The Use of Social Media in Business Communication

This report explores the role and advantages of social media in business communication. It discusses how social media impacts marketing, customers, feedback cycle, globalization, and workplace environment. The report cites reliable sources and provides statistical data to support its claims.

Running head: THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
The use of Social Media in Business Communication
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1THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Business Communication and Social Media
In the article, “Social media use in organizations: Exploring the affordances of
visibility, editability, persistence, and association” published in Annals of the International
Communication Association, the authors Treem and Leonardi, gives an account of the role
and advantages of social media in the process of business communication (Treem &
Leonardi, 2013). Social media provides an effective as well as less expensive mode of
communication that the business organizations can use to reach out a larger number people
and convey the relevant information to them. Social media is a faster way of delivering
urgent messages to the employees. The medium can also be used by the organizations or
companies to convey the goals as well as the objectives of the organization or company
concerned so that the employees can fulfill the relevant roles as well as responsibilities.
Social media can also be used to motivate the employees as well as an interactive platform
where the employees can interact among themselves and get to know their colleagues better
(Treem & Leonardi, 2013). This article is very much relevant to the present report as it gives
a detailed overview of the role that social media plays in the process of business
communication within an organization. The article when analyzed using the reliability test
yields accurate conclusions about the role of social media in the process of business
communication. The statistical as well as the secondary data that are used in the article are
very much reliable even in the present business context.
Social Media and Marketing
In the article, “Do social media marketing activities enhance customer equity? An
empirical study of luxury fashion brand” published in Journal of Business Research by the
authors Kim and Ko, gives an account of the impact of social media in the process of
marketing. Marketing is an important process of business communication by means of which
the various companies or organization can market or promote their brands and services to a

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wider customer base (Kim & Ko, 2012). The customers are often taken as part of a business
organization itself therefore it becomes important for the company as well as the organization
to reach out to them and deliver the necessary as well as relevant information to them. Social
media because of its access to millions of global users all over the world provides practically
inexpensive means to the companies to promote their goods and services to them at a very
inexpensive price (Kim & Ko, 2012). Social media is often used by companies to create a
positive brand image or company profile, which can influences the new as well as future
potential customers to buy the related company’s products and services. The article is very
much relevant to the report as the articles provides meaningful insights into the use of social
media as an effective marketing tool. The article was published in Journal of Business
Research, which is considered worldwide as a very reliable source of information. The article
also provides reliable statistical information about the impact that social media has in the
process of marketing.
Social Media impacts on Customers and the feedback cycle
In the article “Managing customer relationships in the social media era: introducing
the social CRM house”, published in Journal of Interactive Marketing, by the authors
Malthouse, Haenlein, Skiera, Wege and Zhang, gives an account of the impact of social
media on customers and also the feedback system. The article takes into consideration the
role of the feedback system in the process of business communication wherein (Malthouse et
al., 2013). Social media helps not only in the promotion of products but the creation of
positive brand image as well as company profile over the internet can also help the company
or the organization in influencing the decision of many potential future customers. It is a
commonly noticed trend that people in the present age generally check the online company
profile as well as the review of the products or services that they are going to invest into
before they actually invest in them (Malthouse et al., 2013). Moreover, social media also

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provides the customers the opportunity wherein they can compare and contrast the different
products and services and then decide the best one that is available to them. The different
business organizations can utilize this feature to market their products over the internet at a
relatively lesser price. Another important aspect is the option of feedback that the customers
get. Feedback forms an important aspect of any kind of information. The feedbacks that the
customers provide over the social media is often used by the companies to improve the
quality of their products and services and it also helps in influencing the opinions of the
customers regarding the various products and services. The journal in which this article is
considered to be a very reliable source of information and the information that the article
contains is very much relevant in the present changing business world. The secondary data
sources which the article uses contains some theories relating to business communication are
relevant event today.
Social media and globalization
In the article, “Social media strategies and destination management”, published in
Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism”, the author Munar, gives an account of the
role of social media in the process of globalization. The article also gives an account of the
role played by social media in the tourism industry particularly in the promotion of less
travelled destinations (Munar, 2012). The different tourism industries can utilize this feature
to promote the industry and also to expand the their business into the lesser popular areas.
Therefore, it can be said that the process of globalization and the use of social media can help
the various companies to reach a wider customer base. A recent trend noticed among the
people is that they often like to emulate the holidays that their friends or colleagues had spend
in some exotic or lesser known places (Munar, 2012). Therefore, it can be said that social
media can also be used by the different companies involved in the tourism sector can take
advantage of this opportunity and try to provide the lesser travelled holiday destinations that

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will help them to expand their business in the longer run. The companies can also create an
online profile or company page where they can promote the different destinations. This
article is very much relevant as it is one of the very few articles that analyses the role of
social media in the tourism industry. The reliability of this article is measured by its
importance or relevance in the present context. The article expounds some very unique
concepts or idea by which the present day companies related to the tourism industry can
expand their business to lesser known or travelled places.
Social Media: Advantages and disadvantages
The article, “Online social networking and office environmental factors that affect
worker productivity”, published in International Journal of Procurement Management, by the
author Smith gives an overview of the various advantages that social media can provide in a
workplace environment and the ways by which it can be utilized to boost the morale of the
employees (Smith, 2013). The importance of the article lies in the fact that the article uses the
gratification theory to explore the positive impacts of the use of social media in a workplace
environment. The article bases all its conclusions on the research that was conducted by the
author on companies. The articles reveals the fact that many people consider that the use of
social media can hamper the productivity of an organization if it is not properly supervised.
Therefore, proper as well as effective steps are to be taken so that social media is used in an
effective manner which will increase the productivity of the organization as well as help in
boosting the morale of the employees. Social media can also be used by the employees as a
stress buster which will help them to cope up with the work pressure (Smith, 2013). The
article is very much reliable in the present context as the article provides a very relevant
picture of the dilemma faced by many of the companies in the present business world.
Moreover, the article was written based on thorough research conducted on the present

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industrial situations and the laws as well as the methods used by the author are relevant as
well as reliable even in the present business world.

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References
Kim, A. J., & Ko, E. (2012). Do social media marketing activities enhance customer equity?
An empirical study of luxury fashion brand. Journal of Business Research, 65(10),
1480-1486.
Malthouse, E. C., Haenlein, M., Skiera, B., Wege, E., & Zhang, M. (2013). Managing
customer relationships in the social media era: introducing the social CRM
house. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 27(4), 270-280.
Munar, A. M. (2012). Social media strategies and destination management. Scandinavian
Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 12(2), 101-120.
Smith, A. D. (2013). Online social networking and office environmental factors that affect
worker productivity. International Journal of Procurement Management, 6(5), 578-
608.
Treem, J. W., & Leonardi, P. M. (2013). Social media use in organizations: Exploring the
affordances of visibility, editability, persistence, and association. Annals of the
International Communication Association, 36(1), 143-189.