THE NEED FOR COMPANIES AROUND THE GLOBE TO BE PRESENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

  1. TITLE

Why do Companies around the Globe Need to Be Present on Social Media?

  1. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

2.1 Major social media platforms

Social media platforms are websites as well as online applications that enable users to create and share their contents. Facebook is the leading social media platform with active monthly users of 2.45 billion. The platform whose headquarters is in Menlo Park, California, incorporates various companies all over the world (Kreutzer 2018, p.041). Twitter is the second largest platform with 330 million active monthly users. The platform presents an opportunity for brands to make their voices heard in addition to increasing their level of awareness. LinkedIn is the third largest with 310 million active users since it was founded in 2003 (Partridge 2011, p.12-13). The network offers a platform for professionals in various fields to interact and share ideas. Instagram has emerged as one of the most noticeable product-based platform in which influencers and coaches thrive. Other social media platforms experiencing growth over the years include YouTube, Pinterest, Snapchat and Reddit among others.

Social media statistics that proved beyond any reasonable doubt that the platforms is indeed important to companies all over the world in regards to their digital marketing and overall customer experience has been developed. It is recorded that 68% of adults in the United States have Facebook account. In the year 2019, social media users increased to 3.2 billion across the globe which translates to about 42% of the total population of the world. Active social media users are found to spend an average of 2 hours and 25 minutes on the various social media platforms on a daily basis. Active social media users are composed of 48.2% of Baby Boomers generation, 90.4% of Millennials, and 77.5% of Generation X. Over 2 million business organizations are presently using Facebook as a means to advertise their products and services in addition to interacting actively with their target audience. 73% of individuals or organizations that market their products online agree to the fact that their efforts towards the implementation of social media marketing approaches for their brands are proving to be effective and efficient.

2.2 Benefits of social media to companies

The importance of social media to business organizations has been growing very fast over the years as many people continue to join the social media platforms and making use of them regularly. Generational change marked by an increase in the number of millennials and those of Generation Z taking active positions in the world means that companies must appreciate the need to adopt the use of social media platforms in order to increase their awareness (Madianou 2015, p.13).  Companies must take advantage of the many benefits that the platform provides to the growth of their brands and customer base. As a result of the amazing growth and development of the use of social media platforms, companies all over the world must leverage appropriate social media channels in the best way possible due to the fact that majority of their target market and audience are ever-present on social networks. The target audience are increasingly engaging with their brands of preference and connecting with them on different scales through social media (Srauy 2015, p.18).

One of the outstanding benefits of using social media platforms by companies is to leverage social advertising which is growing faster than ever imagined. A clear example is that of Facebook Ads that was officially launched in 2005. By the year 2017, Facebook had managed to attain US$9.1billion in revenue from the Ads in the first quarter. This is a clear indication that social advertising will remain in existence forever. Social media advertising presents companies with a set of advantages that include ability to reach the target audience fast. The traditional advertising methods do not offer the luxury of reaching the target audience at a faster pace than social media does. Offline advertising is more of is considered to be taking a blind shot not knowing where it is going to fall (Friedrichsen & Mühl-Benninghaus 2012, p.12). Social media Ads enables companies to reach out to their target prospects and increase their conversions leading to increase in Return on Investment (ROI). Traditional advertising methods such as print media, radio and television have proved to be not only less dependable but also expensive as compared to social advertising. Social media advertising provides real time performance analysis (Sheth, 2018). Companies are able to know immediately if their ads are making any impact or not so that they can always improve them. Offline advertisements do not offer business organizations with an opportunity to monitor and keep constant track of their marketing initiatives.

2.3 Critical literature review

According to Jensen(2015), the impact of social media on business operations cannot be underscored. Organizations must understand the roles played by social media in order to build their brand and increase their overall revenue. The platform can be used to initiate offerings that target specific groups and generating deep insights at the same time. Sharing of knowledge can be attained by organizations when they make use of social media platforms as means for learning and understanding the changes in tastes and preferences of consumers. On the other hand, social media platforms can also lower the credibility of business organization and their products when there are negative reviews and feedbacks from customers.

Companies are increasingly adopting social media as a means of learning and seeking direct information from the current and potential clients (Rowley et al, 2014, p.26). When seeking to recruit new employees, organizations are looking for candidates with current information of the operations of various social media platforms. Improvement of direct engagement between companies and their stakeholders has been made possible through social media.

RESEARCH QUESTION(S)

  1. What are the benefits of social media advertising to small companies in the United States?
  2. Which social media platform is best preferred by most companies in the global stage?
  3. What are the limitations of social media platforms in advertising?
  4. How can global companies improve their social media presence and advertising?
  5. What impact does government regulations on the use of social media have on companies?

 

AIMS & OBJECTIVES

  1. To establish the benefits of social media advertising to small companies in the United States.
  2. To identify the social media platform that is preferred by many companies in advertising.
  3. To investigate the limitations of social media platforms in advertising.
  4. To establish the strategies that companies in the global sphere can apply to enhance their presence and advertising on social media.
  5. To determine the impact of government regulations on the use of social media on companies.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The methodology to be used is qualitative research which is a form of social science the seek to gather and make use of non-numerical data. It further seeks to interpret the meaning from the available data set so as to generate an understanding of social life by undertaking a study of targeted populations as well as places. This form of research has over the years been applied by social scientists to enable researchers establish the meanings that people assign to their conduct, actions and interactions with other people or organizations.

Qualitative research is selected for this study because it identifies relationships that exist between variables. It is designed to expose the meaning that informs the outcomes that are measurable through qualitative research (Malina et al, 2011, p.83). Qualitative research leads to descriptive data that researchers must later interpret through the use of systematic and rigorous means of coding, transcribing and in-depth analysis of themes and trends. The specific qualitative approaches to be applied include in-depth interviews in which research will be conducted by interviewing individuals and organizations through the use of predetermined set of questions that engages the participants on specific issues.

The qualitative research will further incorporate content analysis which is method applied by sociologists to analyse life social patterns by interpreting images, documents and media platforms. Content analysis of digital information and content forms an integral part of analysing trends in social media usage and information. Qualitative research has both merits and demerits. One of the merits is that the technique creates an in-depth understanding of the various attitudes, events, behaviour and interactions processes that form part and parcel of everyday life. This assists in developing an inner understanding of how daily interactions are affected by societal situations, social order and structure. The method is highly flexible and easily adaptable to various changes that may take place in the environment and social settings.

One of the limitations of the method is that its scope is limited to changes in the environment in which research is being undertaken. As a result, the findings are not usually able to undergo generalization (SAGE Publications Inc. 2020, p.35-36). Researchers applying qualitative research must always apply caution so that they do not influence the data in a manner that can cause significant changes that may further lead to undue biasness to the analysis and interpretation of the major findings.  Therefore, when undertaking of qualitative research calls for proper training of researchers so that they are able to eliminate the or lower the impact of the limitations.