Social Media and Business
In this report, we will discuss how the business would get affected by the Information Technology. In the recent years, there were drastic changes which have affected the human lives and organizations as well. Social media become more popular in various aspects like digital marketing, customer trends, service at remote locations etc. (Scheck, 2016).
Data Analysis is another concept which is critical to the business growth. Various decision-making tools are available in the market which is being used by the various organizations. Also, it becomes compulsory for the organization to opt the technological advancements to sustain their business in persisting cut-throat competition. Now many organizations have understood that without the use of technology, they cannot achieve the growth which may either in the monetary or non-monetary forms (Afzal, 2015).
For the discussion purpose, we picked an Australian based company “AuMake International Limited”. The company is a retail company engaged in the business of connecting Australian suppliers with Chinese customers through its e-commerce platform and its retail stores in Australia.
The one aspect of the technology is Social Media. In the earlier years, we have noticed the boom in the social media. Every day peoples are joining the social network increasingly. With such speed, we can expect the growth of the social media in upcoming years. Such an increase in the use of social media is the positive indicator to the business entrepreneurs who are seeking the growth (Business Queensland, no date).
Social Media may be used in modern business in the following manners:
- Advertisement on social platform:As we realized that advertisement at social platform seems to be very attractive and catch our attention. It is being most commonly used because no more resources are required which are required in the conventional approach like human resources, transportation etc are not so required in comparison to the traditional approach (Smith, 2017).
- Cost Reduction:In traditional approach medium of the advertisement was mostly TV, print media etc. but the cost of advertisement is come to high in comparison to social advertising. Advertising through such technology is economical to every business entity.
- Customer Awareness:With the use of information technology a business keep its customers update with its new product, up gradation in their business, rivals existing in the market etc. It would create the loyalty among the customers not only at the particular location but at the remote location. (Queensland, 2018).
Problem: A company “AuMake International Limited” has its online e-commerce stores, in addition, to retails stores located in Australia. In this case, we assume that the company has not an e-commerce platform as well as does not use the social media like Facebook, Twitter etc. What is the impact of thereof?
Impact: In this case, tourist would not come to know about the existence of the company in the country in which they are visiting. Also, it has no account on social media it would not be getting benefitted with potential customers from remote locations. It will ultimately impact the financial performance of the company as well as the growth of the company.
Real Facts of the company:
As the company was adaptive to changes so it has its online platform for the sale of its products. Every organization knows very well without technology its publicity will be restricted to a particular location and growth will ultimately depend thereon.
As far as social media concerns, we notice that the company has its account on Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin and YouTube. As such, it is much clear that it is adopting the social media platform to get the benefit thereof. Through such a platform the company may advertise as well as get the customer feedback to improve its quality of products or services (AuMake International Limited).
Some of the key takeaways from their Global Digital Report 2018 include:
Global Digital Report 2018_go to Table of Figures
Global Digital Report 2018 1
- The number of internet users worldwide in 2018 is 021 billion, up 7 percent year-on-year
- The number of social media users worldwide in 2018 is 196 billion, up 13 percent year-on-year
- The number of mobile phone users in 2018 is 135 billion, up 4 percent year-on-year
Data and Business
In the dynamic environment, every organization has required a data. Alternatively, data can be said as information. Data may be financial and non-financial. Financial data may be like revenue, market share etc and non-financial data may be like customer’s trends, product quality etc. Generally, data is used for the purpose of analysis so that an appropriate decision can be taken. There are various decision-making tools available in the market (like Decision Support System, Management Information System etc.) which works on the concerned data and proceed to decision making (Larsen, 2017).
Data may help the organization in the following manners:
- Improvement in performance:With the help of data, the organization may know its ongoing performance and it may take necessary actions to improve the performance of the company by monitoring any weakness in the existing one (Sirianni, No date).
- Marketing Research:To know about the customer and market, data become a critical factor. Data is the tool by which it can be understood that which customers are satisfied or not, which product is being demanded and in which season etc. (MacDonald, no date), (WordStream, no date).
- Easy to access:Where an organization is of such type where customers are required to access the information or data of the company, i.e. in the e-commerce platform customer access the data of the company, it is required to the organization that data can be easily accessible to customers. The new technology in the data storage is termed as “Cloud Computing”. Where data is stored in the cloud but the biggest advantage is that it can be easily accessed from the remote location at any time (MacKechnie, 2018).
We are providing a graph which expresses the relationship between data and business:
We take an example of the company AuMake International Limited. It deals with the products like cosmetics and dairy products etc. The graph shows the sales data for each product. The data will help the management to discontinue the dairy product or not.
Conclusion:
Information Technology has become an essential part of the business. Now a day, an organization not only requires investing in its accounting or other related activities but also it requires investing in the information technology. (Faris, 2018) From the organization’s perspective, Information Technology includes the use of social media, data analysis, cloud computing etc. If an organization is following these tools then it can compete easily in the market and ensures its growth. (iNurture, no date)
As we discussed, the company AuMake International Limited, it is very clear that the company is adaptive to changes as it has an e-commerce platform in addition to retail stores. Such e-commerce platform would attract the people who then be converted into the customer without any direct communication with the customer. On the other side, it has an account with Twitter, Linkedin and Instagram. It makes clear the intention of the company to grow with the help of information technology. (AuMake, no date)
As such in the competitive environment every organization need to compatible with the use of Information Technology.
References:
Smith, K. (2017) The Importance of Social Media in Business [Online]. Available from: https://www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/importance-social-media-business/ [Assessed 14 August 2018].
Afzal, A. (2015) The Role of Information Technology in Business Success [Online] Available from: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/role-information-technology-business-success-abid-afzal-butt [Assessed 14 August 2018].
Larsen, A. (2017) Why is Data Important for Your Business [Online] Available from: https://www.grow.com/blog/data-important-business/ [Assessed 14 August 2018].
AuMake International Limited (no date) Company Overview [Online] Available from: https://aumake.com.au/ [Assessed 14 August 2018].
Scheck, S. (2016) 8 Major Impacts of Information Technology on Businesses [Online] Available from: https://tweakyourbiz.com/technology/2016/08/30/8-major-impacts-of-information-technology-on-businesses [Assessed 14 August 2018]
Faris, S. (2018) The impact of Technology on a Business Environment [Online] Available from https://bizfluent.com/info-7950023-impact-technology-business-environment.html [Assessed 14 August 2018]
iNurture (no date) Technological Environment – How it Impacts Business? [Online] Available from: https://www.inurture.co.in/technological-environment-how-it-impacts-business/ [Assessed 14 August 2018]
WordStream (no date) Social Media Marketing for Businesses [Online] Available from: https://www.wordstream.com/social-media-marketing [Assessed 14 August 2018]
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science (2018) Benefit of Social Media for Businesses [Online] Available from: https://www.business.gov.au/marketing/social-media/benefits-of-social-media [Assessed 14 August 2018]
Business Victoria (no date) Use Social Media for Business [Online] Available from: https://www.business.vic.gov.au/marketing-and-sales/eCommerce-and-digital-technology/social-media-for-business/using-social-media-to-boost-business [Assessed 14 August 2018]
MacDonald, L. (no date) The Role of Data in Business [Online] Available from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/role-data-business-20405.html [Assessed 14 August 2018]
Sirianni, A. (no date) The Importance of Data [Online] Available from: https://www.dcodegroup.com/blog/the-importance-of-data-and-information-in-business [Assessed 14 August 2018]
Rouse, M. (no date) Financial Application [Online] Available from: https://searcherp.techtarget.com/definition/financial-application [Assessed 14 August 2018]
Cichetti, J. (2017) Role of Information Technology in Business [Online] Available from: https://bizfluent.com/facts-5977213-role-information-technology-business.html [Assessed 14 August 2018]
MacKechnie, C. (2018) Information Technology and Its Role in Modern Organization [Online] Available from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/information-technology-its-role-modern-organization-1800.html [Assessed 14 August 2018]
Queensland, B. (no date) Using Social Media to Market Your Business [Online] Available from: https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/marketing-sales/marketing-promotion/online-marketing/social-media [Assessed 14 August 2018]