Analyzing the Influence of Social Networking in Contemporary Business

This report delves into the multifaceted role of social networking in contemporary business environments. It begins by defining social networking and its significance, emphasizing its function in fostering connections and communication, particularly for businesses seeking to engage with customers and employees. The report then explores various applications of social networking in business, highlighting its use as a marketing strategy, a tool for improving internal and external communication, and a means of gathering customer feedback. It details the advantages of social networking, such as increased brand visibility, enhanced customer engagement, improved market research capabilities, and cost-effective advertising. The report also acknowledges the potential disadvantages, including the risk of reputational damage and the need for diligent management of online presence. Furthermore, it discusses strategies for effectively using social networking platforms, including the importance of timely and relevant content, and the creation of diverse content formats. By analyzing the benefits and drawbacks, the report provides a comprehensive overview of how businesses can leverage social networking to achieve their goals.

Running head: SOCIAL NETWORKING IN BUSINESS
SOCIAL NETWORKING IN BUSINESS
Name of Student
Name of the University
Author Note

2SOCIAL NETWORKING IN BUSINESS
Literature Review
Concept and importance of social networking in business
Social networking is the technique of using a platform that makes use of internet in order
to create relationships and connections between people who have common interests or due to
others reasons (Sajid, 2016). It is a form of communication that helps to connect and
communicate with each other especially for those people who are located at some distance from
each other. These social networking sites are basically computer networks that help in
connecting the users. There are four main types of social networking services- it can be used for
socializing with others, it can be used in business and companies for helping the employees
interaction with each other, it can be used to provide necessary information to the users. Social
networking is used in different fields such as businesses and others. It is used as a marketing
strategy in business. Social media in business can help to improve the communication between
the people within the organization and also to improve the communication with the customers.
The customers can be informed using social media such that they can get all the necessary
information related to the products and services (Nisar & Whitehead, 2016). It will help in
increasing the awareness of the customers about the products and services offered by the
company and therefore help in converting the potential buyers into customers and increase the
sales if the company. This method can help to improve the public image of the company in the
minds of the customer’s and visitors. According to a survey about 3million people use social
networking all around the world so a company or a business that company or a business that can
make use of social media effectively can easily reach the customers across the world faster. It

3SOCIAL NETWORKING IN BUSINESS
has been found that about 78% of the new customers have been attracted by small business that
makes use of social media (Broekemier, Chau & Seshadri, 2015). Social networking is used in
business because of the potential benefits and impact it may have on the business and its
profitability. It is beneficial for the small businesses and entrepreneurs who do not have financial
strength and the social network will help to connect with the people at lower costs and therefore
help in expanding the customers’ base of the company. It can also be used by the company as a
form of an advertising strategy of the company through publishing various images and messages
related to the products (Turner & Endres, 2017). This technique help in managing proper
relationships with the customer base of the company as it will become easier for the company to
send all necessary information of products and services to the customers and moreover this
platform can be used by the customers to give feedbacks about the products and services they
have consumed. Brand networking technique’s can be adopted by the company by making use of
social networking platforms. It is being used within the company for transferring of all necessary
information, sharing files, transferring knowledge and other techniques (Hajli et al., 2017).
The importance of social media can be understood from the fact that customers these
days are quite active in social networking sites so before supporting any company and taking any
decision they go through the profile of the company and its activities in the social networking.
The company can improve its image in front of the customers by updating its social profile from
time to time to include relevant information in its social platform and therefore help in proving
that the business is trustworthy, knowledgeable and other characteristics (Horn et al., 2015). The
confidence of the customers is gained through properly displaying the company values and
offers. If a business has a good profile in the social media it can attract many new customers.
Customers look for the authenticity of the profile on the social media and this is possible if the

4SOCIAL NETWORKING IN BUSINESS
company posts proper information related to the recent activities, offers and other activities
(Carlson & Lee, 2015). The company should be able to use the social networking site properly
such that they share their posts in proper timing and proper tone. The social networking
platforms can be used to engage and attract the interest of the customers with the help of new
techniques such that in day the company can share posts about the company products and
services and behind-the –scenes and others. The other day the company can go live on the social
networks to answer the queries of the customers. This way the company can attract the
customer’s interest. Various types of video content can be created by the company and used in
order to promote its products and services (Niedermeier, Wang & Zhang, 2016). One of the
major benefits that these social networking platforms provide is that the customers can freely
share their opinions and feedbacks about the services of the company. These can be both positive
and negative feedbacks. Before the introduction of the social media platforms, the customers
used to call the customer care services and then wait in line for hours to get the answer a simple
query. Through the help of the social networking sites the customers can share their query and
get immediate response of the same. The company’s need to operate in such a way that the
customers get the response to their feedback, or comment or the suggestion and the company
should make sure that the customers feel heard. The strategy of social marketing is most
beneficial for all those small organizations which do not have so much of financial strength
because if they use other marketing and advertising strategies they will have to make huge
expenditures and it may not be so profitable for the small companies. Social media helps the
business to communicate with the customers at a more personal level and this improves the
customer’s experience (www.academia.edu, 2019). It helps to popularize the brand of a company

5SOCIAL NETWORKING IN BUSINESS
and therefore these are a few reasons that makes Social networking so important for
organizations.
Advantages of social networking in business
Figure 1: traditional marketing drawbacks
Source: (Horn et al., 2015)
It helps in increasing the traffic
The social media services include activities for creation of a website by the company that
will be the official website of the company. It will help the customers to leave their feedbacks
and reviews in the website such that while the company will consider the same. This helps in
improving the relationship between the company and its customers. By making use of internet
the company can reach customers globally and increase their customer base. This strategy helps
in enhancing the brand visibility of the company such that helps in increasing the customers
traffic for the business products.

6SOCIAL NETWORKING IN BUSINESS
It helps on enhancing sales
Any advertisement campaign requires a lot of investment but what matters is the return
on investment. The return on investment for social marketing strategy is that it sees a positive
effect on the sales of the company due to awareness created with the help of the social media
strategy, this strategy helps to increasing the exposure of the company and through this the bond
between the company and the customers enhances.
It helps in managing the reputation of the company
These days a single negative comment of the customer against the company can affect its
goodwill as the feedbacks are visible top all other customers and loss of one customer is
equivalent to losing ten customers. In order to manage the reputation of the company in the
social networking sites there needs to be a reputation management team to deal with all customer
issues. When the customers find that there is timely response to the feedbacks or the queries of
the customers they start trusting the company and feel cared for. It is very important to maintain
a good image of the company in front of the general public only then they will develop their
confidence in the company and the social media is a platform that can help in doing so.
It helps in carrying out marketing research activities
Social Media can be used for the marketing research activity as social media creates
contacts with many customers. The marketing research team cab arrange for online surveys in
which the customers will be asked about the products and services of the company and in case of
any suggestions regarding the same the company can bring changes in its products accordingly.
This helps in identifying the strategies adopted by the competitors of the company and the
company can decide what product to develop next on the basis of these information’s.

7SOCIAL NETWORKING IN BUSINESS
It is an inexpensive technique of advertising and promotion of the company’s
products and services
The traditional techniques of marketing activities involve huge amounts of investments in
terms of money for application of various marketing tools. Moreover to handle those tools
effectively the company needs marketing experts which adds to the cost. On the other hand, the
use of social media as a strategy for marketing is very inexpensive (/www.ijsrp.org., 2019). The
only thing that is required to be done is that the company needs to create a profile in social
media. The company also needs to update all the information regularly such that they give the
latest information to the customers and to keep the customers updated with any information
related to the offers of the company. The small businesses are benefited from this strategy
because they do not have so much of capital and funds to invest in advertising activities.
This social marketing strategy has got a global reach
The promotional techniques used by for companies before introduction of social media
was that of that of traditional techniques of advertisement and promotional and thee techniques
also helped to reach the customers globally but the expense of the same was too high. With the
introduction of social media platforms it has become very easy to reach the customers anywhere
in the world (www.cameron.edu, 2019). The company can provide all the necessary information
that it wants the customers to know.
Brand loyalty of customers is enhanced
Brand loyalty is one of the main goals that a company wishes to achieve. Through a loyal
customer base the company can retain its market position and grow. When a customer is satisfied
with the product and services of the company they become loyal customers of that company.

8SOCIAL NETWORKING IN BUSINESS
Social media is not only used for sharing information only it is also used by the coma may’s to
improve their interaction with the customers. With the help of this platform, the company can
directly communicate directly with the customers. The customers can share their feedback with
the company and communicate with them directly. The company can improve the customers
loyalty by immediately responding their feedbacks and comments. This strategy helps on
improving the overall experience of the customers.
The company can get better insights of the marketplace
The social media strategy helps to get better information about the needs and demands of
the customers by directly communicating with them. With the help of a social media profile, the
company can understand the interests of the customers and follow their activities. Without the
profile the company could not have known about the interests of the customers (Popova, 2011).
Social media can be used as a research tool for market where the company can get information
regarding the customer’s choice by directly interacting with them and also by following their
activities. Another major advantage of the social media strategy is that the company can know
directly which of its content is liked by the customers.
Disadvantages of social networking in business
Loss of goodwill
Social media is such a platform which can make or break the reputation of the company.
Any information shared by the company is viewed by millions of people. In case any wrong
information is posted by the company or incase the company posts any info ration without
properly thinking about the same. It can affect the reputation of the negatively (Van der Bank &
Van der Bank, 2014). Similarly any negative comment of the customers can affect the reputation

9SOCIAL NETWORKING IN BUSINESS
of the company negatively. This is so because the comments made by the customers are visible
to all the people worldwide. If one negative comment has been posted by the customer than
many people will see that comment and will think twice before buying any products or services
of that company. It will take time to build a positive image again by the company in front of the
customers.
Additional resources needed to manage the reputation of the company
On order to manage the reputation of the company due to various comments and
feedbacks from the customers, the company needs to have a reputations management team. This
team will look after all the issues of the company and will protect the reputation of the company
from being harmed but the company can appoint these people only after paying them some
amount so appointment will further add to the expenses to the company (www.researchgate.net,
2019). The company also needs to appoint experts for handling its social media profile that will
also add to the cost of the company. In addition to appointment of these people, the company
needs to make further investments in order avail certain services. All the online service are not
available free of cost especially some of the networks that the company needs to access is paid.
Risk of lack of confidentiality
Once the company starts using social media platforms there remains a risk of loss of
confidentiality of any information that can be wrongly used by the people to gain an advantage
over the company. Social network sites are prone to the risk of various acts such as hacking and
others (www.ncsl.org., 2019). The customers or the company’s employee information may be
hacked by competitors. There can be various other problems related to using social networking
platforms.

10SOCIAL NETWORKING IN BUSINESS
Repetitive and boring content
If the company fails to post some attractive posts related to their products and services
then the customers may find the content boring and repetitive in nature. In this situation the
company will fail to attract the visitors and customers. Customers do not want to see the profile
of companies that are continuously talking about their achievements or any other form of
boasting. The customers want the company to post information related to their activities- daily
activities, how they work and other activities (Drahošová & Balco, 2017). A profile that is boring
and that is not updated for long is not liked by the customers. Company should update the
information in their social media profile from time to time regularly to keep their profile
attractive.
Exposure to competitors
As we know that through social media strategy the company can see the activities of the
competitors and then take decisions related to their products mad services. This technique can
also be used by the competitors to study the company’s strategy. In case any information has
been published by the company mistakenly it will be used by the competitors to take an
advantage. It is very important for the company to post articles only after properly thinking and
no articles should be posted by any employees that can cause any harm to the company’s
reputation. The competitors can use all these types of information to use against the company.

11SOCIAL NETWORKING IN BUSINESS
References
/www.ijsrp.org. (2019). Ijsrp.org.
Broekemier, G., Chau, N. N., & Seshadri, S. (2015). Social media practices among small
business-to-business enterprises. Small Business Institute Journal, 11(1).
Carlson, A., & Lee, C. C. (2015). Followership and social media marketing. Academy of
Marketing Studies Journal, 19(1), 80.
Drahošová, M., & Balco, P. (2017). The analysis of advantages and disadvantages of use of
social media in European Union. Procedia Computer Science, 109, 1005-1009.
Hajli, N., Sims, J., Zadeh, A. H., & Richard, M. O. (2017). A social commerce investigation of
the role of trust in a social networking site on purchase intentions. Journal of Business
Research, 71, 133-141.
Horn, I. S., Taros, T., Dirkes, S., Hüer, L., Rose, M., Tietmeyer, R., & Constantinides, E. (2015).
Business reputation and social media: A primer on threats and responses. Journal of
direct, data and digital marketing practice, 16(3), 193-208.
Niedermeier, K. E., Wang, E., & Zhang, X. (2016). The use of social media among business-to-
business sales professionals in China: how social media helps create and solidify guanxi
relationships between sales professionals and customers. Journal of Research in
Interactive Marketing, 10(1), 33-49.
Nisar, T. M., & Whitehead, C. (2016). Brand interactions and social media: Enhancing user
loyalty through social networking sites. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 743-753.

12SOCIAL NETWORKING IN BUSINESS
Popova, D. (2011). The good and bad of social networks. Годишник на Бургаски свободен
университет, 25(1), 111-116.
Sajid, S. I. (2016). Social media and its role in marketing.
Turner, S., & Endres, A. (2017). Strategies for enhancing small business owners' success
rates. International Journal of Applied Management and Technology, 16(1), 3.
Van der Bank, C. M., & Van der Bank, M. (2014). The impact of social media: advantages or
disadvantages. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 4(2).
www.academia.edu (2019). [online] Available at:
https://www.academia.edu/31496089/The_impact_of_social_media_advantages_or_disad
vantages [Accessed 22 May 2019].
www.cameron.edu. (2019). Cameron.edu.
www.ncsl.org. (2019). Ncsl.org.
www.researchgate.net. (2019).