Role of Social Media in Business Promotion: Literature Review

This literature review evaluates the role of social media in business promotion. It discusses the positive and negative aspects of using social media in business promotion and its impact on brand loyalty, customer satisfaction, and communication.

Running head: RESEARCH METHOD IN COMPUTING
Research Method in Computing: Literature Review
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Section 1: Topic and Literature Review..............................................................................2
1.1. Project Topic.............................................................................................................2
1.2. Literature Review.....................................................................................................2
1.2.1. Use of Social Media in Business Promotion.........................................................3
References............................................................................................................................8

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Section 1: Topic and Literature Review
1.1. Project Topic
The topic that is chosen for this research project is “Role of social Media in Business
Promotion”. With the increase in use of social media many business organization is making use
of this platform in order to increase the customers’ reach. The number of social media users is
increasing at an exponential rate over the years. Therefore, the social media act as a platform for
targeting a wide customer base for any business and therefore it is used as a platform for
business promotion. However, there are both positive and negative aspects of use of social media
in business which will be evaluated in the research study.
Social media is increasingly used in business organization as social media can be used to
initiate brand awareness as the reach of customers is very high in social media. With the
platforms like twitter and Facebook, a business can be advertised quite efficiently and in low
cost. Therefore, this topic is chosen for the project as it will be interesting to evaluate the role of
social media in business promotions and the positive and negative effects of use of social media
in overall business of the organization. The following section evaluates the existing literature in
this field that will help in evaluating the role of social media in business promotions.
1.2. Literature Review
This section of the report will evaluate the previously published literature that is
associated with the use of social media in business. The positive and the negative aspects of the
use of social media in business will be researched as well in order to understand the practical use
of social media in business.

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1.2.1. Use of Social Media in Business Promotion
According to Kwok and Yu (2013) Social media has gradually become a significant force
in influencing the decision-making ability of a consumer. With the help of social media, a
business can easily increase their brand awareness along with easy information sharing. With the
advancement of technology, consumers often consult the online reviews of the company,
business or the products before purchasing a product or choosing one company against their
counterpart (Kwok and Yu 2013). With the increasing use of social media and with the
advancement of technology, having a good online presence is necessary. Social media platform
therefore works in favor of a business only if a good online presence can be maintained. For
example, from the Facebook and the Twitter page of the company, a consumer can gather the
details about the company and business. The online reviews help the consumers in gathering data
about the business, popularity and the genuineness of the business organization.
The increasing benefits of the use of social media made many business organizations
embracing the opportunities that are provided by the social media in promoting the business. The
use of social media provides a good marketing platform as the customers reach in social media is
quite high. The positive online reviews infusing the customers’ trust in an organization and
therefore it can be used for increasing the customer base (Kwok and Yu 2013). Therefore, the
use of social media in business promotion has a positive effect in the business.
According to Tiago and Veríssimo (2014) the changes in the consumer behavior and
increase in the online presence of the consumers increases the requirement of the firms and
business organization to rethink their marketing strategies. Since in every business organization,
the customers are in the most priority list, targeting the online customers has become one of the

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leading marketing strategies for majority of the business organization. In order to develop a
successful online presence, it is essential for the firms to facilitate the understanding of digital
marketing and social media usage.
The use of social media in business promotions has a number of benefits. One such
benefit is that the business organization can communicate directly with the customers thus
increasing the customers’ satisfaction (Tiago and Veríssimo 2014). With the convenience of easy
communication, a business can gather and increasing trust of the consumers that will in turn
helps in better business promotion. Word of mount is an efficient tool of improving a business
process and with the increase in the customers’ satisfaction thorough an easier online
communication, it would be much easier to increase the number of business customers. Since
majority of the customers of any business sector engage with the use of social media, it often
becomes necessary for the business organizations as well to engage with the online or social
media (Tiago and Veríssimo 2014). Therefore, the use of social media is considered as a
significant tool for business promotion. Researchers prove that many business firms often engage
in identifying appropriate strategies that can be put to use to target the online consumers of an
organization.
It is often seen that the manager rely heavily on digital marketing in order to increase
their brand awareness. It is often considered as one of the strategies of efficient business
promotions within the organization. Therefore, the use of social media increases the exposure
and the brand awareness of the organization. Apart from customer satisfaction, another important
need of business success is proper communication. With the help of social media platform, the
customers of a business can efficiently communicate with the business owners thus making the
process of query resolving much easier.

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The use of social media in business are increasing in an exponential speed and use of
social media in business can help an organization can help in business promotion in a cost
effective manner.
According to Aral, Dellarocas and Godes (2013) social media is fundamentally changing
the way people communicate collaborate and consume. The business can be effectively
promoted with the help of social media by creating a social media page. These pages will
provide the customers a clear view of the business subject and the online reviews that are
collected from the consumers. Apart from this, the business can be promoted by paid
advertisements in Facebook and Twitter pages in order to increase the customer reach.
However, it is necessary to maintain a good online presence or else the use of the social
media platform can have a negative effect on the business as well. With the increase in the
number of negative reviews for the company the customer base of the organization can
significantly decrease as well. This is mainly because the reviews of the organization are
publicly visible (Aral, Dellarocas and Godes 2013). In order to deal with this problem, majority
of the business organization design certain strategies to monitor their online operation and
maintain an effective online presence among the customers. With the use of social media in
business, it becomes necessary to evaluate the positive and the negative effects of the use of
social media in business promotion, so that the effectiveness of business promotion through
social media can be analyzed. The benefits and the issues associated with the use of social media
in business are evaluated in the following section.
Positive Impact of Use of Social Media in Business Promotion

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The positive impact of the use of social media in business promotion is discussed in the
following paragraphs-
According to Erdoğmuş and Cicek (2012) the use of social media in business helps in
increasing the brand loyalty of the business organization. Building and maintenance of the brand
loyalty is a significant need of any business organization. The marketing team in any business
utilizes various means in order to maintain the brand loyalty of the business.
Another significant benefit of making use of social media in business promotion helps in
identifying the new opportunities through which the organization the business can be improved.
These opportunities can be identified from the customers’ reviews that are obtained from the
online platform and the online pages of the business.
An active social media presence helps a business organization in building relationships
with the audiences (Erdoğmuş and Cicek 2012). With the direct communication and easier query
resolving the business organization are able to increase the customers’ satisfaction which is one
of the significant benefits of making use of social media in business promotion. However, there
are certain negative aspects of making use of social media for promoting the business which is
discussed in the following section.
Negative Impact of Use of Social Media in Promotion
Social media can be considered as a powerful tool for business as it helps in improving
the customers’ satisfaction. However, with the use of social media more power is given to the
customers. Since it is essential to maintain a positive online presence, a negative review from the
customers can have a severe impact on the business (Wang Yu and Wei 2012). Tracking the
negative or misleading statements can be difficult for the business managers and therefore, it is

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essential to monitor the online activities of the customers. Furthermore, the use of social media
in business has a risk of accidental release of the confidential information which can affect the
business in a negative manner.

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References
Aral, S., Dellarocas, C. and Godes, D., 2013. Introduction to the special issue—social media and
business transformation: a framework for research. Information Systems Research, 24(1), pp.3-
13.
Erdoğmuş, İ.E. and Cicek, M., 2012. The impact of social media marketing on brand
loyalty. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 58, pp.1353-1360.
Kwok, L. and Yu, B., 2013. Spreading social media messages on Facebook: An analysis of
restaurant business-to-consumer communications. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 54(1), pp.84-
94.
Tiago, M.T.P.M.B. and Veríssimo, J.M.C., 2014. Digital marketing and social media: Why
bother?. Business Horizons, 57(6), pp.703-708.
Wang, X., Yu, C. and Wei, Y., 2012. Social media peer communication and impacts on purchase
intentions: A consumer socialization framework. Journal of interactive marketing, 26(4), pp.198-
208.