Process of Business Communication
Question:
Write about the Effect of Social Media on Business Communication.
Business communication is related to the sharing of information between the people inside the organization or with the customers or stakeholders of the organization. This type of communication mainly takes place to provide various commercial benefits to the organization. The business communication related process of an organization encompasses various departments which include, brand management, consumer behaviour, customer relations, public relations, reputation management, employee engagement, interpersonal communication (Schivinski and Dabrowski 2016). The various media channels that are used for the purpose of business communication are internet or social media, radio, television, print media, word of mouth and ambient media. Business communication can also be defined as the ways by which the employees and the communicate with each other to discuss their organizational goals. Business communication includes various types of ways which include, video conferencing, web-based communication, reports, telephone meetings, presentations, face-to-face meetings and forums (Ngai, Tao and Moon 2015).
The style of business communication has gone through many changes in the changing business environment. The changes have occurred due to the increase that has taken place in the demands of the consumers and the increase in the need to communicate with the customers on a regular basis. These changes that have taken place in the process of communication will be analysed based on the example of the Australian organization named Woolworths. Woolworths has its operations in the Australian retail industry and holds the topmost position in the market based on revenues that is generates from its retail based operations (Kumar et al. 2016).
The business organizations are moving with a faster pace as compared to the situation in the previous times. The expectations of the organizations from the employees have also increased in the process. The organizations are obsessed with speed to sustain their operations successfully in the highly competitive market. The mobile communications and internet have further affected the situation by increasing the speed of various processes. The process of business communication is now based on short and crisp messages rather than the long processes. The rapid advancement in the technologies have affected the communication process in business organizations (Razmerita, Kirchner and Nielsen 2016).
The innovations in the business environment is expected to bring more changes in the process of communication. The technology-driven transformation is used by the organizations so that they are able to cut down the costs that are related to communication with the customers and stakeholders. The increasing range of internet can provide a huge technology platform to the organizations which can be helpful to facilitate the communication processes. The continuous changing technologies are bringing dramatic changes in the process of business communication (Godey et al. 2016). During the last ten years, the high levels of technology advancements have taken place which have been able to provide new direction to the trends of business communication. The technologies will further cause more changes in the business communication related process in the various organizations. The tools and the trends that are a part of business communication process deal with the technological developments and the applications that pertain to the business processes (Trainor et al. 2014).
Change in Business Communication Practices
The use of technology in business communication has increased the speed of the process and the messages reach the target audience faster than before. The opportunities that are provided due to the expansion of communication are also huge. The individuals are able to communicate with each other and conduct a business relationship without even coming face to face with each other. The use of technology has therefore affected the communication related processes in a huge manner (Paniagua and Sapena 2014).
The business communication process is however facing many challenges in the 21st century which have affected the organizations in a negative manner. The use of technology and social media for the communication related purposes have increased the opportunities that are provided by the organizations. The social media platforms like MySpace and Facebook have enabled easier process of communication between the organizations and the stakeholders. This media however, has many negative effects on the relationships that are developed between the various individuals in the business organizations (Kane 2015). The security related threats are also major concern for the communication process that is conducted with the help of social media. The productivity of the employees is also reduced in some occasions due to the extensive usage of social media for the purpose of communicating with each other. This can further cause a distraction in the work process of the employees. The customers are sometimes highly worried about the privacy issues that are related to the communication that takes place through the social media (Lipschultz 2014). This can prevent the customers from using this media for the purpose of communicating with the help of social media with the organizations. The return on the investment that is made by the organizations on social media communication cannot be measured easily. The employees form a major part of the brand image on social media and any wrong step taken by them on the social media platforms can have negative effects on the reputation of the organizations. The information that is communicated or shared by the organizations on social media are totally out of their control. The sharing of wrong information can cause permanent damage to the image of the brand (Felix, Rauschnabel and Hinsch 2017). The negative reviews that are provided by the customers on the social media pages of the organizations can also damage the image and the revenues of the companies. The high crowd of content on the various social media platforms can sometimes cause issues for sharing the information regarding the operations of the various organizations (Tsimonis and Dimitriadis 2014).
The organization that has been selected for the analysis of social media communication is Woolworths. This is an organization which operates in the retail industry of Australia. The organization operates more than 950 stores in various areas of Australia and has an employee base of around, 115,000 members. The organization works closely with the Australian farmers and growers to supply fresh fruits and vegetables and fresh meat to the customers. Woolworths is considered to be an innovative retailer and the company keeps the customers at the centre of their various processes. The organization thereby provides opportunities to the consumers to connect with the executives in an easier way (Woolworths.com.au. 2018).
Innovations and Future of Business Communication
The process of communication in Woolworths is based on the four major communication pillars which are used for the purpose of creating the campaigns to attract consumers. The four communication pillars that form the base of Woolworths are, “new”, “try this”, “special” and “win”. The organization has links to various social media pages in its website which include, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and many more. The customers are able to connect with the executives of the organization with the help of these social media platforms. The feedback related to various products can also be provided by the customers with the help of the social media platforms (Carlson et al. 2016). Woolworths is considered to be a powerhouse of the Australian retail sector. The company has been able to generate the highest amount of revenues in Australia and the reach of Woolworths with consumers is also quite high. Woolworths has started using the social media based platforms to connect with the customers and understand their needs. The ecommerce footprint of the company has been quite impressive which led to the sales of greater than 1.2 billion dollars. The website of Woolworths is interactive and full of colours which is successful in attracting the attention of the customers (Nguyen et al. 2015). The detailed information which is provided about the products and services in the website is helpful for the customers who wish to purchase the products. The link to one of the most popular social media platform, Facebook is provided at the top of the webpage of Woolworths. Woolworths has greater than 80,000 followers on Facebook and the page of the company is quite popular among the various Facebook users. Facebook further happens to be the home base of the brand providing huge connectivity with its various users. The Facebook page of the organization is updated on a daily basis and the brand uses this page to post pictures of the various new products and offers that they wish to provide to the customers (Ramanathan, Subramanian and Parrott 2017). The content that is advertised in the Facebook page of the company is typical and is used by the organization to engage its operations with the valuable customers. The page is thereby liked by many people who are the loyal customers of the brand and those who wish to join the loyal customer base of Woolworths. The organization has been able to deliver a great experience to the customers with the help of its social media page. Woolworths has been able to create a goodwill among the customers due to its active social media appearance in Facebook. Woolworths has used another major social media channel in a successful manner as well (Habibi, Laroche and Richard 2014). YouTube has also been used by social media for the purpose of increasing the awareness of its brand and creating a bigger customer base. The organization also has a YouTube gadget which help it to design the YouTube channel which is similar to its website. The content has been provided in the Woolworths channel is timeless and of high quality. Woolworths has put together many short cooking related videos which have improved the social connections of the people. The views of videos on YouTube have been quite low and this further led to the withdrawal of the YouTube channel of the organization in the year 2015 (Nguyen et al. 2015). Instagram is also used by Woolworths as a social media channel to connect with the various customers and knowing their needs and desires. The Instagram page of the company has more than 20,000 followers. The brand has used this platform in an effective manner, just like it has been using Facebook. The Instagram page of the company also consists some feed which is generated by the users which makes it a great way to engage and further make the work of the social media team of the organization quite easy. Pinterest is another major platform that is used by Woolworths to increase their presence on social media. The page of the organization in Pinterest is designed carefully and is used to post beautiful pictures of the various products that are offered by the Woolworths (Ramanathan, Subramanian and Parrott 2017).
Impact of Technology on Business Communication
Woolworths has been thereby quite successful in using the various social media platforms to increase its presence and reach in the market. The relationship that is established with the customers is also a major achievement that has been gained by Woolworths with the help of its social media based activities. The company has however faced some issues in its social media related policies. The YouTube channel that had been developed by the organization has not been quite successful with the customers. This has led to the withdrawal of the entire channel by the organization (Woolworths.com.au. 2018).
Conclusion
The essay can be concluded by stating that the presence of an organization on social media helps in the process of effective communication. The business organizations have been able to create a new way of knowing the desires and the needs of the various customers with the help of the extensive usage of social media. The example of the organization that has been taken for explaining the social media based communication process is Woolworths. The organization has been able to increase its presence and awareness among the customers with the help of social media based communication. The interactive nature of the website of the company and the huge social presence has been able to create a loyal customer base which has been helpful in increasing the revenues of the company. The business communication related scene has been changed entirely with the usage of social media. The organization is now able to reach the customers easily and interact with them. The stakeholders are also kept informed about the progress that is made by the organization and the new products that are being launched in the market.
References
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Woolworths.com.au. (2018). Woolworths.com.au. [online] Available at: https://www.woolworths.com.au/ [Accessed 21 Apr. 2018].
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