The Use Of Social Media In Business: A Literature Review

Importance of Building a Social Media Program for an Organization

Discuss about the Integrating social media in business.

The advent of technology and the increasing globalization have made the world a flat place. People are connected with each other from different parts of the world. A lot of credit for the strong network of people goes to the invention and growth of social media which plays a significant role in our everyday lives. Social media comprises of various platforms where users from different parts of the world can share views, information and communicate with each other via an online platform. This creates the need for using social media in organizations as well. This report aims to review literature on the use of social media in organizations and device strategies about competently integrating social media in business. Ten articles have been chosen and have been critically analyzed on the basis of five criteria for credibility. These five criteria are authority, audience, transparency, objectivity and relevancy. These articles predominantly highlight upon different facets of using social media in business.

Article 1: Blanchard, O. (2011). Social media ROI: Managing and measuring social media efforts in your organization. Pearson Education. Indianpolis, Ind.

Blanchard highlights upon the importance of building a social media program for an organization. Building a social media program for any firm does not happen overnight and is not easy process. The article specifies that the first companies who successfully integrated social media into their business were Ford, Virgin Airlines, Starbucks and Dell. The three most important factors that need to kept in mind while using social media for business are Reach, Attention and Influence. Social media requires a long commitment. Therefore organizations must set ground rules before integrating social media in their business. More than anything, for a successful impact of social media, organization aim to tap into human need for social validation. Therefore the article suggests that businesses must carefully curate a social media plan for themselves in order to effectively reach out to their customers.

Article 2: Olivas-Lujan, M. R., & Bondarouk, T. (Eds.). (2013). Social media in strategic management. Emerald Group Publishing.

Social media is changing the way businesses are being conducted. Traditional marketing is taking a backseat and digital marketing strategies adopted by businesses are the real money spinners. The reach of social media is much higher than any other advertising platform that existed till now. Therefore it is recommended that organizations must switch to social media marketing for improved customer reach and effective brand positioning. Strategic marketers cannot ignore the change that has been created by social media in the ways of customer interactions, employee retentions, and internal communication in business and positioning the brand in the minds of customers. Social media can be used to target multiple customer across different market segments. This is one of the biggest advantages for any business while marketing their products through social media platforms.

Switching to Social Media Marketing for Improved Customer Reach and Effective Brand Positioning

Article 3: Ruck, K., & Welch, M. (2012). Valuing internal communication; management and employee perspectives. Public Relations Review, 38(2), 294-302.

 Digitalization of businesses have largely impacted communication in the organization. Social media communities are formed within organizations to help employees establish trust and transparency within businesses. These communities form the much needed white board for employees to share opinions and information among each other. These platforms assist employees in creating blogs which can be used to train new employees as well as help organizations in recording important projects and experiences. Social media communities specifically help global teams in establishing better communication owing to different time zones that they function in. Sharing information through social media establishes better employee relations, fosters employee creativity and helps in effective knowledge management. Hence in order to competently integrate social media, top management must encourage employees to form social media communities for internal communication.

Article 4: Vuori, V., & Okkonen, J. (2012). Knowledge sharing motivational factors of using an intra-organizational social media platform. Journal of knowledge management, 16(4), 592-603.

Motivation among employees is a key factor that leads to employee retention. Employees who are motivated perform better and stay connected with the business for longer durations. Social media can also be used to recognize hard working employees on a global platform. These channels can be used to share achievements of employees with the rest of the organization. Rewarding and recognizing employees are highly effective strategies in motivating employees leading to improved satisfaction. Social media can thus be a highly effective tool to achieve the same.

Article 5: Ou, C. X., & Davison, R. M. (2011). Interactive or interruptive? Instant messaging at work. Decision Support Systems, 52(1), 61-72.

Social media in business can also be integrated in the form of instant chat bots, instant messengers and white boards. These help employees in communicating better. There are several forms of communication that are required in an organization. Instant messenger’s help employees communicate better with each other. Chat bots help businesses in communicating efficiently with their customers. White boards provide a platform for employees to share information and data on a unified destination. These strategies can be easily implemented in any business. Such efforts will not only help employees communicate better but will also enhance the level of operational efficiency in the business. 

Article 6: Ashley, C., & Tuten, T. (2015). Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory study of branded social content and consumer engagement. Psychology & Marketing, 32(1), 15-27.

Role of Social Media Communities in Improving Employee Relations and Knowledge Management

In the process of integrating social media in the organization, the content as well as the platform used plays a significant role in judging the efficiency of the social media strategy of the business. Content shared on social media platforms must be relevant and authentic. This enables organizations to ensure proficient communication among business stakeholders. In order to maintain the relevancy and authenticity of the content shared on social media communities within the business, organizations must establish strict policies and procedures. Approved content should be shared across platforms and must be made available through a strategically restricted access. This is highly important in ensuring that social media platforms are not misused.

Article 7: Ashley, C., & Tuten, T. (2015). Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory study of branded social content and consumer engagement. Psychology & Marketing, 32(1), 15-27.

Social media marketing refers to the process of promoting a product or service through social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. Relevancy and authenticity of the content shared across social media platforms are also highly important for the success of social media marketing strategy implemented in the organization. These marketing strategies help businesses in building a two way communication with their customers. This leads to improved customer relations, better reach and improved positioning in the minds of consumers. Businesses must strategically identify the most appropriate social media platform for improved reach of their customers. This is important to ensure that the right target market can be reached in the most appropriate manner.

Article 8: Vinerean, S., Cetina, I., Dumitrescu, L., & Tichindelean, M. (2013). The effects of social media marketing on online consumer behavior. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(14), 66.

Applying effective social media strategies in any business requires immense efforts from the business. Besides the content shared by organizations across social media platforms, responsiveness of an organization in its social media page plays a significant role in establishing a successful and improved social media presence of any brand. Facebook comments, Twitter mentions and brand hashtags used by customers must be efficiently responded to and carefully followed. This will help the business in being active through these platforms and lead to establishment of improved communication with customers resulting in customer loyalty and improved brand image.

Article 9: Ang, L. (2011). Community relationship management and social media. Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management, 18(1), 31-38.

Social media platforms are used by customers to provide feedback to organizations that they do business with. This feedback can be either positive or negative. Either way, businesses can use this feedback as an appropriate channel to reflect its promptness and value for customer service. Businesses must make their social media platforms active enough that customers can resort to these platforms in can they have a grievance. It is imperative that organizations with integrated social media must address customer queries, issues and grievances posted on their social media platform in a prompt and effective manner. This will build better relationships for the brand and also assist them in setting a positive positioning to a larger audience.

Motivating Employees Using Social Media Platforms

Article 10: Madia, S. A. (2011). Best practices for using social media as a recruitment strategy. Strategic HR Review, 10(6), 19-24.

Business functions are incomplete without an effective human resource management team in place. Fortunately, with growing technology, social media can be integrated in the human resource management also. Social media platforms serve two important purposes for recruiters of the business. Firstly, they help businesses in reaching out to appropriate and competent candidates who are seeking jobs. LinkedIn has specifically been proved useful in bridging the gap between millions of employers and candidates making it one of the largest employer and employee branding community existing today. Secondly, personal social media platforms of candidates help employers in gaining a deeper insight about the candidate applying for a job with their firm. This can help employers in making better and more informed decisions regarding their recruitment process. An important role of human resource management deals in motivating and engaging employees within the business. This can also be effectively achieved with the help of social media platforms.

Conclusion

Social media has become an integral part of businesses and in our daily lives. There are numerous advantages of integrating social media in business. Effective use of these platforms can help businesses in creating effective communication channel and improving employee relations as well as work place environment. Proficiently adopting social media for internal communication and recognizing employee efforts can be used as a tool to motivate employee and enhance levels of employee retention. On the customer side, social media can be used as a tool to market products and services offered by the business to a large audience. Responsiveness of the firm on social media can also help the business in addressing employee issues and grievances in a proficient manner. Hence improving brand image. Therefore, social media can assist businesses in establishing loyal customers and employees which are the most important stakeholder for any business.

References

Andrews, C. (2012). Social media recruitment. Applied Clinical Trials, 21(11), 32.

Ang, L. (2011). Community relationship management and social media. Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management, 18(1), 31-38.

Ashley, C., & Tuten, T. (2015). Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory study of branded social content and consumer engagement. Psychology & Marketing, 32(1), 15-27.

Blanchard, O. (2011). Social media ROI: Managing and measuring social media efforts in your organization. Pearson Education. Indianpolis, Ind.

Olivas-Lujan, M. R., & Bondarouk, T. (Eds.). (2013). Social media in strategic management. Emerald Group Publishing.

Madia, S. A. (2011). Best practices for using social media as a recruitment strategy. Strategic HR Review, 10(6), 19-24.

Ou, C. X., & Davison, R. M. (2011). Interactive or interruptive? Instant messaging at work. Decision Support Systems, 52(1), 61-72.

Ruck, K., & Welch, M. (2012). Valuing internal communication; management and employee perspectives. Public Relations Review, 38(2), 294-302.

Vinerean, S., Cetina, I., Dumitrescu, L., & Tichindelean, M. (2013). The effects of social media marketing on online consumer behavior. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(14), 66.

Vuori, V., & Okkonen, J. (2012). Knowledge sharing motivational factors of using an intra-organizational social media platform. Journal of knowledge management, 16(4), 592-603.