Company X Online Communication Strategy

This assignment tasks students with analyzing the necessity for Company X to adopt a new online communication strategy centered around social media platforms. The analysis should encompass the benefits and challenges associated with this transition, highlighting the importance of customer engagement as a key performance indicator. The document emphasizes the need to measure success through metrics like customer engagement and implement control measures to bridge any gaps between desired and actual results.

MANAGEMENT
COMMUNICATION
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Main body........................................................................................................................................3
Company’s existing communication strategy..............................................................................3
The challenges of employing social media..................................................................................4
Benefits of social media and other online platform.....................................................................5
Feasible online communication strategy.....................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9
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INTRODUCTION
In the modern era, the rise of internet technology has provided companies with a more
potential platform to carry out marketing and promotion of their products and services.
Nowadays, many businesses have replaced their traditional marketing tools with the modern
tools of marketing (Vinerean, Cetina, Dumitrescu, & Tichindelean, 2013). The key benefit
associated with the use of online marketing techniques is that companies can cost-effectively
reach the broad audience.
The present study is based on Company X which is a small-medium enterprise operating
in the Food and beverage industry of Singapore. The business is carrying out its operations from
the past 50 years, and at present, it has employed more than 100. This report outlines the existing
communication strategy which has been adopted by Company X. Apart from this, challenges and
benefits linked to social media marketing are also mentioned in this report.
MAIN BODY
Company’s existing communication strategy
Company X is operating in the food and beverage industry of Singapore, and at present,
the industry is highly competitive. The selected business enterprise is facing intense competition
from other market players, and thus, it is no longer easy for Company X to attract new customers
and retain the old ones. Now, the company is facing issues regarding increasing sales,
profitability and the reason behind this can be termed as its existing communication strategy. It
can be expressed that Company X is using traditional tools of marketing communication and
these tools have created obstacles in achieving long-term growth.
For example, the brand invests heavily on broadcast and print media for carrying out
promotion of its products and services. The company believes that the selected tools of
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marketing communication are useful because these tools support in creating awareness of goods
and services among people in the market. However, it can be critically argued that nowadays,
broadcast and print media cannot be termed as adequate as they are quite expensive as compared
to modern marketing tools (Strauss, 2016).
The traditional tools and techniques of marketing are also considered as highly successful
and proven. On the other side of this, it can be argued that advertisement on broadcast and print
media cannot be regarded as result oriented in the modern era. The rationale behind this is that
sometimes ads results in creating confusion among buyers as a distorted version of products
reality is displayed in the same (Tuten & Solomon, 2014). In addition to this, the flow of
information is one way, and the opportunities for generating feedback is also very less in the
traditional communication tools. Limited space and time can be considered as other drawbacks
associated with the use of traditional form of communication.
The challenges of employing social media
It can be expressed that replacing traditional tools and employing online marketing tools
such as social media is not going to be an easy task for Company X. The rationale behind this is
that the company will be required to deal with different types of issues and challenges during the
same. The main problem which has been faced by companies during the implementation of
social media marketing can be termed as literacy or knowledge (Scott, 2015).
The selected business enterprise is making use of traditional marketing techniques form
past 30 years, and it will not be easy for the brand to replace the same. To employ social media
marketing, adequate skill set and knowledge in the field of digital marketing is a must (Leeflang,
Verhoef, Dahlström, & Freundt, 2014). Thus, Company X will be required to hire competent
personnel’s who are skilled in carrying out digital marketing of products and services.
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Company X will also face different types of issues regarding maintaining its brand
reputation in the marketplace (Ashley & Tuten, 2015). The negative comments and reviews of
the consumer over social media can adversely affect the overall brand image of the company.
Businesses are required to develop effective strategies to deal with negative comments and
reviews generated on online platforms.
In the modern era, the success of social media marketing is influenced by the uniqueness
and overall quality of content. Unique and quality content helps in gathering the attention of
people, and it also supports in influencing their buying behaviour (Kumar, Bhaskaran,
Mirchandani, & Shah, 2013). However, it can be critically argued that for Company X,
development of content will not be an easy task as the business will be doing this for the first
time in the history of thirty years.
Another challenge of employing social media marketing as a replacement for traditional
marketing tool is that the company will be required to provide training and development
programs (Chang, Yu, & Lu, 2015). These programs are essential because they will help staff
members of Company X to gain knowledge about the way in which social media marketing can
be carried out. The result of this is that overall cost of operations and stress level of staff
members will increase to a great extent (Kaur, 2016). Monitoring and management of customer
engagement on social media channels are other challenges which Company X will face while
replacing the traditional marketing techniques with the new ones.
Benefits of social media and other online platform
The main and most important benefit which is associated with the use of social media and
other online platform is that it provides organizations with access to a large target market.
Businesses can even reach international markets and customers by employing social media and
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other online platforms (Coombs, 2014). The use of mentioned above platforms will help
Company X to improve its brand image, customer base along with the volume of sales and
profits. However, it can be critically argued that to develop and maintain its online presence, the
selected business enterprise will be required to invest additional resources.
The benefit of using social media and other related platforms for marketing is that it
results in reducing the overall cost of marketing. For example, companies are not required to pay
for posting advertisement and information on these channels (Grunig, 2013). Increase in
customer engagement is another potential benefit which is associated with the use of social
media and online marketing channels (Armstrong, Kotler, Harker, & Brennan, 2015). The
rationale behind this is that the mentioned above platforms can provide Company X with an
opportunity to carry out two-way communication and generate instant feedback.
In addition to this, the response of people in the market regarding new products, offer and
company’s overall performance can be easily evaluated with the use of social media and online
channels of marketing (Cornelissen & Cornelissen, 2017). On the contrary of this, it can be
critically argued that social media do not produce desired outcomes if companies are not
maintaining their social presence effectively (Dinner, Van Heerde, & Neslin, 2014). Company X
may also expose to several risks linked with information leakage, negative feedback, and
hacking while carrying out the use of social media as a tool for marketing. However, the use of
online platforms will directly reduce the company’s dependency on the paid form of
advertisements.
Feasible online communication strategy
A feasible online communication strategy is developed and mentioned below as:
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 Identify business goals – The key goal of Company X is to increase the volume of sales,
profits and stay competitive in the industry. Apart from this, increasing brand awareness
and image is another major goal of the selected business enterprise
 Setting communication objectives- The purpose of the company will be to replace its
traditional communication system with modern and online communication techniques.
Furthermore, its objective is to employ social media marketing within the period of next
six months.
 Identify ideal customers – The use of social media and online marketing channels will be
carried out to communicate with idea customers who will be people in middle and higher
income group of society. Apart from this, youngsters and working professionals will also
be targeted by the brand.
 Selection of communication channels – Social media and emails are going to be the two
important channels which Company X will be using to communicate with ideal
customers. It can be expressed that selection of right and efficient channels are essential
for long-term growth and success of online communication strategy.
 Implementing the strategy - The selected business enterprise will emphasize more on
developing unique and quality content to communicate with its target customers. Here, a
team of digital marketing personnel’s will be developed, and these individuals will be
responsible for managing the online communication strategy of Company X.
 Measurement and control – The process of measurement and control is carried out with
the help of different tools and techniques. For example, factors such as sales lead
generated, online traffic and level of customer engagement will be taken into
consideration by Company X to measure the success of online communication strategy.
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In case if when there is the gap between existing and desired results, effective measures
of control will be taken by the business.
CONCLUSION
In the present scenario, social media and other online channels have emerged as the most
potential platforms for conducting marketing and promotion of services and products. To sustain
in the long run, Company X is required to replace its traditional marketing communication
strategy with a new one which focuses on social media and other related channels. It can also be
inferred that the company will face some challenges in the implementation of new online
communication strategy, but the strategy will offer a wide range of benefits in the long run.
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REFERENCES
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M., & Brennan, R. (2015). Marketing: an introduction.
Indiana: Pearson Education.
Ashley, C., & Tuten, T. (2015). Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory
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Chang, Y. T., Yu, H., & Lu, H. P. (2015). Persuasive messages, popularity cohesion, and
message diffusion in social media marketing. Journal of Business Research , 777-782.
Coombs, W. T. (2014). Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, managing, and responding.
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Cornelissen, J., & Cornelissen, J. P. (2017). Corporate communication: A guide to theory and
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Dinner, I. M., Van Heerde, H. J., & Neslin, S. A. (2014). Driving online and offline sales: The
cross-channel effects of traditional, online display, and paid search advertising. . Journal
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Grunig, J. E. (2013). Excellence in public relations and communication management. Abingdon-
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Kaur, G. (2016). Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies. Social Media Marketing , 14-22.
Kumar, V., Bhaskaran, V., Mirchandani, R., & Shah, M. (2013). Practice prize winner—creating
a measurable social media marketing strategy: increasing the value and ROI of
intangibles and tangibles for hokey pokey. . Marketing Science , 194-212.
Leeflang, P. S., Verhoef, P. C., Dahlström, P., & Freundt, T. (2014). Challenges and solutions
for marketing in a digital era. European management journal , 1-12.
Scott, D. M. (2015). The new rules of marketing and PR: How to use social media, online video,
mobile applications, blogs, news releases, and viral marketing to reach buyers directly. .
New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Strauss, J. (2016). E-marketing. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge.
Tuten, T. L., & Solomon, M. R. (2014). Social media marketing. . California: Sage.
Vinerean, S., Cetina, I., Dumitrescu, L., & Tichindelean, M. (2013). The effects of social media
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