Analyzing the Use of Social Media in Business Communication: A Report

This report provides a comprehensive overview of social media's role in modern business communication. It explores the advantages, such as enhanced reach, improved brand positioning, and better stakeholder relationships, as well as the disadvantages, including employee time wastage and data security risks. The report details how social media is used for employee engagement, recruitment, marketing, and customer feedback. It also examines the impact of social media on e-commerce and virtual organizations. The report emphasizes the importance of a well-defined social media policy, employee training, and risk management strategies. It concludes that efficient social media usage is crucial for business success, fostering improved communication, transparency, and brand loyalty. References from various academic sources are also included to support the arguments presented in the report.

Business communication
Using social media in workplace to communicate

Use of social media in business 1
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Purpose of the report....................................................................................................................1
Overview of social media............................................................................................................1
Impact of social media.....................................................................................................................1
Employee engagement and productivity......................................................................................1
Use of social media at work.........................................................................................................2
Engage employees in social media..................................................................................................2
Human resources..........................................................................................................................2
Blogging.......................................................................................................................................3
Video instruction..........................................................................................................................3
Social media advantages..................................................................................................................3
Risk of social media.........................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................5

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Introduction
The advent of social media is evident in every leading business witnessed today. The extensive
globalization has made the world a flat place (Jensen & Sandström, 2011, p. 481). Social media
has played an extensive role in the globalization. Social media has connected people from
different walks of life and provided them with a unique platform to communicate with each
other. Organizations have been able to inculcate transparent communication within the business
with the help of social media (Nair, 2011, p. 47). This report throws light upon the advantages
and disadvantages of social media within the business.
Purpose of the report
The primary purpose of the report is to understand the impact of social media communication
within the work. The report also highlights how the use of social media in the workplace impacts
employee performance and organizational culture. There are various social media tools which
are used by businesses to market their products. These tools are also elaborated in the report.
Overview of social media
Social media platforms are information technology based tools that have been adopted by
individuals as well as organizations with the purpose to share information and communicate.
Leading social media tools include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr. Social
media has spread to different parts of the world and has made the world flat. Social media is also
being extensively used for communication, marketing, social listening and brand awareness.
Impact of social media
There are various impacts of social media in the businesses existing today. Social media has
enabled free flow of information from one part of the world to another with the help of various
platforms (Macnamara & Zerfass, 2012, p. 291). Social media has played a critical role in the
advent of E-commerce as well. E-commerce is a disruptive technology that has changed the face
of conducting business in the world.

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Employee engagement and productivity
Businesses frequently use social media to keep their employees engaged. The globalization of
the world has been made possible with the help of social media. Social media allows employees
from different parts of the world to communicate with each other. Virtual organizations are being
created and connected with businesses through social media. This enhances overall productivity
of the employees.
Use of social media at work
There are various factors in the business that use social media. Firstly, Social media enables
effective communication within the business. The use of social media within the business has
created a unique communication platform for employees to remain connected and create
transparency. Secondly, social media recruitment plays an active role in ensuring an effective
selection procedure within organizations (Andrews, 2012, p. 32). Hiring competent employees
has become easier with social media as the platforms provide the recruiters with additional
information about the candidates. Thirdly, social media has proven to be a successful marketing
tool for businesses and has allowed brands to enhance awareness among consumers as well as set
the right positioning in the minds of its stakeholders (Solomon & Tuten, 2017, p. 16). Lastly,
social media creates a two way communication between the organization and its stakeholders.
Social listening has become increasingly prevalent. Social listening is the process by which
organizations keep a track of what is being spoken about the organization on various social
media platforms (Woodcock et. al., 2011, p. 53). This allows businesses to identify their
limitations and improve upon the same.
Engage employees in social media
Engaging employees in social media is critical to improve communication and create
transparency within the business. Social media can also be used for various marketing purposes.
This requires employees of the organizations to be engaged with the tool in order to use it
effectively. Organizations must work towards providing training to employees regarding
appropriate use of social media in the workplace. A competent social media policy must be
designed and circulated in order to avoid misuse of the tool. Every employee must be given a

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unique ID and password and training must be provided to employees for secure use of social
media. Social media must be clearly inculcated in the job descriptions of certain employees and
lastly, employee use of social media and its efficiency must be tracked, analyzed and appropriate
feedback must be provided upon the same.
Human resources
Social media has proven to be an effective recruitment tool by various organizations (Madia,
2011, p. 21). Leading social media platforms provide greater candidate details and make the
recruitment process transparent. Out of various social media platforms, LinkedIn and Facebook
are widely used to recruit employees from different parts of the world. Social media also makes
it easier for competent candidates to reach out to recruiters for jobs.
Blogging
Blogging is marketing strategy that is adopted by various organizations to enhance awareness
about various aspects of the business. Business bloggers post information about the business and
social media enables these blogs to reach out to wide audience (Huang, 2012, p. 617). This
enhances the blog’s reach and also improves the overall reach of the brand.
Video instruction
YouTube is an increasingly used social media platform which allows businesses to curate
creative videos, grab stakeholder attention and enhance brand awareness. These videos are also
used to market the product to a wide range of customers throughout the globe.
Social media advantages
The use of social media in business has sundry advantages that allow brands to enhance
productivity. A few advantages of the brand are listed as below:
- Social media enables businesses to enhance their overall reach.
- Social media creates a free flow of information across different parts of the world.
- Brand positioning can be established and improved with the help of social media

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- Social media allows brands to receive transparent feedback about their offering directly
from their customers (Sashi, 2012, p. 261).
- Social media also enhances brand loyalty among customers (Laroche et. al., 2013, p. 78).
- Social media also results in improved stakeholder relationships (Heller & Parasnis, 2011,
p. 30).
- Social media also creates improved communication within the organization.
Risk of social media
As every coin has two sides, there are certain risks that are associated with social media as listed
below:
- Employees may waste excessive time on social media leading to reduced productivity.
- Data leak through social networking platforms can lead to loss or misuse of confidential
data.
- Competitors of the brand can purposely post negative reviews and adversely impact the
positioning of the brand.
- Organizations need to adhere to various laws while using social media for business.
Conclusion
Social media is business is crucial to the success of the business. Various leading organizations
have been using social media to enhance their customer base, increase brand awareness, improve
brand positioning and ensure a transparent feedback and communication tool within the business
(Neti, 2011, p. 02). However, there are various risks associated with social media and businesses
must ensure to use these tools effectively. The use of social media is a reality and in order to
sustain the increasing competition, it is imperative that businesses adopt competent social media
strategies. At the same time, they must work protect the organization from the wrath that social
media can create by adopting effective risk management strategies. Efficient use of the tools can
not only lead to improved brand positioning but can also ensure improved communication and
increased transparency within the firm.

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References
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Heller B. C., & Parasnis, G. (2011). From social media to social customer relationship
management. Strategy & leadership, 39(5), 30-37.
Huang, L. (2012). Social media as a new play in a marketing channel strategy: Evidence from
Taiwan travel agencies' blogs. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 17(6), 615-634.
Jensen, T., & Sandström, J. (2011). Stakeholder theory and globalization: the challenges of
power and responsibility. Organization Studies, 32(4), 473-488.
Laroche, M., Habibi, M. R., & Richard, M. O. (2013). To be or not to be in social media: How
brand loyalty is affected by social media? International Journal of Information
Management, 33(1), 76-82.
Macnamara, J., & Zerfass, A. (2012). Social media communication in organizations: The
challenges of balancing openness, strategy, and management. International Journal of Strategic
Communication, 6(4), 287-308.
Madia, S. A. (2011). Best practices for using social media as a recruitment strategy. Strategic
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Nair, M. (2011). Understanding and measuring the value of social media. Journal of Corporate
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Sashi, C. M. (2012). Customer engagement, buyer-seller relationships, and social
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Tuten, T. L., & Solomon, M. R. (2017). Social media marketing. Sage. United Kingdom.

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Woodcock, N., Green, A., & Starkey, M. (2011). Social CRM as a business strategy. Journal of
Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management, 18(1), 50-64.