The Use Of Social Media As A Means Of Communication Through The Lens Of The Commonwealth Bank Of Australia

Overview of Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Discuss about the Social Media Strategy for Service Management.

The “advent of globalization and the recent developments in the fields of technology as well as the innovations has much transformed the way the various business organizations as well as companies conduct their business in the recent times” (Aral, Dellarocas & Godes, 2013). It is a reflection of that the process of “communication has emerged as one of the important processes for the various business organizations as well as companies” (Aral, Dellarocas & Godes, 2013). Therefore, “the various business organizations take the help of various kinds of communication styles in a bid to convey their message most effectively not only to their employees but also to the various shareholders as well as the customers or the end users related to the business organization” (Armstrong et al., 2015). In the recent times it is seen that “the various platforms related to the social media has emerged as one of the most important tools for the process of the communication used by the various business organizations” (Aral, Dellarocas & Godes, 2013). This report will discuss about the concept of the “use of the social media as a means of communication through the lens of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia”.

The “Commonwealth Bank of Australia” is one of the largest banking organizations of the nation of Australia and has been operational for more than a hundred years. The bank under consideration here was founded in the year 1911 and is an “Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom”. Initially the bank focused its activities in the nation of Australia however with the growth of its business in the nation of Australia the bank gradually expanded its business in the other important nations of the world. The bank under consideration here is commonly called by the name of “Commonwealth Bank (or CBA or Commbank)” and is known for the financial services which it provides not only to the individuals but also to the retail sectors, the various business organizations and others. In addition to these the bank also specializes in providing a “variety of financial services including retail, business and institutional banking, funds management, superannuation, insurance, investment and broking services”. It is significant to note that this particular bank belonging to the nation of Australia is the 58^th largest business organization of the world in terms of the revenue which it generates and for the year 2017 it had a turnover of “$109.9 Billion”. In addition to these, the Commonwealth of Australia is the “largest Australian listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange as of August 2015 with brands including Bankwest, Colonial First State Investments, ASB Bank (New Zealand), Commonwealth Securities (CommSec) and Commonwealth Insurance (CommInsure)”. The below given figure provides some of the “financial details of the organization-

Social Media as a Means of Communication

Figure 1: “Financial Statistics of Commonwealth Bank of Australia”

Source: “Factset, Bloomberg, S&P Cap IQ; Forbes”

The company “Commonwealth Bank of Australia” post its expansion in the “various nations of the world follows a very effective communication system for the purpose of conveying information about the kind of services provided by them to the customers and also to communicate their message most effectively to the various shareholders and also the various employees related to the business organization” (“Commonwealth Bank of Australia” Coffee Company, 2018). Therefore, the “cheap as well as the inexpensive medium of the social media has become one of the integral part of the process of communication used by the business organization under consideration here” (Armstrong et al., 2015). The company under consideration takes the help of the various platforms related to the social medium not only for the purposes of the communication with the customers but also to convey relevant information to the various people who are interested in the organization (Armstrong et al., 2015). It is a reflection of this that the company under consideration here has enhanced its social media presence in the recent times with a bid “to bring about the overall growth as well as the development of their business process” (Laroche, Habibi & Richard, 2013). Therefore, the company takes the help of the various kinds of fan pages and official brand pages “not only to reach out to a larger number of people but also to convey the relevant information to the people who are interested in the business process of the organization” (“Commonwealth Bank of Australia” Coffee Company, 2018). Furthermore, it is a reflection of this that the company in the recent times various kinds of online services to the customers as well (Laroche, Habibi & Richard, 2013). In short it can be said that the various kinds of social media strategies used by the concerned business organization has contributed a lot towards “the overall growth as well as the development of the concerned business organization in the recent times” (Laroche, Habibi & Richard, 2013).

The primary social media audience of the company is the various customers or the end users of the products or the services who are related to the business organization “Commonwealth Bank of Australia” (Sigala, Christou & Gretzel, 2012). It is “significant to note that the company takes the help of the various platforms related to the social media not only to convey the relevant amount of information about the various existing services provided by them to the customers but also to convey the relevant amount of information about the various new services which they are about to introduce into the business market” (Sigala, Christou & Gretzel, 2012). Furthermore, the company “Commonwealth Bank of Australia” also takes the help of the various kinds of social media to effectively “convey their message to the various employees who are related to the concerned business organization” (Sigala, Christou & Gretzel, 2012). It is “significant to note that the company “Commonwealth Bank of Australia” has employees in the various parts of the world and therefore to communicate effectively with all these employees the company takes the help of the social media” (De Vries, Gensler & Leeflang, 2012). Furthermore, the company also takes the help of the various kinds of social media platforms in a bid to communicate effectively with the various shareholders who are related to the organization (De Vries, Gensler & Leeflang, 2012). It is significant to note that the “shareholders are the people who had invested in the business of the company and therefore it becomes very important for the organization to convey the relevant amount of information to the various shareholders of the organizations” (De Vries, Gensler & Leeflang, 2012). It is here that the various platforms related to the social media become very important for the organization (De Vries, Gensler & Leeflang, 2012).

Primary Social Media Audience

The company “Commonwealth Bank of Australia” takes the help of the concept of “social media marketing” not only to “promote the products as well as the services offered by them to the various customers but also to provide them the information about the new products or the services which they are about to launch in the market” (Bolton et al., 2013). It “is a reflection of this that the company under consideration here also uses the help of the various kinds of social media platforms to provide online services to the customers” (Bolton et al., 2013). It is “significant to note that in the present times the various platforms related to the social media has gained prominence and the various customers like to opt for the services of a particular company which has an effective social media presence” (Bolton et al., 2013). Therefore, “it would be apt to say that the use of the various platforms related to the social media is one of the major reasons for the success attained by the company “Commonwealth Bank of Australia” in the recent times” (Bolton et al., 2013).

The “use of the social media for the various purposes of business entails with some disadvantages as well”(Sigala, Christou & Gretzel, 2012). For example, the important thing which “the various business organizations in the present times including “Commonwealth Bank of Australia” need to take into consideration is the ethics, privacy and security of the various customers related to them” (Sigala, Christou & Gretzel, 2012). It is “significant to note that the various platforms related to the social media is an open accessed one and therefore it is often seen that the information which the various customers provide over the social media gets misused for various diverse purposes” (Sigala, Christou & Gretzel, 2012). Furthermore, “it is also seen that the various business organizations in the recent times fail to use the platform of the social media for diverse unethical purposes” (Laroche, Habibi & Richard, 2013). It is a reflection of this that the various customers in the preset times have become very conscious about the information which they share with the organization and also about the information which the various business organizations share with the various customers (Laroche, Habibi & Richard, 2013). Furthermore, it is generally seen that the various customers times opt for the services of a particular company depending on the kind of reviews which the other customers who have opted for the same kind of services have given and it is generally seen that the various business organizations themselves write fake reviews about the services produced by them. Therefore, the various organizations should not do this particular thing as it not only unethical but also it misleads the customers.

Social Media Marketing and Online Services

The various “social media technologies” and “platforms like Facebook, Twitter and others have emerged as one of the most of the important ones in the present times” (Laroche, Habibi & Richard, 2013). It is “a reflection of this that the various business organizations in the present times take the help of these technologies and also the platforms” offered by them “to bring about the overall growth as well as the development of their business process” (Armstrong et al., 2015). Thus, the company “Commonwealth Bank of Australia” takes the help of the various kinds of fan pages as well as brand pages not only to reach out to a larger number of people but also to earn the loyalty of the various customers who are related to them (Armstrong et al., 2015). It is “significant to note that the concept of customer loyalty plays a key role in the business of the various business organizations and many people take the help of this particular concept to further the prospects of their business in the present day business market” (Armstrong et al., 2015). Therefore, “it would be apt to say that the various “social media technologies” have positively impacted the business process of the various business organizations of the world” including “Commonwealth Bank of Australia” and is one “of the main reasons for the recent success gained by the business organization “Commonwealth Bank of Australia” in the recent times in the global context” (Armstrong et al., 2015).

Conclusion

To conclude,the business world “in the present times has undergone a drastic transformation on account of the various factors like the advent of globalization and the development in the fields of innovations and technology”. Therefore, the concept of communication has emerged as one of the “most important ones in the present times and the rise of the various platforms related to the social media” has provided invaluable services to “the various business organizations in the present times”. The various platforms related to the social media are not only cheap but also inexpensive. Therefore, the “various business organizations in the present times use the various platforms related to the social media not only to achieve the process of effective communication with the various customers or the end users of the products which are offered by the company but also to communicate in the best possible manner with the various employees as well as the shareholders who are related to the business organization”. It is significant “to note that the use of social media for the purposes of business has both positive as well as negative aspects” however the positive aspects of the process far outweigh the negative aspects and thus “most of the business organizations take the help of this particular concept”.

References

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