Introduction
Social media has become a sensation of the modern day society. It has had enormous implications with regard to the various aspects of the life of a human being. Social media has revolutionized and changed how human beings socialize significantly. A significant proportion of communication between human beings is normally carried out via the internet. There are various ranges of products, which can be utilized for the purposes of convening the information via the internet. The prevailing levels of internet penetration have direct implications on the functionality of the internet as a medium of communication. Currently, most of the countries are formulating and putting in place systems that are geared towards enhancing the existing degree of internet penetration. This is primarily because the internet has become an extremely essential tool in almost all matters, in the provision of information. Information can be effectively relayed to the relevant parties through the internet (Janstch, 2010).
There are assortments of media through which this objective can be achieved. For instance, it can be attained through the use of websites, blogs, electronic mail as well as social media. All the aforesaid products are quite popular amongst the users of the internet. However, social media stands out. In fact, it is in a class of its own. With the rising population of users of the internet, the popularity of social media is anticipated to rise significantly. The majority of the new users of the internet are mainly young people. This social group is commonly characterized by being technologically savvy thus they prefer communication through the use of technological platforms. There are various types of social media platform and they include the following; Badoo, My Space, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Over time, Facebook has emerged to be the most popular of them all. As a result, commercial entities, as well as, not for profit organization has chosen to embrace them. This paper will seek to assess the usefulness of Facebook to commercial entities and Not for Profit organizations. Organizations are social entities irrespective of their commercial orientation (Janstch, 2010). This is because they are comprised of human beings, who serve as the basic unit of these entities. The role of Facebook in commercial entities and not for profit organization will be on the basis of secondary data. The researcher will review various secondary sources in the presentation of this research.
Evans, D. (2010). Social Media Marketing: The Next Generation of Business Engagement. New York: Wiley.
There are various ways through which organizations utilize Facebook for the purposes of realizing their corporate objectives. Facebook can be used to complement some of the various instruments being employed by an organization when carrying out certain functions. There are some functions of an organization, which cannot be carried out through the use of Facebook. The author also acknowledges that although some of the functions of an organization can be carried out through the use of Facebook, this tool cannot be used in isolation (Evans, 2010). This implies that it can be employed together with other instruments. This is because a typical department of an organization usually carries out a broad range of functions and sometimes most of these entities cannot be carried out through the application of Facebook.
Marketing is the process through which organization enhances the prevailing standards of awareness pertaining to the various products that they are offering to the market. Marketing is a process that is carried out by all forms of organization, regardless of their commercial orientation. This is mainly because the fundamental role of this process is the creation or enhancement of the existing standards of awareness pertaining to products or organizations (Evans, 2010). Facebook is a tool that can be employed as an instrument for marketing. This is because it provides room for direct communication between the consumers and the organization. In the past, most of the marketing tools were one-sided. This is because they only provided the producers with the opportunity to relay information to the consumers and not the other way round. Although this mode of advertising has proven to be extremely effective in various fronts, it has several shortcomings. Some of the identified challenges can be solved through the application of Facebook as a tool for marketing. Facebook provides the producers and the consumers with an opportunity to interact. Through these interactions, both parties are able to learn about the manner in which each party perceives matters. Facebook affords the consumers with the opportunity to present their complaints and suggestions to the producers and expect an immediate or timely response. On the other hand, Facebook provides the commercial entities with the chance respond to the various complaints and queries being presented by the consumers.
Commercial entities need to be extremely conscious whenever they are providing feedback via Facebook. The nature of the response that they relay via Facebook will have direct repercussions on the image of the corporation. As a result, all communication that is relayed via Facebook needs to be relayed in a manner that will facilitate the realization of the desired corporate image. Irrespective of whether an organization is a profit making entity or not for profit entity, it needs to make sure that all the personnel managing their Facebook profiles are conversant with desired corporate image (Evans, 2010). These individuals should ensure that they relay communication via Facebook in a way that will facilitate the attainment of the desired corporate image. In the event that communication via Facebook is not carried out appropriately, it might lead to the realization of negative implications with regards to the image of the corporation. This is an attribute can is likely to also bring about negative implications on the profitability of a firm.
Adobe. (2011). Best practices for measuring and optimizing the business impact of the Facebook Like button. New York: Adobe.
The modern day global business environment is characterized by a comparatively large number of corporations that are operating within the same industry. This has led to a situation whereby commercial entities need to be extremely innovative in order to gain a competitive advantage. A high standard of innovation needs to be preceded by a certain degree of research. Research facilitates entities to be conscious of the nature of products that the consumers would like to procure. The contemporary marketplace is characterized by a situation whereby consumers are the primary drivers of the product that commercial entities should produce. As a result, commercial entities need to formulate as well as implement mechanisms that will enable the organization to acquire the desired form of information (Adobe, 2011). Commercial entities that are successful at obtained relevant information with regards to the nature of products that customers would like to procure are extremely likely to realize a competitive advantage. This is primarily because research is carried out for the purposes of guiding innovation. Innovation facilitates the production of products as well as the designing of services that cater successfully to the needs of the customers. Innovations serves as a way through which commercial entities can be able to produce that provide the highest utility to the consumers.
Facebook can be adopted as an instrument for research. This is can be done through the carrying out of surveys via Facebook. Respondents to this survey can present their opinions by commenting on the status updates. Thereafter, the research and development personnel of the organization can review the data collected through this medium in order to the production of information. The nature of information that is obtained via this medium should be adopted during any form of product design. The corporation should go ahead and design a product on the basis of the information obtained from this research. Later on the prototype of this product can be displayed on Facebook for purposes of criticism (Adobe, 2011). The production team should take note of the various criticisms of the product. They should go ahead and adjust the product in accordance with the various forms of criticism that have been levied against them. Commercial entities that manage to produce products that meet the specification of the majority of the consumers tend to acquire a significant portion of the market share. This is because the majority of the consumers will be willing to acquire the product. A product that respects the tastes and preferences of the consumers are likely to facilitate the fruition of comparatively high levels of profitability. Additionally, it plays an imperative role in increasing brand loyalty by the customers. The prevalence of such factors will facilitate a commercial entity to successfully protect its market share due to the creation of switching costs.
HubSpot. (2012). How to Use Facebook for Business. New York: HubSpot.
Internal communication has direct implications on the success of any organization. Therefore, it is imperative for management to make sure that it has developed the most appropriate systems of internal communication. A successful internal communication system is one that facilitates management to obtain information pertaining to employees as well as relay information to the staff. In most cases, it is unusual for employees to present their honest opinion with regards to matters pertaining to their welfare or the working environment of an organization (HubSpot, 2012). This is a situation that necessitates management to be very innovative in order to obtain relevant information pertaining to the welfare of the employees. Employees normally refrain from presenting their honest opinion because they are in fear of being victimized. Management can employ Facebook as a tool for being in touch with the prevailing levels of motivation within the workforce. They can attain this through reviewing the nature of complaints that are being presented about the organization either by former employees or former employees of an organization. It is highly likely that former employees will not be in fear of criticizing their former employers. Management needs to take any form of complaints that are presented by these two forms of employees in a manner that is positive. Thereafter, management should look for ways of improving the system
Conclusion
Evidently, Facebook plays a key role with regards to the operations of an organization. As a result, it is imperative for management to develop policies that will facilitate the integration of Facebook with some of the other instruments that are being employed for purposes of realizing certain objectives (Janstch, 2010). By so doing, the organization will be in a position of attaining comparatively high levels of competitiveness.
References
Adobe;. (2011). Best practices for measuring and optimizing the business impact of the Facebook Like button. New York: Adobe.
Evans, D. (2010). Social Media Marketing: The Next Generation of Business Engagement. New York: Wiley.
HubSpot. (2012). How to Use Facebook for Business. New York: HubSpot.
Janstch, J. (2010). Let's Talk Social Media for Business Version 2. New York: Microsoft.
Sackheim, J. (2010). Facebook or Die. Boulder: Sackheim.
