Social Media Communication

Question: Write about theSocial Media Communication. Answer: Social Media and its Impact on Business Communication Social media is the phenomenon that is used by millions of individuals these days. This is because it acts as the medium to interact with the others whether it is people or business. It allows the people to create and develop the content that can be shared with others. The exchange of information can be done with the use of social media tools. Social media tools are dependent on the internet technology (Qualman, 2010). There are different platform that allow the users to use the different tools of these platform in order to share the information with others. The development in internet technology and emergence of Web 2.0 concepts allow the users to share videos, images and even to communicate with others through chat rooms. This invention has overcome the obstacle of distance as people sitting in different countries can easily communicate with each other through the social media platforms (Griffin, et.al, 2010). Communication is the major facility that has been provided by Social med ia technology to the individuals as well as to the businesses. This discussion below will clear out the impact of social media and its impact on the business communication in todays era. Communication is very much important for nay of the business. This is because business cannot be run alone. The businesses owners need to communicate with stakeholders of the business in order make its processes function. Customers are the major stakeholders, to whom the business needs to communicate now and then (Safko, 2010). The company that does not interact with their customers cannot able to retain them for long time. Social media helps the organization to be in the minds of the customers all the time. Most of the big companies in Australia are using social media as the tool to connect with their customers. Woolworth is one of them. Woolworth is the company that deals with grocery, home ware, and food and clothing products and operates in many countries along with Australia. As the company deals with range of products, it is necessary for the company to understand their customers well. The supermarket industry in Australia is very much competitive and thus it is mandatory for the organizations like Woolworth to make connection with their customers in order to retain them. The big challenge for the company is to know who their customers are and what they want (Edosomwan, Prakasan, Kouame, Watson and Seymour, 2011). Thus, communicating with them is the only option left with the companies. Woolworth has a social networking team that focuses on maintaining the social media communication of the business with the customers through various mediums. It has been found by that team that the customers of the company are not only brand savvy but also technologically updated. They have realized that technology can empower the customers. The company is engaged with so many social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. using the Socialbakers Builder and analytics. Woolworth uses this tool of Socialbakers to tailor their targeted audience according to their needs and requirements (Socialbakers., 2017). Through this tool, the company not only derives the data about the needs of the customers but can also provide customers support to them. This tool helps the company to meet their customers anytime. The companys e-commerce footprint is very impressive. The company earns around A$1.2bn from its online sales. The first tool of social media or internet technology that has been used by the company is its website. Its website is very color full and attractive and also has much information that helps the customers to know about the products and the service available for them. One of the very interesting features that have been identified in the website of the company is the Facebook Like button on the top right corner of the website (Econsultancy., 2017). This helps the customers to like the page of the company on Facebook and the link provided help th em to directly reach the Facebook page that provides more information. YouTube channel of the company provides short cooking videos to the people. Woolworth remains updated on Instagram and Pinterest also on regular basis. Communicating and advertising on social media arent necessary but still most of the companies using this tool to communicate and interact with the customers. Social media help the businesses in different ways to enhance their business communication. The first use of social media is making connections. The tool or the platforms of social media not only allow the companies post the information about also helps them to connect with their customers. The main focus of the companies these days is to make interaction with their customers and to need them in their businesses (Bovee and Courtland, 2012). Social media site of a company also act as the personal medium of broadcasting things. Advertising at these sites is very much cost effective for the organization and also have larger reach then offline campaigns. Online campaigning helps the companies to get the reviews and the response of the customers on daily basis and the immediate response from the customers help the companies to take c orrective actions if needed. It has been said that Facebook and twitter never sleeps. This means that business can communicate with their customers anytime anywhere. To summarize the above discussion, it can be said that social media is the subset of business communication and has great impact on the communication patterns of the businesses. Initially the companies communicate with their customers through surveys and interview that takes so much of efforts and cost (Crews and Stitt-Gohdes, 2012). However, the use of internet medium such as social networking sites for communication can help the companies to connect with their customers in cost effective manner. The obstacle of distances between the customers and the companies has been removed with the use of social media and it does not take extra efforts by the customers also to surf the companys sites online. This convenience to the customers has increased the use of social media as the communication tool for businesses. References: Qualman, E., 2010.Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business. John Wiley Sons. Safko, L., 2010.The social media bible: tactics, tools, and strategies for business success. John Wiley Sons. Edosomwan, S., Prakasan, S.K., Kouame, D., Watson, J. and Seymour, T., 2011. The history of social media and its impact on business.Journal of Applied Management and entrepreneurship,16(3), p.79. Socialbakers, 2017.Woolworths: Great Results for a Small Team with Socialbakers Solutions | Socialbakers. [online] Available at: https://www.socialbakers.com/social-media-content/client-stories/woolworths-sa/ [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017]. Econsultancy. (2017).How Australia's Woolworths delivers the goods on social. [online] Available at: https://econsultancy.com/blog/66990-how-australia-s-woolworths-delivers-the-goods-on-social/ [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017]. Bovee and Courtland, 2012.Business Communication Today, 10/e. Pearson Education India. Crews, T.B. and Stitt-Gohdes, W.L., 2012. Incorporating Facebook and Twitter in a service-learning project in a business communication course.Business Communication Quarterly,75(1), pp.76-79. Griffin, E.A., Crossman, J., Bordia, S., Mills, C., Maras, S., Pearse, G., Kelly, P. and Shanahan, D., 2010. A First Look at Communication Theory, Em Griffin.Details: Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2009., pp.230-265.