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The advent of social media as a medium for communication and interaction has in essence created a new space for businesses to target and tap in the consumers of their respective products and services in view of the availability of the consumers sans any clutter that is found on TV.
The social media has impacted a great deal on the lives of the people in view of the fact that it has altered lifestyles in terms of behavior with regards to taking in communication in terms of marketing and also purchasing online through social media (H. S. N. Al-Deen and J. A. Hendricks, 2012).
It is thus due to the continued rise of the space utilized by consumers digitally they have come to recognize numerous ways in which social media can direct them to better sources for purchasing with deals unheard of and saving them time in view of shopping from bricks and rather purchasing through a click.
The social media space nowadays has choices for the consumers in view of their preferred choice with LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogs, etc. however one medium which has rocked and in essence proved to be the leader in creating a trend is Face book which celebrated its 10th anniversary just recently.
As a phenomenon Facebook started its journey with Mark Zuckerberg along with his college friends in 2004. In the beginning this site was developed for students who can exchange
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their photographs on the website which created interconnectivity and even though it started slowly it became a big hit.
The success of Facebook as a social medium of repute can be gauged from the fact that it became the primary choice of marketing and branding for organizations with products and services.
Face Book has reported revenues of $2.06 billion in the third quarter of 2013. This is an increase from the previous year, with a profit of $425 million (O’Dell, 2013) which in essence signifies the marketing muscle for brands in terms of sales and visibility.
As an astute social media manager it is imperative to go through research and also conduct some of one’s own with regards to the factors that may limit consumers from purchasing online and also after sales service which makes the consumers buy consistently.
According to a study published in Harvard Business Review to Keep Your Customers, Keep It Simple by Patrick Spenner and Karen Freeman (2012), the variables which will make a consumer stick to buy online and also go for a repeat purchase.
Starting with the price, the brand image, previous consumers experience and most importantly how the consumers gather trust worthy information and efficiently weigh their purchase options (H. S. N. Al-Deen and J. A. Hendricks, 2012).
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The four components that are essentially to mitigate risks by social media managers with regards to risk in doing business online starts with a view of all the law’s in terms of significance. Proactive approach towards guidelines, thirdly how the legal aspects are managed as per the situation on hand and lastly firm knowledge in terms of the exact rules and regulations.
The legal implications when acted upon in a effective manner helps an organization in creating a brand image which resonates the value of the firm in a positive light and thus the forum being utilized for instance Facebook it is the duty of the manager to entering into contracts and creating certain governance structures in order to manage purchasing risks in an effective manner.
In general online disputes occur when an individual acts in a personal capacity to make a transaction fir his/her personal consumption which is generally Business to Consumer (B2C) and more often than not due to the advance payment it is the consumers who are the aggrieved party.
On social website like face book it is important for an astute social media manager to create credibility and trust around the products transaction process due to the open forum which is manipulated by people thus creating a negative impact on in essence the other brands on the social media vehicle.
The dispute resolution should start with a mechanism which helps in avoiding the issues to arise due to purchase and the thus it is important that the following is done to achieve an efficient mechanism (Daxton Stewart, 2013):
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- Sharing of information by businesses
- Details of Consumer rights and obligations
Thus the three branches i.e. legislative, judicial and executive are significant in creating a framework and then implantation for a safer and dispute free purchase transactions.
Thus on a concluding the aspect of agency relationship is rife on the social media as most brands and their agencies come up with plans and then in tandem with face book as a seller interacts and then helps in giving space to marketers to promote their communication as per the product or service target market and positioning and thus the primary objective is to achieve the target designed specifically for social media marketing plan in an effective and profitable manner (Bruno Gralpois, 2010).
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References
Bruno Gralpois (2010). Agency Mania: Harnessing the Madness of Client/agency Relationships for High Impact Results. SelectBooks Inc.
D. Stewart. (2013). Social Media and the Law: A Guidebook for Communication Students and Professionals. Routledge.
H. S. N. Al-Deen and J. A. Hendricks (2012). Social Media: Usage and Impact. Lexington Books.
O’Dell, J. (2013). Facebook earnings show that desktop ads and Google may soon become irrelevant. Venture Beat. Retrieved from http://venturebeat.com/2013/10/30/fb-earnings-show-that-desktop-ads-and-google-may-soon-become-irrelevant/
P. Spenner and K. Freeman (2012). To Keep Your Customers, Keep It Simple. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from http://hbr.org/2012/05/to-keep-your-customers-keep-it-simple/ar/1
