Study Skills 5Z3Z0004: Social Media Marketing Advantages & Reflection

This assignment consists of two tasks: an argumentative essay discussing the advantages of social media marketing for businesses and a reflective essay on the personal and professional development gained through the essay writing process. The argumentative essay explores how social media marketing benefits businesses by maximizing market coverage, increasing brand visibility, and facilitating global expansion. It also addresses potential drawbacks like fake reviews and data leakage. The reflective essay utilizes Gibbs' Reflective Cycle to analyze the learning experience, highlighting the development of analytical, communication, and academic skills. The assignment concludes that social media marketing, despite its challenges, is a crucial tool for businesses in the digital age, and the writing process has significantly enhanced personal and professional competencies.

STUDY SKILLS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
TASK- 1.........................................................................................................................................................3
TASK- 2.........................................................................................................................................................6
Reflective Essay.......................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Social media marketing is one of the most powerful tools that are used for the purpose of
marketing of the products and services that are offered by the company using the digital
marketing platforms. This shall be having the vast coverage and shall be promoting the goods
aggressively such that the successful generation of the brand awareness can be done. The current
project shall be reflecting upon the essay that shall be highlighting the advantages and the
beneficial uses of the social media marketing in the company. Apart from that it shall be
describing the reflection of the experience of such essay writing and the personal and
professional development through it.
TASK- 1
2. Social media marketing is advantageous for businesses. To what extent do you agree with
the above and why?
In the current era with the rapidly growing pace of technological advancements it can be
ascertained that social media marketing has proven to be beneficial for the businesses
maximizing the market coverage and increasing the visibility of the brand. The social media
applications is one of the most cost-efficient tools of the digital marketing platforms which is
known for its wide coverage and the efficiency in publicizing the image of the company.
With the increase in the digitalization and the increasing trend of the globalization the
multinational companies are constantly increasing, establishing the global footprint and being
an outsider to compete with the domestic players is facilitated with the help of social media
networking and applications. This is because it helps in developing the brand image in the
new markets and targeting the potential customers is highly simplified with the help of such
digital marketing tools. Indeed it can be evaluated that the presence of social media as a tool
to market the products and services of the company is further increasing the level of
competition as such technology is nowadays accessible to all (Duggal and Gupta, 2020). But
on the other hand it is possible to optimize the usage of digital platforms in the manner that
the competition in the market can be easily met which is by way of creating the innovative
and attractive content that can draw the attention of the consumers and accordingly drive the
maximum traffic in favor of the company, developing the competitive edge in the market.

The social media as a means to network in the recent times has been proved to be
advantageous for the companies and the marketing professionals believe and the various
statistics of the businesses reveal that this has led to the higher conversion rates of the
customers who have been strongly influenced and has made the buying decision. The major
reason for that is in today’s time the customers has many options available and they make the
choice wisely and for the same they check the reviews and performances on the social
networking sites. Based on the reviews available on these apps they decide whether or not to
make the buying decision. So social media is highly recommended for the promotional
campaign of the products and services. But contradicting the same it can also be assessed that
many a times there are fake reviews, negative comments, unnecessary trolling and the
dislikes which is the strategy of the competitors in the market to defame the brand. This can
change the opinion of the customers and they can switch the choices and can add to the
market share of the competitors business (Yunita and Gunawan, 2018). This is a rare case for
the company as in the majority of the situations it is being observed that the social media has
contributed positively in the growth of the market share by converting the customers.
To a high extent it can be referred that the various sites like the Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, YouTube etc. are the significant contributors to the generation of brand awareness
through the aggressive marketing strategy that is being applied by the marketing team in the
company and the specialized staff working as the technological experts. One of the major
benefits are that the use of the social media has facilitated better communication and bridged
the gap between the buyers and sellers in the business. This is because the products and
services of the company are easily accessible, all the information is readily available and the
customers can sort their queries as well as provide the feedbacks regarding the same. This
helps in achieving the higher level of the customer satisfaction and further developing their
brand loyalty for the company becoming the permanent customers for the business. This will
also be contributing to the achievement of the organizational objectives of the enterprise like
the maximization of profitability and the future growth prospects of the business (10
Advantages of Social Media Marketing for Your Business, 2020). Apart from that it can also
be assessed that though these applications are building connectivity but not as efficient as the
human personal relationships that can be established between the customers and the salesman
of the company. These direct relationships have also fostered better relations of the company

and the market in which they function. As these days the market share of the company are
huge and vastly spread so it is difficult to personally handle each and every customer and that
is the reason social media is the next best alternative choice for the company for handling the
customer grievances and doubts thereby widening the prosperity of the business.
The social media applications that are available within the digital domain can be used as
the powerful tool not only just to promote the goods and services of the company and
generate the awareness of the brand among the potential buyers but also to analyze the
market, get deeper insights about the same, check the customer reviews and feedbacks,
calculate their buying behavior, level of satisfaction and as per the consumer tastes and
preferences further innovate the products to meet the expectations and generate edge over the
other competitors. It can also be known that the social media gives information regarding the
latest trends and fashion and the generation of today’s times blindly follow these channels to
make the purchasing decision (Hossain and et.al., 2020). On the other hand it can also be
known that these channels are the source of leakage of the company data and information and
the innovation of the company are sooner copied or presented in the duplicate forms to cheat
the customers and snatch away the market share of the customers. But with the excessive
impact of the social media on the lives of the people in the society compels the businesses to
adapt the same and survive in the market or they shall be soon kicked out. This shall be
requiring the continuous analysis of the external market and such that the competencies can
be developed by the companies.
The content that is to be represented by the company can also be effectually developed
and the ideas of the business can be innovatively created such that it attracts the customers all
over the world. It can be known that the business can function the marketing of its products
and services in the better manner with the help of various options that are being provided by
the social media applications and networking sites. This shall also be lifting the search engine
rankings of the company and the specific keywords shall be generating the inbound traffic for
the company in the form of its customers. The uniqueness in the design, pattern, color
combination, structured layout and the minimalistic website that can be accessible by all of
the potential lot of customers in the business. But this flexibility can be argued as most of the
businesspersons are not well-aware of the usage of social media and are not tech savvy

enough to easily operate the networking sites. There are further risks of hacking, theft, frauds
and manipulations if such operators are not well aware of the terms and conditions. This can
be solved by employing the knowledgeable person who shall be technology friendly and will
be capable to use the social media in order to optimize the operations of the company. This
can be done through the effective marketing and applying the strong promotion tools for the
branding and publicity of the company products.
In the era of digitalization and the immense technological advancements that are executed
for the company it can be found out that there are a variety of the digital platforms that are
available with the company for the marketing of the products and services (Cavinder and
et.al., 2017). They are in the form of search engine marketing, optimized website of the
company itself, social media marketing, online advertisements, pay per clicks, e-mail
marketing etc. that can be applied by the company for the variety of purposes and to reach
out the customers in the market. This shall be facilitating the multichannel campaigns from
the e-mails to social media to customization of the websites to providing the different online
ads for the company. This shall be having the wide coverage for the customers in the
business and accordingly they shall be converting the demands of the products into the sales
for the enterprise. Multichannel campaigns are highly effective and strongly impacts the
businesses of the companies through the popular marketing tools. This is effective in the
situation of planning the expansions in the company, entering the new product line, entering
the new markets of the potential customers or establishing the global footprint in the foreign
markets. These are the several instances where the company shall be requiring the support of
the multichannel campaigns that can draw the attention of the customers instantly through
any one of the channel and can increase the profitability for the business. So it can be
evaluated that up-to a great extent social media has proven to be advantageous for the
businesses to excel in the marketplace.
TASK- 2
Reflective Essay
Over the time with the analysis of the social media marketing and their advantages for the
businesses and development of the growth prospects, I have been able to grow personally and
professionally in the various aspects wherein I have acquired the numerous skills and the

capabilities to face the real world. It has helped me know the competencies in the professional
world and how the efforts are to be made to survive in the same. It can further be regarded that
this has helped me get deeper insights of the professional world and the benefits of digitalization
in the same such that my employability skills have been highly boosted. The knowledgeability
and the skills pertaining to the business and its profitability and developing the future
opportunities are the major factors that makes a person worthy enough for the company in the
form of human resources that are to be highly valued by the company.
The argumentative form of the essay has also developed the analytical skills of analyzing
a particular situation regarding the advantages and the disadvantages and also summing up with
the results as to what is the final evidence and what is the solution in the variety of instances. For
the better understanding of the personal and the professional development the Gibbs model of
reflection must be applied so that the experiences can be known at the various stages and
accordingly the skills and the talents that are being developed in the personality for the longer
term (Gibbs' Reflective Cycle. 2021). After verifying the various secondary sources of data from
the articles, books journals etc. it can further be known that the literature capacity has boosted
with the academic skills and the sharp vocabulary. The format of the essay shall be revealing that
how to communicate the various opinions regarding the pros and cons and the cost benefit
analysis for the organization. This has contributed in the development of the effective skills of
communication and organization techniques and the improved the writing skills in the overall
personality.
Development of the employability skills is the challenging task that is to be performed
before entering the professional world and appearing for the interviews. The knowledge about
the current business trends, digitalization and globalization, analysis of the external business
environment and the factors that are contributing to the profitability and the growth of the
business shall be important for the employer and these are the skills that may be desired in the
prospective employees who are the future of the company. This builds the great opportunity and
the scope for the career advancement and talent building in the organization that can shape the
future and associate the well-being.
Overall the experience has been very knowledgeable and has significantly contributed in
the growth and the enhancement of the overall personality such that many required skills in the

personal and the professional world have been sharpened and accordingly they shall be applied
in future to excel in all arena of life.
CONCLUSION
From the above project it can be summarized that the social media marketing is highly
effective for the organization in the promotion of the goods and services of the company. Apart
from that it is cost effective and covers wide area for the company to target the potential
customers. The essay writing on such topic shall be leading to the personal and the professional
development and boosting the skills in the form of academic and career advancement through
employ ability.

REFERENCES
Cavinder, C. A. and et.al., 2017. Utilization of social media as a marketing tool for equine
businesses: An exploratory study. NACTA Journal. 61(2). pp.137-140.
Hossain, S. F. A. and et.al., 2020. Social media and increased venture creation tendency with
innovative ideas: the case of female students in Asia. In Handbook of research on
managerial practices and disruptive innovation in Asia (pp. 194-209). IGI Global.
Yunita, I. R. and Gunawan, W., 2018, September. The influence of social media to loyalty in an
e-commerce. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 420,
No. 1, p. 012102). IOP Publishing.
Duggal, R. and Gupta, V., 2020. Impact of social media in the growth of business: A case study
on women entrepreneurs. Benefits, 7(7), p.2020.
Online
10 Advantages of Social Media Marketing for Your Business. 2020. [Online] Available through:
< https://www.bluefountainmedia.com/blog/advantages-of-social-media-marketing>
Gibbs' Reflective Cycle. 2021. [Online]. Available Through:<
https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-
reflective-cycle >.