Comparison Report

The use of social media marketing has become a standard way in which organizations advertise their products or services. Social media marketing allows consumers to have immediate access to other consumers reviews or to post a review about a product or service. There is engagement between the company and the consumer (Evans, Dave 2010). Social Media emerged in the late 1980’s when websites such as Prodigy, Compuserve and America Online. Prodigy was first of it’s kind and was known as a ”consumer online service”. Half of the page is devoted to advertising. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Hi5, Bebo and Orkut are all social media platforms that are utilized as platforms today.

In this era of internet marketers, Social Media (blogs, social networks, content communities, wiki 's and podcasts), have largely changed the face of marketing and media. Social media relies on consumer generated content and hence doesn’t conform to the ideals of traditional media where content, both commercial and other, is ‘engineered’ to suit the need of a promoter or seller. (Fernando 2007). This hence is in direct contrast with the traditional promotional mix as consumer interaction and orientation is at an optimum. This medium, in the light of a business communication strategy, is highly conversational, collaborative and credible. This involves opinion makers, journalists, seasoned practitioners and the audience who interacts with one another on a regular basis. (Fernando 2007). This high level of interaction and involvement is devoid in the traditional media and the marketing field as well. Capon and Hulbert have observed that the modern consumer is different: demanding, individualistic, involved, independent, better informed and more critical (2000 cited Constantinides, E 2006). Social Media as a whole provides the

Social media has become an essential channel for corporations to build a two-way relationship with their customers. However, having a social media account cannot solve everything. To make the best use of social media in keeping a positive relationship with their customers, corporations ought to seek and maintain influence among their followers in social media, and participate in communications with them.

consumers have started to avoid traditional ads and increasingly connect to their social networks to guide buying decisions. Therefore, advertisers might consider prioritizing social media as an advertising strategy to reach potential consumers as 74% of consumers rely on social media to inform their purchasing decisions. Perhaps a case from McDonald Taiwan have illustrated how advertisers can connect with the audience in an effective way by creating appropriate content on social media. The brand wanted to connect with people on an emotion and encourage the consumer to link McDonald's with feelings of love and togetherness. The brand took advantage of Mother’s day. It has decided to surprise three employees who cannot make it home for the mother’s day with a visit from their mom. They captured on the film the mother's journey and the employee emotional reaction as they found their moms walking into restaurants. As the result, it has generated 7 million views and 170,000 shares in 2 weeks. More importantly, it has reached 13 million potential customers as Martin (2012) suggests that the increased awareness leads to potentially greater sales and markets share in the future. In this advertising campaign, Facebook played a crucial role in term of auto-playing feature, not to mention, Facebook has significant popularity and considerable

Social media is an important way for small businesses to communicate with their customers. It is a tool that can be used to help make their business grow. Small businesses must associate themselves with different types of social media and how it can help them. With technology today, every business is expected to

Comparison of News Reports On Thursday 22nd April 2004, Ron Atkinson, manager and footballing legend, was overheard making a racist remark concerning player Marcel Desailly- the black Chelsea defender during the Chelsea-Monaco Champion’s League semi-final. The story received colossal press coverage from all of the newspapers, mainly because Atkinson is famous for coaching so many black players.

Funny commercial goes viral on YouTube! Company embarrassed when employee insults customer on Twitter feed. How do you want your company's brand to be thought of on social media? We live in an age where consumers are plugged into social media constantly, and this affects their purchasing decisions, perceptions and habits. Any business that wants to retain its image as modern and capable, as well as listening to its customers has to embrace social media, and its employees are the front-line troops in this task. We will demonstrate how the proper use of social media can enhance the reputation of a business or the lack of savvy can harm it. We will discuss the roles of social media, its importance, and why employees should be brought onboard

Social media is extremely beneficial to businesses. Businesses throw millions of dollars away trying to advertise their products through ways such as television commercials, radio advertisements, and/or billboards. With social media, “the businesses can connect with their targeted customers for free” (Ali). Additionally, “Seventy percent of active online adult social networkers shop online” (Stansberry). Knowing that most business is taking place online, it is imperative to advertise where the majority of the population is using their time. Businesses also have easier access to communicating with their customers. They can reach out to customers to figure how to improve a product while customers can reach out to the business with questions, special requests, and complaints (Business).

Facebook pages running businesses are most hyped currently. Though not every page is successful in its business due to lack of advertising. Consumers are limited to the number of fan following but as name brand evolves and the page proves itself by giving quality service, success rises. For example a Facebook page called ‘Opal Fashion’ sells good quality items for mostly women such as jewellery, watches, glasses, sunglasses, western dresses, bags etc. imported from China and Thailand. The page has the payment option as Cash on Delivery or bkash payment system.

Listening - You have to pay attention to the contents of conversation to have a meaningful conversation; simply hearing is different from listening courteously. Hearing is a passive attitude, whereas listening has a proactive meaning. Listening can be defined as the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communication process that requires sustained effort and full attention to the other party. (SkillsYouNeed, n.d.)[1] The basis of communication is listening in the business; listening is important to maintain relationships among employees and customers to develop trust between each other. For example, if you listen to other employees that will develop trust between each other as the employee knows you are sincerely interested in what they have to say. (Tingum, 2016)[2]. In order to develop listening skill, ‘Free Management

Employers train their employees in order to be good listeners to their customers for better communication as well as for productivity. Business leaders know that listening is such an important skill to their employees, so it should be considered for each employee as an unshakeable foundation of success.

In the past few years, the use of social media has been on the rise. There is Facebook, myspace, twitter and Instagram as well of others. The social media use has brought so many changes in the communication and interaction patterns of people. Facebook, the biggest social media website, has over one billion users and the number is increasing trend as time goes by. There have been studies in the past that have attempted to discuss the impact that social media has on the society at large. Most of the studies had positive findings rotating around interaction, communication and impact on business among others (Pantic, 2014). Social media has made communication easier all over the world. It has made the globe be like a village market in terms of the operations of business activities. Besides, interaction has been made easier between people from different corners of the world. In contrast some reported negative effects such as time wastage and the destroying of the real relationships and interactions in the actual world.

One out of every nine people in the world use Facebook, with an estimated 700 billion minutes being spent every month on this application, it is interesting to note that over 2.5 million organizations have a Facebook presence in addition to their corporate websites. An estimated 250 million people access social media sites through their mobile devices. The impact that social media has on the daily lives of people is beyond “like” on Facebook or “re-tweet” on Twitter. Organizations are feeling the need to be present on not just one social media platform, however, on ensuring that they are “available and listening” to all at all times. Commenting on the role of social media in an interview to the Harvard Business Review, Howard Schlutz (CEO – Starbucks)

In addition to the main website, McKinsey uses Facebook as one of the tools of social media marketing. Their main Facebook page contains posts related to various leaderships programs at McKinsey, news about their clients and current employees, and news related to business world. One of the main purposes of the page is to reach people who matter the most and improve McKinsey’s knowledge about their customers. According to John Wittenbraker (2014), there are different types of relationships that a company may try to establish with its followers in social media. We may assume that McKinsey’s Facebook page aims at new business partners, potential employees, and influential business people. Through their

Listening:​­ Listening is a very effective skill that one should have in business. It’s important