Business Research: Social Media Advantages and Disadvantages Analysis

This report examines the advantages and disadvantages of using social media in business, highlighting how modern technologies have transformed the business world. It discusses the importance of social media in improving communication, customer engagement, and brand awareness. Advantages covered include leveraging social advertising, boosting brand awareness, increasing inbound traffic, improving search engine optimization, increasing conversion rates, and enhancing customer satisfaction. The report also addresses the disadvantages, such as the potential for negative feedback, time consumption, and the need for constant monitoring. Ultimately, the report aims to provide a balanced view of social media's role in business, enabling readers to understand its potential benefits and challenges. Desklib provides a platform to access this and many other solved assignments.

Running head: BUSINESS RESEARCH
Advantages and disadvantages of using social media in business
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

2
BUSINESS RESEARCH
Table of Contents
Project Objective.............................................................................................................................3
Project Scope...................................................................................................................................4
Literature Review............................................................................................................................4
Social Media....................................................................................................................................4
Importance of Social Media in business..........................................................................................4
Advantages of Social Media in Business.........................................................................................5
Disadvantages of Social Networking in Business.........................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
Reference List................................................................................................................................12
Appendix........................................................................................................................................14
Appendix 1.....................................................................................................................................14
Appendix 2.....................................................................................................................................15
Appendix 3.....................................................................................................................................15
Appendix 4.....................................................................................................................................16
Introduction

3
BUSINESS RESEARCH
The following report is based on the determination of the different advantages as well as
disadvantages of social networking in business. The use of modern technologies within the
business has drastically changed the business world and has provided both the owners and the
clients of the business with ample opportunities (Cook 2017). The biggest difference that
technology has made since its advent in the contemporary business world is the communication.
The implementation of the social networking in business has totally changed the process of
communication in the business sector. The advent of the computer based technologies and the
invention of the different social media applications have helped the business organizations to
attain a corporate structure and transform themselves into a globalized platform. However social
networking has also got a number of disadvantages which can totally disturb the smooth
functioning of the organization.
Project Objective
The objective of the following project is to determine the different advantages and
disadvantages of implementing and using social networking in business organizations. The
following report has clearly defined the specific uses of social networking in business, its
implementation in business and the advantages that it creates for the business organizations
(Eriksson and Kovalainen 2015). The report has also determined the different disadvantages that
the management of the organization faces from the introduction of social networking in business
operations. On completion of this article the readers will be able to gain a proper idea of the use
of social networking in business and the pros and cons of the implementation of such social
networking within the business structure.

4
BUSINESS RESEARCH
Project Scope
The topic that has been selected has great credentials as because it is way too complex in
nature as it requires a detailed observation and critical analysis to determine the different
information related to the following. The project has thus been constructed in consideration of a
number of different types of elements that has helped in increasing the scope of the research. The
future researchers who aim to conduct a study on the same subject can thus take the help of the
following research to get a detailed idea about the subject.
Literature Review
Social Media
Social Media is a group of online communication options that allows the users to
participate, receive different information, present quality feedback and share ideas among
themselves (Schaltegger and Wagner 2017). The implementation of the social networking tools
in business allows the business organizations to have proper savings, improve the customer
communication processes, better target customers and also create online reviews about the
business. The advent of the social media has helped in the rise and development of the business.
Social Media has a huge level of influence and power in the business sector. It has grown in
leaps and bounds since its implementation. The social media was developed with the idea of
merely a tool to stay updated with all the recent happenings in the business world.
Importance of Social Media in business
Social Media is growing at a huge speed as more and more people are getting involved
into it. The efficiency and speed that social media provides has been the main reasons behind the

5
BUSINESS RESEARCH
growth of the social networking sites in the internet. The social media industry is bound to
become one of the major industries in the future (Stelzner 2014). There has been a recent trend
among the business organizations to implement social networking in the organizational structure
of the business. The business organizations have the aim to leverage proper and effective
channels of social media in the best possible way. The organizations do not do this just to go
with the modern trends but they do this to get closer to the target audience of their business who
are constantly glued to the different social networking sites. The touch of the social media helps
the business to not only produces more and more business but also helps to connect with the
customers and provide them better and quality services
Marlow et al. (2015), states that online marketing of the business gets easier with its
presence in social media sites. Reports and online surveys have shown that more than 70% of the
customers recommend a particular brand to others when those brands have a good amount of
presence in the social media websites. The global social media users have seen a rise of around
7% in the year 2005 to 69% within a span of a decade. The introduction of social media
supported mobile devices has also contributed to the growth of the following industry. More than
2 million businesses uses Face book for advertisement and marketing related promotions of their
products and services.
Advantages of Social Media in Business
As said earlier social networking has gradually converted itself to one of the best tools for
business and is predicted to have even a larger role in the coming days. The marketing and sales
department of the business organizations nowadays largely depends on the social media
networking sites to promote the business in a much extensive platform (Sekaran and Bougie

6
BUSINESS RESEARCH
2016). The use of social networking in business has a much larger role to play as because it has
the capacity in it to generate the future growth and development of the business organization.
The different kind of advantages of using social media in business includes;
1. Leverage Social Advertising:
Social Media advertising is the most recent trend that is being followed by the business
organizations to embark on a much faster growth in the business. The different types of
advertisements in face book can be cited as the best example of such leverage. Though the
feature was first launched in the year 2005 it took a time of more than 10 years to reach its peak.
This proves the long lasting nature of the social media advertising. Experts believe that social
media advertising will grow in a much organized and larger way in the coming few years. The
social media advertising route is believed to be the way forward by each and every form of
business organizations (Turban et al. 2017). This includes the lower costs of the advertisements
and the benefits of reaching both the targeted as well as the potential customers of the products
or services. The real time performance of the advertisements can also be easily determined by the
social media advertisements.
2. Boosting the brand Awareness:
Social media is a proven tool when it comes to the increase in the brand awareness of the
different kinds of products and services. Social media serves the correct platform, to increase the
brand awareness of the organization. The brand awareness cannot be however increased without
a proper planning. The company has to analyze the correct media platform where they have the
target audiences (Mutuku 2017). Apart from such strategy innovation in the content of the
advertisements in the form of eye catching graphics can help a lot to form a reputable brand. Last

7
BUSINESS RESEARCH
but not the least in any ways the management of the organization needs to have a clear
understanding and insight into the performance of the advertisements and marketing campaigns
on social media pages through different social tools. The management of the organizations can
also initiate conversations with the social media users to make them aware of the use and quality
of the different kinds of products and services they promote.
3. Increase the inbound traffic:
Inbound Marketing is one of the most tested processes that help to generate the targeted
traffic to the web application of the different business organizations. The ignorance of the social
media tools and absence of social media marketing can create a void in the modern world as it
will limit marketing to the inner circle of already known customers of the business. The presence
of an active blog of the organization helps out to reach the customers (Fox and Moreland 2015).
On the other hand the presence of a large base of customers in the organization helps out to reach
a much larger number of customers and helps to promote the brand more extensively. The
presence of the business organization in different web applications is a must for the business
organization as different types of people prefer different social media applications and thus it is
necessary for the organization to be present in each of the different websites to be at its very best
and reach to a whole lot of customers.
4. Improving search engine optimization:
Each and every social media marketer has the idea that social media and search engine
optimization has a certain level of connection in between them. The search media optimization
of the organization helps to provide higher chances to the organization. The social media
properties dominate the front of the search engine result page for the different brand names of the

8
BUSINESS RESEARCH
organization’s products and services. Thus these profiles in social media are the best way to
connect to the prospects and the customers of the business. Social media also helps to reach out a
large number of people in the organization via face book and twitter.
5. Increase Conversion rates:
As mentioned earlier social media is the best way to reach out the targeted population for the
business. However the process does not stop here this is because getting hold of the targeted
leads does not generate the desired outcomes for the business, unless and until they are totally
converted into sales. According to, Dubos (2017) the use of social networking helps the business
organization to reach out to the global population and make their brands popular by nature. The
social media proofs help the business organization to provide assurance to the customers on the
quality and acceptability of the certain product and service. There are a lot of many ways that
promotes the business in a social media and helps it to have a great impact on the business of the
organization. More than 50% of the marketing experts claims that taking some time to develop
healthy relationships with the consumers showed a much positive result in the sales of the
organization. Thus it can be said that the better impression that can be made with the customers,
the better will be the chances of the future growth of the organization. Different types of studies
conducted by independent business organizations have shown that social media has a much
higher lead than the other forms of marketing. As described earlier social media advertisements
help the organization to create a trust and creditability among the people who use these web
applications.
People use the help of social media platforms to stay connected with the friends, family and
communities. As because people are already present in such a environment it is better for the

9
BUSINESS RESEARCH
management of the business organizations to post their advertisement into the different forms of
web applications to make them reach out to different types people present in the media
platforms. The business organizations receives more benefits of posting the advertisements as
because the people who opts for the products and services after seeing the advertisements refer
them to their relatives and friends which furthermore increases the profit margin of the business.
6. Better Consumer Satisfaction:
Social Media is both a communication as well as a networking platform. It helps to reach out
to a varied group of individuals who might be the target of the organization. The creation of a
voice for the company is utmost important for the business organization to mix the business with
the human community (Dubos 2017). Customers of the business appreciate knowing when they
post different comments on the webpage and receives automated generated messages. The
interaction of each and every customers of the business in the social networking sites is the
perfect medium to publicly demonstrate the compassion for the different customers of the
business. A brand devoted to customer satisfaction makes full use of the following opportunity
and comes up to the customers in a positive sense.
7. Thought Leadership
Posting insightful and a properly written content on the social media is a great way to
become a proper leader in the following field (Cook 2017). There is no one way to become a
thoughtful leader. The process involves hard work and the support of different online networking
tools that can be used to gain proper experience in the mentioned field. Proper communication,
utilizing the social networking in a proper way, sharing thoughtful and innovative contents is the
key to the success of the business in the following arena.

10
BUSINESS RESEARCH
Disadvantages of Social Networking in Business
The above mentioned part in the following project has highlighted the bright part of using
Social media in business but apart from the large number of positives of using the social media,
there are a large number of similar disadvantages of the business. The presence of the business
organization in the social media can be both advantageous and disadvantageous depending on
the type and nature of its usage by the management. Some of the main disadvantages that come
with the social media of business include;
1. Consumes Great Time- The social media profile of a business organization must be
maintained on a regular basis with utmost dedication as because non maintenance of the
profile will amount to the loss of the customers and their trust (Fox and Moreland 2015).
There are many companies who have just opened up an account to go with the business
trend but do not update or keep a tab on the social media users. These kinds of activities
may lead to the failure of the business as because increase brand awareness through
social media needs a lot of time.
2. Qualified Experts are needed- The presence of qualified IT experts is utmost necessary
for the success if the business in social media platforms (Hair et al. 2015). The
management of the official social media profiles of the company must be managed by
trained experts. The absence of trained experts can be a problem for the organization.
3. Initial investment is huge- Most of the social media sites are free to operate but the
companies have to incur a large amount of money to operate the profile in an innovative
and proper way. The operation of these profiles in the most innovative ways helps the
organization to make some inroads in the minds of the customers. Most of the medium

11
BUSINESS RESEARCH
and small scale organizations thus find it tough to open up their accounts in the social
networking sites (Fox and Moreland 2015).
4. No scope for boring and same repetitive advertisements- The management of the
organizations often tends to repeat the same advertisements again and again which may
lead to boredom among the targeted customers of the mentioned organization (He et al.
2015). The absence of innovative advertisements does not help the cause of the
organizations.
5. Negative Publicity- Any forms of negative publicity is not acceptable in the social
media. Posts or comments that may hamper the reputation of the organization are a direct
threat to the growth of the business (Mutuku 2017).
6. Trolls- There are people in social networking sites who have the intention of trolling
organization on any advertisement or innovative posts of the company. These kind of
trolls tend to disturb the smooth running of the business organization (Jussila Kärkkäinen
and Aramo-Immonen 2014).
Conclusion
The following paper has provided a proper analysis of the advantages and disadvantages
of social media in business. The paper has thrown light on the different elements of social media
and its utilities and cons for the business. The brief description of the term social media, the
discussion of its importance in this report has been the main reason for the increase in the scope
of the project. A detailed analysis of the report will be helpful for the readers as well as the future
researchers to get a good idea of the mentioned topic in the report.

12
BUSINESS RESEARCH
Reference List
Cook, N., 2017. Enterprise 2.0: How social software will change the future of work. Routledge.
Dubos, R., 2017. Social capital: Theory and research. Routledge.
Eriksson, P. and Kovalainen, A., 2015. Qualitative methods in business research: A practical
guide to social research. Sage.
Fox, J. and Moreland, J.J., 2015. The dark side of social networking sites: An exploration of the
relational and psychological stressors associated with Facebook use and affordances. Computers
in Human Behavior, 45, pp.168-176.
Hair Jr, J.F., Wolfinbarger, M., Money, A.H., Samouel, P. and Page, M.J., 2015. Essentials of
business research methods. Routledge.
He, W., Wu, H., Yan, G., Akula, V. and Shen, J., 2015. A novel social media competitive
analytics framework with sentiment benchmarks. Information & Management, 52(7), pp.801-
812.
Jussila, J.J., Kärkkäinen, H. and Aramo-Immonen, H., 2014. Social media utilization in business-
to-business relationships of technology industry firms. Computers in Human Behavior, 30,
pp.606-613.
Kane, G.C., 2015. Enterprise social media: Current capabilities and future possibilities. MIS
Quarterly Executive, 14(1).
Kasemsap, K., 2014. The role of social networking in global business environments. Impact of
emerging digital technologies on leadership in global business, pp.183-201. (Kasemsap 2014)