of clients around the world on daily basis (Qualman, 2009). Sites of social networking encourages organizations to alter their traditional strategies of marketing and concentrate on talking with clients and prospects, with the aim of developing and strengthening the relationship between the organization and the client. It is discovered that individuals feel more connected with an organization when they have a communication that is direct on a continuous basis and chances to express their views. Social media is not only a tool for looking at friends’ pictures and recalling the past times. It has turned out to be a tool with predictable and measurable authority that truly has a position with almost any type of business. Small and medium businesses need to identify their clients and sign up for the reliable social media then have a continuous update regarding the company hence the company gets followers who eventually buy the commodities within the company. There are various ways in which small to medium businesses can exploit the applications of social media. For instance: Branding: For several businesses, this is regarded as one of the most apparent benefit of using social media. Gaining recognition within the social network is one of the vital components for the success of a business (Smith, Wollan & Zhou, 2011). Therefore small to medium sized businesses need to exploit the factor of branding their companies in the social media so that whether people directly interact with the company’s brand or not, they will still view the brand name in the networks they use. Hence, they get the impression of the company and will still remember the brand name in the days to come. Customer service and response: It is important to provide support to the client since it is vital to the achievement of any business and social media is not exempted from this rule. Social media offers the platform for clients to interact on a personal level, so that they do not communicate to a faceless agent via email or over the phone (Qualman, 2009). It is important to respond any time a user reaches out. Providing this extent of service, which can be a simple thing like thanking a person who mentioned the company’ brand, is entirely transparent to the whole network, indicating how someone is dedicated to his or her audience. Lead generation: Social media may help act as a way of finding clients for the business, sponsor the cause or as a way to create several other beneficial relations (Smith, Wollan & Zhou, 2011). For instance, just by searching via Twitter, a user gets a feel for the buzz in the advertised business and maybe interacts with interested potential clients. Educational asset: In whichever business it is vital to remain original in the particular field and get the best methods to maintain the conversations regarding what they do. Social media provides the brand of small to medium sized businesses with a free supply of continuous information from different brands, friends, media outlets, coworkers and competitors (Qualman, 2009). Therefore small to medium sized businesses can implement social media since it provides continuous information. Competitive analysis: In any company it is vital to keep pace with competitors. Small to medium sized businesses are not exempted from this. Therefore social media simply makes this process simpler by facilitating total transparency of the information and chats the competitors are having on their different social accounts. Examples and evaluations of current use within businesses As social media is good for relationships, it is also good for small to medium sized businesses. Here are some examples of its current use within businesses: Marketing: Dynamic participation and communication within networks and social media is a rapid and simple method to create awareness to people of a number of projects and has capability to steer several visitors to businesses’ personal internet home page (Smith, Wollan & Zhou, 2011). Clients will take positively given opportunity to be involved in the networks they choose, for instance by giving votes, comments or other constructive information. Networking: Taking part in social media does not only concern spreading information or absorbing it but more significant entails constructing relationships like in the actual life. Social aspect is vital hence social capability of small to medium sized businesses is especially significant at this time. Market search: A good basis of information for market search is social media since it provides a lot of helpful information beyond simple numbers (Smith, Wollan & Zhou, 2011). A small and medium sized company needs to observe the products and campaigns of marketing that are successful. Since social media provides a great opportunity for competition, small and medium businesses need to implement better strategies for their business growth within the social media. Share: The market share of small and medium sized companies can significantly increase through social media. At this moment, globalization provides a tool for small and innovative businesses to make micro-enterprise businesses globally. Information: Social media acts a two way street in the distribution of information. For a business, several blogs, networks and media existing in social media is an excellent basis of information and motivation (Smith, Wollan & Zhou, 2011). Various topics provided by the company can have great significance by other users and be shared within communities. Management practices Implementation strategy Determining the objective: The small and medium company need to figure out why they are getting involved with the social media and what they need to achieve with it. Developing a timetable and objectives could also encourage a conversation regarding content management (Qualman, 2009). As a reliable practice, a particular employee is normally allocated to create and control the social media page of the company, so that he or she can give responses towards the questions and messages in 24 hours. Get a domestic evangelist: Companies need to get someone who is responsible for the outcomes when it come to the time of decision making. If this does not work from internal perspective, an external person who can act as a consultant may be hired for decision making. Consider the employees: It is important to encourage employees to take part in social media on behalf of the company. Another important feature for the success of a company is to understand the level of interest and knowledge of its employees. Providing interactive training course via the internet gives employees the foundation on where, why, and how to connect in social media. Suggestions from employees may be of great value prior to strategies of implementing social media. Check the Tech: While various social media do not require an enormous technology investment, it is still important to consider the technology potentials of the company to ensure that the system can uphold the strategy (Qualman, 2009). It is important to know who will access the social media application and what content should be posted. Some businesses may want to implement social media within the company but there could be some hindrances that may make this impossible, therefore it is important to evaluate the proficiency of the available technology. Listen first: By simply watching others, a lot can be acquired and learned (Smith, Wollan & Zhou, 2011). For instance, a company can begin to focus on creating connections with people in target companies. When businesses listen to their clients, they get a clear picture of what they want in terms of needs and demand. Therefore small and medium sized business should practice the art of listening to their esteemed clients. On social media, some responses may be hateful or discouraging but the business owners need to act in a professional manner. Measurement of effectiveness and ROI As companies get more complicated in their application of social networking, so are the metrics by which they determine social business Return On Investments (ROI) (Blanchard, 2011). It is good to determine whether the large numbers of followers or fans on the profile of a company add value to the success of the company. Another measurement of effectiveness is social demographics. Linked to the quality of followers and fans is identifying precisely who those followers and fans are. This will help to make sure that any social schemes are hitting the fundamental audience and attaining present business goals, although it will as well help to expose potential fresh clients and guide potential marketing, customer service, product development, advertising, and other goals (Blanchard, 2011). ROI is an easy appraisal that can be applied to a wide variety of decisions of investment (Qualman, 2009). It can offer a quantitative foundation for making a close alternative. It also gives a framework to establish how an investment may be made with more profits like by reducing the expense of an investment. Measuring the effectiveness of the investment will help the company know whether it is obtaining profits or losses (Blanchard, 2011). Through measurements and assessment, it is easier to review the strategy that the company uses to reach out to its customers. Operational matters It is important that the company identifies its business liability, the responsibilities and liabilities of business officers and directors, the rights and accountabilities of creditors and shareholders, and how the business is terminated (Pride, Hughes & kapoor, 2011). When these matters are addressed, the company is likely to monitor its progress and identify the areas of failure. Development of social media policy Introducing the reason of social media whereby every policy should address what is in it for the user or reader, that is, what the reader should take away subsequent to reading the policy (Qualman, 2009). The company should be responsible for what they write. The organization and its agents should take accountability for what they write, and practice common sense and good judgment. Organizations should be authentic because users buy from individuals they know and trust; therefore it is important to let people identify you. It is important to understand the idea of community. The fundamental nature of community is the notion that an individual can support others and they, eventually, can support the company. It is vital to learn how to stabilize professional and personal information, and the significant role that intelligibility plays in creating a community. Another policy of social media is to bring value. Social media will more possibly pay the business’s dividends if value is added to the readers, fans, followers, and users (Qualman, 2009). Productivity is fundamental. This is because, in order to have a successful endeavor in social media, a person or a company needs to get the correct balance connecting social media and other work. Conclusions and recommendations Small and medium businesses can actually benefit from implementing social media into their businesses. Social media helps small and medium businesses to have cost efficient web updates. Social media helps small and medium businesses to have cost reduction on materials that are printed. Social media reinforces networked connections and promotes a mutual knowledge sharing. Social media promotes a better understanding of clients’ awareness of their brand. It also demonstrates the capacity to measure the frequency of the talks regarding the brand and provide an early caution on potential commodity or service issues. Recommendation regarding the most effective application that small and medium businesses can implement is Facebook which is the most popular social networking application. The company needs to identify its target market, and then set objectives of what it wants to achieve. Followers and fans would like the company that has clear objectives in business and will eventually buy the promoted or advertised commodity. Bibliography Blanchard, O. 2011, Social media ROI: managing and measuring social media efforts in your organization. Indianapolis, Ind, Que. Pride, W. M., Hughes, R. J., & Kapoor, J. R. 2011, Foundations of business. Australia, South-Western Cengage Learning. Qualman, E. 2009, Socialnomics: how social media transforms the way we live and do business. Hoboken, N.J., Wiley. Smith, N., Wollan, R., & Zhou, C. 2011, The social media management handbook: everything you need to know to get social media working in your business. Hoboken, N.J., Wiley. Read More