The Impact of Social Media on Businesses

These are social sites where people and organization can share information about different aspects of life. Business marketing has taken advantage of this accessory to reach different possible consumers. Consequently, the development has impacted differently on businesses. This paper explores the impact social media has on businesses. Internet usage and social media sites in the world The current number of internet users and social media subscribers show that social media is here to stay and will continue impacting different aspects of human life including businesses. The usage of social media has risen in the recent past. In 2010, social media accounted for sixteen percent of the time spent online. However, by 2018, the usage had increased tremendously and accounted for thirty-seven percent of the total time online by the users.

Facebook, which is the leading social media site, by usage and the number of users, has become a major form of communication among different age groups (Reach Solutions. The use of web-based emailing as a form of communication has decreased among the different age groups in the recent. Businesses also benefit directly from being exposed to new markets (Barnes, 2014). For example, Absolut Vodka used Instagram in 2017 to advertise Spark bottle, a product they had newly introduced to the market and increased their brand awareness in the world. Social media sites also influence businesses by humanizing brands. A study by Trinity Mirror Solution in the United Kingdom found out that more than half the adult population do not believe in brands until they have seen real-life proof that the company producing the brand is actually doing what they purport in their advertisement.

The social media offers a solution to this problem in business by connecting the business to the consumers. Participation in social chats relevant to a given business has a directly related with increase in the number of customers (Schaupp & Bélanger, 2013). The social media also influences business growth by boosting sales. While other marketing channels are mostly plagued by geographical limitation, the social media transcends the distance between producers and consumers. Moreover, social media can reach more people than any other form of marketing due to a large number of users who have access to the sites. Therefore, businesses can grow their sales by harnessing social media to increase their number of customers. Social media has become one of the fastest and most effective means of communication (Singh & Sinha, 2017).

One of the ways in which businesses have exploited this opportunity is during crisis communication where several businesses have used it before to communicate with their consumers so as to salvage their reputation following a crisis. An example of companies which have harnessed this opportunity in solving the crisis is Dell. In 2010 a number of bloggers coined the company's name with Hell impacting negatively on the reputation of the company. In response, the company exploited the social media by initiating Direct2Dell blog which provided an opportunity for social media users to raise their concerns to the company (Daley, 2010). Consequently, advertising through social media is efficient. Businesses which have embraced technology sped twice as much on Facebook Ads, which is a form of target marketing, then they spend advertising on newspapers.

Another special feature social media brings to the advertisement and affects businesses positively is retargeting. More than seventy percent of the items selected into carts in online shopping are not bought eventually (Kim & Chun, 2018). However, the people who abandon selected items are interested in the products and are potential customers. For example, companies have no control over negative reviews offered by their consumers. They also have little control over information which has already been shared to the market through the social media. Therefore, businesses can only do little to shield themselves from the negative effects of social media. Businesses are also vulnerable to what their employee's post and share in social media sites. Despite the fact that businesses are independent entities from the owners and employees who work for it, social media users usually treat the two as one entity.

It can be harnessed to increase traffic in business' websites and to link business and their customers in a human manner which impacts positively on brand development. The negative influences associated with social media on businesses include the high amount of time spent harnessing the sites, lack of absolute control of information shared in the sites, and the vulnerability of businesses to their affiliates such as employees' use of the internet. References Barnes, N. G. Social commerce emerges as big brands position themselves to turn" follows"," likes" and" pins" into sales. How Social Media is Changing Business. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from: https://www. entrepreneur. com/article/217507 Kim, N. (2018)Trinitymirrorsolutions. co. uk. https://www. trinitymirrorsolutions. Forbes. Retrieved from: https://www. forbes. com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2018/05/11/how-social-media-can-move-your-business-forward/#6039f914cf2b Singh, T.