Using Social Networks Businesses Australia â€Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Using Social Networks In Businesses In Australia? Answer: Introduction The business research topic is to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using social networks in businesses in Australia. With the advancement of technology and communication nowadays, the social networks have been considered by many business organisations within the retail industry as good marketing tools for sending messages and information to the targeted audiences. The social media has several advantages and disadvantages, and it is important to utilise it in a proper way for gaining the good results; otherwise, it can even result in severe risks and lead to bad reputation and brand image of retail companies in Australia (Aljabre, 2012). Project objective To identify the impact of social networks on business within the retail industry of Australia To evaluate the advantage and disadvantages of using social networks To assess the impact of social networks on the enhancement of brand reputation and image To recommend necessary measures for enhancing the efficiency of social networks in businesses Project scope The scope of the project is huge because social networks are effective tools for enhancing brand name and image and attracts more customers, thereby influence their buying behaviour too. This would also allow the companies to generate huge amounts of revenue in business. The various aspects of social networks are quite effective, and it can create better scopes for conducting the business research in the future (Baltar Brunet, 2012). Few effective social media platforms are Facebook and Twitter that are used by retail companies in Australia for marketing activities and even create a fan page where the customers can follow the company and know about the products and services offered. The literature review will illustrate the various benefits and drawbacks of using social networks in business by collecting data and information from secondary sources like journals, articles, documents and web sites (Batjargal et al., 2013). Advantages of using social networks for businesses The customers would also be able to gain solutions to their queries and even be indulged in telephonic or email conversations with the company officials regarding any questions related to the products and services offered by the companies. YouTube is also an effective social network platform, which acts as a repository for managing podcasts and videos and this can allow the company to promote its brand products and services, which can get millions of viewership all over the world (Batjargal et al., 2013). This would not only enhance the brand identity of the company but also could enable the users to share the links of the retail company with other friends and followers. With the help of social networks, the company could also display advertising options for sharing and exchange of information with others as well as create a positive mindset among the customers regarding the brand value (Bruhn, Schoenmueller Schfer, 2012). The major advantages of social media marketing are related to costs, because of the social networking web sites are free to access, develop a new profile and post information. To reach the targeted market, it is important to use the social networks as it will incur less investment of money and the users or audiences can also join or follow the company. There is also pay per click advertisements that can make the company earn money as soon as users click on the advertisements. The pay per click advertisements are geo targeted, which allows for reaching the audiences properly and this can be beneficial for the retail companies in Australia to create a good brand image in less time (Bryman Bell, 2015). The cost of marketing is reduced, which can allow for using the additional finance for other purposes like improving customers' services and more traffic to the web site managed by the organisation. With the betterment of customers' services, the sales would increase along with increased traffic to the web site. The customers services efficiency would create better engagement of customers and even allow the customers to provide their responses and feedbacks regarding any products and services delivered by the retail companies (Eriksson Kovalainen, 2015). The social networking also helps in conducting market research about the customers and creates improved opportunities for networking with the businesses and customers with ease and efficiency. The users of brands who are loyal can be channeled into peer-to-peer marketing through the use of social networks, and this can help in influencing the buying behaviours of consumers and make them try out the new products and services with ease and efficiency. The proper utilisation of social networks can also prevent advertising and promotional activities that are not preferred by the local customers as well as create good relationships with them (Gronum, Verreynne Kastelle, 2012). Disadvantages of using social networks for businesses There are few disadvantages of using social networks for businesses such as lack of clear marketing or social media strategy, which can often deteriorate the financial condition and reduce benefits gained by the retail companies in Australia. There would be need of additional resources for managing a good online presence. To keep the market presence stable, it is important to manage daily monitoring, which is a daunting task as well. In case a proper social media presence is not created, then there can be loosing of customers and furthermore lead to and reputation of the company (Laroche, Habibi Richard, 2013). There are chances of unwanted behaviours on the web site like bullying and bad comments posted by individuals could create a negative mindset among other customers. Greater exposure online can also attract more risks such as leakage of data and information and even hacking. One of the major drawbacks of using social networks is that upgrading social media accounts take a lot of time and effort. Thus, it is essential to appoint a senior most person, who has knowledge and skills of handling the products and services of the company and how to create a social media presence. Another disadvantage is that the information and data are visible for a shorter time until newer posts replace the existing ones (Leonardi, Huysman Steinfield, 2013). Other than that, publishing the advertising copy is often not appropriate in the social media environment, which can further result in losing many followers. It is often seen that customers post negative comments, which are needed to be checked by monitoring the social networking accounts, otherwise the negative posts can go viral and harm the businesses within the retail industry of Australia. There could also be the presence of viruses, malware, lack of control over the corporate content, unrealistic expectations from c ustomers and non-compliance with the regulations of management (Okazaki Taylor, 2013). These are the potential risks that can create difficulties while using social networking as an effective marketing tool in businesses of Australia. Social networking is time intensive and so an individual needs to monitor each network, responds to queries, answer questions and post product related information in a consistent manner. The social network users often feel reluctant to share their information and place social networks low regarding security confidence. The marketing efforts can also be met with offensive reactions by customers, which can deteriorate the status of the company (Picazo-Vela et al., 2012). The customers who are unhappy with the services of companies can post offensive pictures, comments and feedbacks and there are no such marketers who can prevent these occurrences. The social networks are free to join, but if the businesses do not introduce paid advertisements, then the companies may end up with followers who are not even local. Another major disadvantage of using social networks is that though it can attract loyal customers, still more efforts are required for attaining new business (Sashi, 2012). Literature gaps Though all the major aspects of this business research are evaluated here, still there have been few limitations found. One of the major limitations is that though the advantages and disadvantages of using social networks in businesses have been illustrated, still there is need of searching for some more secondary sources to collect relevant data and information in a detailed manner (Sekaran Bougie, 2016). Few of the web sites, journals and articles were not genuine, so to conduct the research in a much better way, it would be essential for determining the authenticity of the web sites and journals and collect data and information properly. Conclusion The topic focused on the business research relating to the advantages and disadvantages of using social networks in business. The research was conducted by presenting the research scope and objectives at first and then presenting a literature review to focus on the benefits drawn from using social networks in business. Few of the disadvantages such as lack of control, monitoring of social media accounts and negative brand image, which may result due to negative comments posted by users had been included in this research too. The literature gaps also focused on the limitations, which had been experienced in the research, and these further helped in deriving a proper conclusion in the end. References Aljabre, A. (2012). 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