Social media
Social media is a form of information technology where the use of internet and networks results to development of social networks that people can use to communicate or interact without physically having to meet. With the rise adoption of social media, business people have identified a booming business under social media whereby transactions take place with the aim of making profits. Consumers on the other hand are finding it easier to perform transactions under social media and therefore they are recognizing ways in which social media can direct them to better sources for purchasing (Ferell et all, pg 28.2012). The adoption of social media by business people has increased the use of social networks for marketing and transactions.
Face book is one of the most famous social media which has influenced a lot of people worldwide since it was introduced. It was designed to be a social network where people can send friend request and progress to knowing each other, this cite was mainly for interaction and social purpose. However in the recent times of online transactions, face book has gained ground for serving more than only social purpose to business purpose. Many organizations have designed pages where people can view the visions and mission of the organizations. These pages provide all information about the organization and therefore people on face book can influence each other to like the page and as a result, the interested customers can contact the organization for products and service provision (Wollan & Smith, pg 129.2010).
There are four major components that a manager per suing online transactions should have in order to enable him or her to attain their online entrepreneurship goals. The characteristics of a legally astute manager are; accepting the laws of online transactions and understanding them in a manner that they are important to the organization and therefore bridging these laws is a crime. This characteristic is very important because in the use of face book as a transaction site, the manager should bear in mind that the site is meant for social purpose, it therefore occurs that there are laws that should be accepted before posting an advert.
Another component that a manager should bear in mind is the ability to embrace the legal terms and regulations of conducting transactions online via social media. It is quite obvious that many organizations have embraced online commerce and each of them has their own different aims. Therefore due to competition, some organizations can go to an extend of posting unwanted information online (Storsul & Stuedahl pg 78.2007). The managers in charge of advertising via online in any organization should embrace the terms and conditions of face book as a social network; this will improve the performance of the organization since customers want ideal and genuine products and services.
The managers should also make competent decisions before posting information that could result to bridging of social media laws. In many organizations, marketing involve the four marketing mix strategies; product, place, promotion and people. In all these components of marketing mix, an organization manager should have competent skills on how to tackle these elements. They have to decide the product to produce and whether it fits the target group. They also have to identify the specific place where customers are located and use of social media is one of the most convenient places to get worldwide customers. They also have to identify the promotion strategy to be used and social media happens to be the most appropriate and cost saving advertising place. Finally, they have to identify the target group. All these steps demand the use of skills and competence in order to avoid bridging online transaction laws (Albert et al, pg 250.1970).
The last component that a social media marketing manager should have is the knowledge to understand the specific laws guiding face book operations, the tools and resources used in conducting commerce via social media and the deep understanding of regulations. The manager should therefore be creative in designing adverts and pages that could pull more customers. They should also target more customers by providing online service whereby a customer can receive customer care service anytime, anywhere.
In the event of a customer purchasing through the links provided by online commerce organizations, there arises disputes. These disputes could be as a result of poor customer service or late delivery of product or service. It could also be on wrong product delivery or high charges compared to the price used in advertising. Social media has therefore designed an online dispute resolution which replaces the use of court when transacting physically without social media. There are two forms of business that online transaction has categorized; the business to customer transaction where the organization deals with identifying the needs of a customer and satisfying those needs, Business to business transaction where the organization deals with conducting transactions with big organizations that purchase products in large amounts for long-term purposes. The use of information communication technology to resolve online dispute resolution is therefore an alternative form of settling disputes (Ferrell et al, pg 56.2012).
The electronic commerce and information act is a form of government designed act that regulates online transactions. This act is designed to enable the online business people to adhere to the rules and regulations governing the transactions. The government developed this act in order to safeguard consumers from fraud caused by cyberspace. This will therefore protect their rights and it also helps organizations to come up with marketing and service/product delivery that meets the terms and conditions of the act.
Reference
Albert et all. (1970). Advertising. Ronald press company.
Ferell et all. (2012). Marketing principles. Cengage learning.
Wollan R,& Smith N. (2010). The social media management handbook: Everything you need to know. John Wiley & Sons.
Storsul T,& Stuedahl D. (2007). Ambivience towards convergence:Digitalization and media change. Nordicom.
