Evaluation Of The Use Of Social Media As A Means Of Business Communication For Starbucks

Main Body

The purpose of our study is to evaluate the use of social media as a means of business communication for an organization like Starbucks, a branded coffeehouse serving most of the youth customers to achieve the goal of its business (Svahn, Mathiassen, & Lindgren, 2017). The major reason as provided by Starbucks for proposing the use of the social media is that the young generation is the major user of it, hence it shall provide a vast number of young proposed customers a platform for the exchange of information   with Starbucks through the means of social media like Facebook and twitter. In this case it is to be kept in mind that our view along with the recommendation is based mainly on the proposal submitted by the Starbucks.

As it is clearly mentioned that while preparation of the proposal the sources of data collection to be chosen were decided as primary and secondary both. But this proposal has been prepared mainly based on literary review of the secondary data collection methodology, hence its effectiveness degrades as primary data sources collected from the employees and customers of the Starbucks would have been much more authentic as it would have provided the real scenario associated with the proposed use of social media platform as a means of business communication (Webster, 2017). Though it was mentioned in the proposal that based on first assessment future primary study on the same subject shall be done based on questions formulated based on the findings of the assessment one

As it is often found that hardly the consumers and the employees feel free to express their viewpoint while conducting any surveys or interviews with them. Hence the social media like Facebook and twitter can be of great help here too so that to provide them a platform for chatting ang getting their valuable feedback to justify our research findings.

In the given case Starbucks when deciding about the major transformation for using the Social media platform like twitter and Facebook has followed a step by step approach by identifying its business goals followed by understanding its current situation then made an effort to gain an insight of its target audience. Once these are finalized then only it entered into the process of taking over the project of Social media as a means of business communication with a view to ensuring the engagement of its target audience by using the innovative technology to communicate with them through the means of several digital tools available with it.

1. Social media can contribute in gathering knowledge about the perception of the customers on the products served by Starbucks which can serve as a better platform to bring the necessary improvement in the quality of the product and service provided by it. As through social media like Facebook and twitter it can post its updates and promotional schemes and accordingly pay attention what people like and what do they reply in response to such posts. Through which it can learn the new ideas and suggestions provided by the customers just by following them in its media page(Kusolpalalert, 2018).
2. Social media can be used for creating the branding perception in the minds of the customers as it is this social media platform on which one can easily get noticed by its consumers by providing it the platform for global reach and provide instant updates on these sites, which all can help Starbucks to establish its brand(Yadao, 2018).

• The careful use of social media with appropriate guideline has also been kept in mind by Starbucks considering its growing relevance as this shall consist of the factors like always share such  credible information through social media that shall create a positive brand in the minds of the people in form of trust, it demands the open attitude of accepting what people say in response to your information sharing which says to be fair by being aware of who can see your information, what has been shared about business etc. by maintaining the confidentiality of business and finding  an appropriate balance between social media and other work(Kaufmann, 2017).

1. Social media has been found helpful in CSR Communication of the Starbucks, as those companies which promote and share the CSR activity related information n social media those companies found more customers buying their products. At the same time employees of such organizations find them highly motivated to work for such companies(Kang, Yu, & Lee, 2016). Social media can provide the best platform for providing the numerous social and environmental problems by initiating a direct talk through the platform of this social media with those are target audience for the same.
2. The innovative communities of the social media have added values to the business of the Starbucks. As per the study conducted by McKinney there are ten ways through which social media can add value  the business those areas are product development by means of deriving customers insight and co-creating the product, operations and distributions through leveraging social media to forecast and monitor and using the same for distribution process, marketing and sales through social commerce, customer service, business support, using it to improve intra and inter organizational communication and collaboration and matching talent with task(Johan, 2018).
3. It has been found in the first assessment that it is the cheapest form of branding as these social media platforms like Facebook and twitter can help you to reach your targeted consumers irrespective of their location and time, hence this is considered as the cheapest mode of branding the product and services(Iggers, 2018).

It has been expected that the project shall start providing the result after the nine months since its inception that starts from collecting the background information and ends on staff involvement and continuous training, but in between the steps like preparation for the survey may be troublesome as it is found difficult to obtain the proper response from the targeted respondents along with the  implementation of the proper data analysis tools for the purpose of analyzing the survey made for the purpose (Grundy, Held, & Bero, 2017). This also need the selection of social media plan developers and media market trainers who shall develop the effective media marketing strategy and provide the requisite training to the employees of the Starbucks for managing the brand image of the Starbucks over social media respectively. In this case the selection of these subcontractors seems to be very crucial and may be a time taking process too to ensure the longtime consistency of the project (Hansen, Otley, & Stede, 2003).

Evaluation of the methodology chosen for collecting information

So far as the budget estimates are concerned it has been clearly mentioned that it may exceed the estimated budgetary limit due to the inability to accurately estimate the proposed expenditure to be incurred for the proposed project. Hence it is important to find the appropriate ways for finding the solution for the same (Ghofiqi, 2018).

The estimated budget is attached hereunder-

Deliverables	15th-Nov	15th-Dec	15th- Jan	15th- Feb	15th- Mar	15th- Apr	15th- May	15th- Jun	15th– July
Collecting background information
Preparation for the survey
Gathering required permissions
Conducting and analysing survey
Brand Strategy Development Plan implementation for use of social media	Social media plan
Website rebrand
marketing
Staff Involvement& Continuous Training

Before taking over the proposed project which shall initially cost $70000, out of which the survey and analysis shall cost solely $30000 and the balance $40000 has been appropriated for the development of the social media plan and marketing but whether the benefit that shall be generated in future should be able to recover this cost or not is also a major consideration. In this case the survey and analysis is demanding the major portion of total budgeted cost, hence the outcome of the same shall play a major role in taking over the project. If we compare the survey cost with the development plan then it seems that it ( development of plan for social media) does not seem to be much higher. At the same timei t has been clearly mentioned that there was already inaccuracy lying with the cost estimates made due yo which it may increase in future too. Hence major attempt is required to be made to rectify the nearest accurate estimate of the cost to correctly analysing its prospective benefit. Though in the proposal submitted the future projected cash inflows that may be generated after the implementation of this project has not been incorporated, but in order to make a valid cost benefit analysis such estimates are mandatorily required. While considering for the benefits adequate weightage should be given to the intangible qualitative benefits too, whether or not such benefits are measurable in monetary terms or not. The period of such recovery of the initial cost too shall matter in this regard.

The risks associated with the implementation of plan to use social media as a means of communication can be handled with the help of few of the following strategies by starbucks

1. Giving an insight to the fact that what are the applications that shall be authorised to use the social media of the starbucks.
2. Accepting the fact that ethical guidelines and policies of using social media are not the means of control but are the instrument of governance.

• Always make an effort to have a social media logon list.

1. It should focus on valuing its targeted audience and the relationship with them.
2. Make the recruitment of such personnel who are smart enough to handle the same
3. Develop a proper crisis management plan beforehand.

• Don’t go with the assumptions that our brand is perfect, because human beings are actually not perfect.

The major stakeholders of the proposed projects have been identified as follows:

Management of the Starbucks

Employees

Customers

Sub Contractors

Before reaching to the conclusion for taking over the project a careful analysis of the tentative effect on each stakeholder is required by considering the pros and cons for the same.

The management of the Starbucks needs to consider that whether it has the appropriate policy in place so that to meet the ethical guidelines for using the social media as a means of business communication along with any negative consequence of not meeting with the requisite ethical guidelines (Egelund-Mu¨ller, Elsman, Henglein, & Ross, 2017)

Employees

The employees who are going to use such media needs to have the knowledge of the way and the limitations to use the same. As any such use which may cause loss to the Starbucks may also call for the penal action against them. In this regard a proper training along with brainstorming can help them a lot.

Risk Mitigation Strategies

Customers

Before taking over the project the analysis of the mindset of the tentative consumers is required to be undertaken. Because social media also result into the spreading of fake information along with the misleading one. Hence before undertaking such project a platform is required to be prepared beforehand to ensure the positive mindset of the consumers to wards the messages proposed to be communicated by the Starbucks (Coate & Mitschow, 2017).

Subcontractors

Both subcontractors being social media plan developers and media market trainers can play a very crucial role in the future success or failure of the project. This demands that the management of Starbucks should clearly communicate the intended objective of undertaking the project that should commensurate with the implementation plan designed by both subcontractors (Covaleski, Evans, Luft, & Shields, 2003).

The major communication channel chosen by the Starbucks are as follows:

Social Media

Regular Meetings

E-mails and chats

Social media can play the vital role as a means of communicating business information at a fast and cost-effective way. It can also provide valuable feedback about the future prospect of the success for using the Facebook and twitter as a means of business communication. A careful evaluation of the impact of using current social media can also provide valuable guidance in this regard (Charles H, Giovanna, Dennis M, & Robin W, 2015).

Regular meetings with all the stakeholders can be of great help to ensure valuable inputs that ensure the exchange of information amongst all the stakeholders.

E-mails and chats are highly effective means of distribution of information. These show the effectives of using modern technology in business communication for Starbucks.

Conclusions

 

In the nutshell from the above analysis it is concluded that the proposal of using the Facebook and Twitter by the Starbucks as a means of business communication shows its visionary mission that can place it in the position of future leader provided it is implemented with some careful considerations like ethical guidelines to follow the same. At the same time a careful analysis of the risk associated with the same and its prospective effect are required to be analysed before its actual implementation (Boghossian, 2017).

Based on above study, the following things are being recommended for the Starbucks which is planning to use the social media like Facebook and twitter as a means of business communication.

1. The organisation need to chalk out a clear-cut guideline for the effective use f social media as a mean of business communication.
2. As the primary assessment has been done based on secondary data collection procedure, hence it is being recommended to use the primary data collection methodology and the conclusion to take over the project should be based on the result obtained from such primary review(Abdullah & Said, 2017).

• The organisation should make appropriate attempt to make the reliable estimate of the costs associated with the implementation of the project.

1. A careful analysis of the risks and their probable impact on the implementation of the project should be done beforehand.
2. An effective collaboration and communication amongst all the stakeholders should be ensured.
3. The organisation should ensure that it is viable to incur such a huge amount on the project to evaluate its sustainability(Belton, 2017).

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