Essay on the Influence of Social Media on Business Communications 1101

This essay, submitted to NAIT by a business student, investigates the significant influence of social media on business communications. The research explores the positive and negative impacts of social media usage, focusing on its effects on marketing, communication, and branding. The essay highlights the importance of social media for entrepreneurial success, referencing credible sources and peer-reviewed articles. It discusses how social media has transformed the way businesses interact with customers, emphasizing its role in market exposure, traffic generation, and brand information dissemination. The paper also examines the shift in consumer behavior and the need for businesses to adapt to the evolving digital landscape. The essay concludes by emphasizing the benefits of social media, including increased brand visibility, customer engagement, and lead generation, showcasing its critical role in modern business strategies. The paper is a good resource for students who want to understand the role of social media in business.

The Influence Social Media Has on
Businesses
Communications 1101
Submitted by:
Submitted to:
Due:

555 Edmonton Way
Edmonton AB T1T 1T1
[e-mail]
April 3, 2018
Ms. Jan Martin
Effective Communications Instructor
Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
T213 11762 – 106 Street NW
Edmonton AB T5G 2R1
Dear Ms. Martin:
Through this essay efforts have been made of bringing into light “The influence social media has
on businesses”. The research done for writing this essay focuses on seeking attention to the
different ways by which the use of social media can leave both positive and negative influences
on a business, depending on the way it is handled. Moreover, efforts have been taken in
highlighting the significance of social media in business for entrepreneurial success. All the
information taken for completing this report was gathered from various credible sources as well
as peer reviewed articles that were accessed from NAIT’s online library.
The continuously growing trend of making their presence felt on social media by the businesses
across the globe have been relatively analysed by the contents of this essay. On further exploring
this topic it was found that the influence of social media can be seen on the marketing,
communication and branding of a business. Nearly 90% of businesses use social media to
increase market exposure while 75% use it for increasing traffic. 1 in 3 internet users go to social
media for getting a brand or product information.
I would like to convey my gratitude to you in advance for taking out time in helping to find the
research topic, which has increased my knowledge about how social media plays a key role in
influencing the businesses in today’s business environment. Also, the opportunity for discussing
the findings at your earliest convenience is welcomed.
Sincerely,
(Student Name)
NAIT Business Student

I. Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................4
Introduction......................................................................................................................................5
Discussion........................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

II. Executive Summary
Social media’s significance in the world of business has grown at an extremely high
speed. The industry with more and more people getting associated with one or more social media
platforms and making regular/efficient use of them, is likely in getting bigger and bigger in the
years to come. The social media industry is flourishing like never before. With growth in
functionality and reach over the years, social media has brought a significant change in how
brands are interacting with their current and potential consumers today.
Nearly twelve years ago or so when the internet just began in gaining a foothold within
human culture, businesses with a forward-thinking vision established their online presence into a
world for having a higher degree of control over their message. The modern day landscape of
business, both who have adopted and may have not adopted it, has been witnessing change
owing to the rise in the trend of social media and social networking. For reaching out to larger
audiences and the loyal fans businesses are inclining towards social media. Gone are the days
when catalogs were dropped at consumers’ door or their inboxes were blasted with emails.
Today, sponsored social media posts are trending. With consumers learning to differentiate
between learning what is real and what is not, the way businesses are using social media is
changing continuously. Businesses in the existing market scenario have to engage customers
with their products and/or services.
A measure of social media have been incorporated by almost all social networks to allow
users in becoming the custodian of the interesting content links, images, and short personal
stories they find and share. Businesses that have learned in creating content and engaging into
dialogues are already ‘in the flow. There is a significant increase in the number of internet users
expecting for communicating with the brands they love. Companies that have embraced social
media have an ever-growing advantage over the ones who are yet to adopt it.
It is revealed from the study of Altimeter Group that social media is widely used by
businesses for accomplishing their different business objectives like growing annual sales.
Moreover, the benefit of social media as a platform for communication has been recognized by
businesses for facilitating two-way communication with their stakeholders. Social media has
given support to company processes and objectives that includes customer relationship
management, market research, customer base expansion and customer retention, product
marketing, cost control initiatives, public relations, sales and recruiting. The influence of social
media on businesses regardless of their size and sector is very strong, be it a local store or an
online retailer. It has become the soap box allowing where consumers in praising, ranting and
reacting to brand interactions; something which cannot be just ignored by businesses.
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3. Introduction
It is need of the hour for the owners/marketers of a business to be present on social
media. This has become important for businesses not only for telling stores, but for listening to
what is being said by their audiences. Social media is widely perceived as the best place for
gathering open and honest feedback on products, customer service, new designs, features etc.
Companies that tend to ignore or question the power of social media are more likely in hindering
their innovating and evolving ability. Businesses when it comes to marketing and
communication have levelled the playing field and using social media for telling their story, and
demonstrating their competence on a global scale in real time with very minimal investments.
According to Narayanan, et al. “giving the social media touch to the businesses and companies
all over the world not only helps gain success by generating more business, but also builds better
connections with their customers thereby, serving them at a higher level” (2012,p70). Social
media in reality has made the digital marketing of a business easier.
Inside the business and trade industries where top priority is given to the need of
engaging and persuading the market, the reach and influence of social media is a treasure. With
print and radio dying a slow death, their position has been taken over by the social media as one
of the leading channels to market and advertise. According to Kim “businesses are creating
better customer service besides increasing their sales by capitalizing on the various advantages of
social media communication” (2018,p.84). With the advent of much technological advancement
and that of social media, there can be no second guessing in the fact that it has brought a
tremendous change in the communication amidst businesses. It undeniably is crucial piece in the
whole system, and significant for businesses in keeping themselves closer to their customers.
The key purpose of this paper is to comprehend how social media influences businesses.
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4. Discussion
In the heydays of social media started, users used to relate them for exchanging
personal information or common interests with one another, and it was rare for a business to
come into that equation. However, with the changing business environment there has been a
significant increase in social media communication amongst businesses. It has brought a change
in the dynamics how a business establishes internal and external communication. According to
Zhu, et al. “social media is perceived as one of the vital business communication channel, so,
companies seriously intending to reach out to customers cannot afford in stopping themselves
from investing into it” (2016, p. 982). It is a well known fact that a social media presence is what
every business needs today. No matter it is a small roadside store or a big multinational
company, social media has a key role to play in their marketing strategies. Businesses are
routinely using social media as a tool for enhancing their brand awareness, engaging customers
into interaction or gathering feedbacks from them, and leaving an influence of their buying
decisions.
All thanks to the impact of social media the relationship between a brand and consumer
has witnessed a dramatic change. Social media has turned the tables around by handing over
immense control and power to the customers. The so-called upper hand is longer with large
corporations and well-established brands. According to Erkan & Evans “recognizing the
relevance of social media in either making or breaking their business, top notch executives and
business owners have responded quickly in grabbing the opportunity of making their presence
felt on different platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter etc. for doing business”
(2016, p. 48). Companies now by making use of social media are creating strategies after
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evaluating the analytics for comprehending the demands of the consumers targeted and the
likes/dislikes.
Key Statistics/Findings
 On social networking 27% of total online time is spent
 Nearly double the marketing leads are produced through social media comparing to trade
shows, telemarketing, direct mail and Pay-per-click
 For finding customers social networking sites are used by marketers. 53% of marketers in
2013 have found customers via Facebook, with 43% LinkedIn stands in the second place
and with 36% the third place is taken by Twitter.
 Social media sites are used by the marketers for top three reasons namely generating
business exposure, increasing traffic and gaining intelligence about the marketplace.
Why use social media?
With the effectiveness of conventional marketing methods such advertising or direct mail
becoming lesser and lesser, businesses are making a switch to social media platforms for making
positive connections with consumers and the people from whom they get influenced. Being
acutely aware about how has social media has brought a radical change in the way businesses are
connecting, communicating and collaborating as individuals, and consequently as a society.
According to Gholston, Kuofie & Hakim “the key for achieving visible success in social media
is just not about hanging up on the tools and technology” (2016, p.25) It is relatively important
that businesses place their focus on how to more effectively make use of social media. Social
media use can contribute in
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 Increasing the brands visibility and that of their businesses
 Building and cultivating the professional networks
 Developing and growing relations with customers and influencers
 Getting engaged into real-time two-way interaction with people and giving response to
their inquiries
 Publishing and distributing original content demonstrating the expertise of a business
 Sharing curated links of related information for adding value to the customers lives
 Communicating with a business’s community of followers, advocates and supporters
 Generating new leads and boosting sales for the businesses
With the help of social media preferences are given by the companies in their online
marketing to the participation of customers. Polls and user-generated hashtag campaigns are
created; appealing podcasts are produced besides promoting their brands through videos.
Competitions are organized asking customers in submitting or sharing their ideas and contents
exclusively made by them. According to Ola & Lilach “consumers eventually get motivated in
purchasing the relevant product or service discerning the fact that businesses are giving value to
their wishes” (2013, p.92). Social media use majorly benefits businesses in promoting their
brand. It helps in growing the social signals by give a boost to the search engine optimization
endeavours of a business to large extent. The memory of a brand can always be kept alive by the
social media users in the minds of a vast number of people. They do this by sharing the page of a
brand on their walls thus, creating product and/or service awareness, at the end converting into
more followers and/or customers.
It is revealed from a new research study conducted by The Institute for Public Relations
that a continuous role is played by the social media on influencing the consumers actions and
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recommendations—and that influence is rising continuously along a wide range of industries. A
recent report written by Schaupp & Bélanger suggested that “social media is highly influential in
the decision-makings of consumers who seek advice of others” (2014, p.188). The level of
influence across different industries was found to be different. Nearly 40% of people agreed of
being influenced by social media while making decisions related to travelling. However, for
other industries it was influential to a lesser degree. 25% indicated that social media influenced
their financial services while 22% in retail and 21% in healthcare.
Negative influence of Social Media on Businesses
While businesses are using social media for reaching out to audiences, it is unfortunate
that a brand can also get negatively harmed from it. Before social media came into existence, the
bad customer experiences stayed within a limited circle of people. However, with more and more
people having access to internet and active profiles on multiple social media platforms, they are
quick in showing their disappointment from using a product or a customer service of a company
on their social networks, which are shared and seen by thousand others. It has become
challenging for businesses in containing negative publicity. The best side is that as quickly bad
publicity spreads similarly good publicity also escalates quickly. For combating the customers’
negative feedbacks it is important that a robust customer service is extended by a business across
all its social media channels, attempting in resolving a problem before it develops into a toxic
situation.
Another significant negative impact of social media on businesses revolves around the
difficulty in tracking misleading or negative comments in their efforts to accordingly address
them. According to Duan, et al. “networks of social media are everybody’s reserve further
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entailing that anyone can post a negative or misleadingly comment about anything in the context
of a business” (2016, p. 282). In most of the cases, businesses face tough time in tracking these
misleading negative comments. Even if any business is in the position of tracking such deceptive
information and give appropriate response, it might be too late as the damage will already be
done. With employees using social media for various reasons, the chances are high that an
important executive having internal knowledge of a business may unintentionally babble secret
information. This can damage the competitive advantage of a company. In today’s social media
world, once any confidential information is out, it cannot be regained unlike the earlier days
when a courier mailed to wrong address or an email ending up in the wrong inbox could be
retrieved. According to O’Brien “in present era of social media monitoring employees activity on
these platforms and preventing them from conversing on company matters without any consent
is difficult for companies” (2011, p. 34). For improving engagement most businesses aspire for
employees with potentials of asserting their personalities online. However, with this liberty also
comes along a risk that even a well-meaning post on a social media platform about the perceived
objectives and direction of a business can be damaging for its reputation. It might also challenge
the declarations made to the shareholders.
5. Conclusion
In the conclusion of the essay it can be said that for businesses no matter big, small or a
start-up, ignoring the power of social media as a means to communicate, promote and probably
even recruitment or revenue generation is no longer an option. Same stands true even for online
businesses. By implementing better strategies for social media significantly contributes in
helping the businesses in easily reaching out to their current and potential clients besides
engaging them. In other words, social media has emerged as the most beneficial channel to
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spread the word about the products and/or services of a business into the market. For most
businesses it is in their best of interest in having a social media presence that is dynamic and
engaging. This is because customers of today’s global connected era prefer checking online
reviews, comments and also seek friends and family members’ recommendations before
purchasing anything.
6. References
Duan, W., Yu, Y., Cao, Q., & Levy, S. (2016). Exploring the Impact of Social Media on Hotel
Service Performance: A Sentimental Analysis Approach. Cornell Hospitality
Quarterly, 57(3), 282–296. https://doi.org/10.1177/1938965515620483
Erkan, I., & Evans, C. (2016). The influence of eWOM in social media on consumers’ purchase
intentions: An extended approach to information adoption. Computers in Human
Behavior, 61(C), 47–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.003
Gholston, K., Kuofie, M., & Hakim, A. (2016). Social Media for Marketing by Small
Businesses. Journal of Marketing and Management, 7(1), 24–39. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1843743541/
Kim, J. (2018). They liked and shared: Effects of social media virality metrics on perceptions of
message influence and behavioral intentions. Computers in Human Behavior, 84, 153–
161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.01.030
Narayanan, M., Asur, S., Nair, A., Rao, S., Kaushik, A., Mehta, D., & Lalwani, R. (2012). Social
Media and Business. Vikalpa, 37(4), 69–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/0256090920120406
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O’Brien, C. (2011). THE EMERGENCE OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA EMPOWERED
CONSUMER. Irish Marketing Review, 21(1/2), 32–40. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/926590089/
Ola Agbaimoni, & Lilach Bullock. (2013). Social Media Marketing – why businesses need to
use it and how. Marketing of Scientific and Research Organisations, 8(2), 91–105.
https://doi.org/10.14611/minib.08.02.2013.13
Schaupp, L., & Bélanger, F. (2014). The Value of Social Media for Small Businesses. Journal of
Information Systems, 28(1), 187–207. https://doi.org/10.2308/isys-50674
Zhu, Z., Wang, J., Wang, X., & Wan, X. (2016). Exploring factors of user’s peer-influence
behavior in social media on purchase intention: Evidence from QQ. Computers in Human
Behavior, 63, 980–987. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.037
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