Communication in business- social media

Project on English for Specific Purposes

Siauliai, 2014
 Content:

Social media...........................................................................................................3
Why social media?................................................................................................5
Social Madia plan.......................................................................................................7
Barriers in communication..................................................................................8
Methods of business communication...............................................................9
Conclusion..............................................................................................................10
Source List....................................................................................................................10
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Social media

Nowadays our world is full of new technologies and those media effect business in a
lot of ways. First of all what is social media? It refers to the means of interactions
among people in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in
virtual communities and networks. Your success depends on how clear and powerful
your vision is – and how well you communicate it. You need to create the right story
and the systems and products to back up the promise you make to your customers.
You have to communicate with and motivate two distinct groups of people. You can
communicate in many ways nowadays using social media.
One of the best communications in business when u can’t talk eye to eye is a mobile
phone to call to right person. Nine people from ten have mobile phone. Mobile
Phones extremely change people’s life economy and safety. The life is much easier
using mobile phone you can call send or receive messages browse the internet and
much more. Furthermore, social media depend on mobile and web-based
technologies to create highly interactive platforms through which individuals and
communities share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated content.
The main types of social networking services are those that contain category places,
mean to connect with friends, and a recommendation system linked to trust.
According to Nielsen, internet users continue to spend more time with social media
sites than any other type of site. At the same time, the total time spent on social media
in the U.S. across PC and mobile devices increased by 37 percent to 121 billion
minutes in July 2012 compared to 88 billion minutes in July 2011.
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The mass media play an important part in our LIVES. Newspapers, radio and TV
inform us of what is going on this world and give us possibilities for education and
entertainment. The most popular media in business is Television. More and more
people are sitting in front of TV and watching a lot of different programmes and
advertisements every day and it is no wonder because TV is one of the fastest ways to
know what is happening around us. Furthermore internet, phone and TV are not only
ones media sources but the newspapers are a great way of communication too.
Newspapers provide a lot of interesting and useful information and it also has some
colour supplements which are really enjoyable to read and attract peoples .A lot of
people want to read about relationship, health nutrition and financially advices.
In early times, business communication was limited to paper-work, telephone calls
etc. But now with advent of technology, we have cell phones, video conferencing,
emails, and satellite communication to support business communication. Effective
business communication helps in building goodwill of an organization. All those
social media in business is easy to use, environmental friendly and mostly of them are
100% free! It looks like that social media can’t have any disadvantages but they have
several Reasons for Business Communication Barriers.
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Why social media?

Social media represents the online interactions that allow people and businesses to
communication and share ideas, personal information, and information about
products and services.
One of the reasons social media is effective for marketing is that it gives brands and
businesses the ability to interact and engage with more people — all with just a few
clicks of a mouse. Engager is a comprehensive platform that helps you better engage
with your customers in real time. It helps you monitor conversations about your
brand and products (as well as your competitors and your industry in general) across
all major social networks, news websites, blogs and forums. Engager also simplifies
keeping track of all your conversations, with features like scheduling, canned
responses and workflow automation. The platform also has its own analytics and
reporting features, which show you your audience's demographics, who your fans and
influencers are, and more.

Companies are using social media because it allows the company to:
Connect with customers
Listen to its main stakeholders
Provide another means of customer service
Develop content that is valuable to costumers
Engage customers in product development and formulation.

Business tools for Social Media:

 Social content sites
 Blog
 Photos, video, and Podcast
 Social Media Ratings
 Social Games
For businesses using Social Media, the most popular Social networking sites are
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Blogs.
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Twitter is a gold mine for finding new customers. People don't just tweet about
events and random nothings, but they also tweet looking for advice, products and
services. Find them with SocialCentiv, a Twitter intent-based marketing Web app that
helps small businesses turn conversations into customers. This self-serve platform
lets users comb Twitter for potential customers using highly targeted metrics, such as
those in their neighbourhood or those seeking their specific product and services.

Forum: is an interactive version of community bulletin board that focuses on

threaded discussions.
The purpose of social networks:
 Is to build communities and develop connections.
 In a business setting these networks are the connection to consumers and other
businesses.
 This connection is utilized by companies to achieve their business objectives.

Advantages:
 Social Media facilitates open communication
 Networking
 Generate more business contacts
 Targets a wide audience
 Expands marketing research
 Improves company reputation and brand recognition
 Opens communication for consumer feedback
Disadvantages:
 Hackers launching virus
 Hacking into media sites
 Negative comments from employees and customers
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Social media plan

1. Listen to determine opportunities: this is a process of listening to what

customers like and don’t like about the company’s products and services.

2. Establish social media objectives this is where a company utilizes their

analyses to develop objectives; an objective must be specific, measurable,
realistic and goal-oriented. Examples: using social media for brand awareness,
auguring new customers, introducing new products.

3. Segment and target the social customer: Company’s segment information

about potential customers to develop a social media plan to achieve objectives.

4. Select social media tools: a company needs to use the appropriate social media
tool that will allow them to reach their objective without wasting so much time
or money
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Barriers in communication

• Complex Messages: The use of complex technical terms can result in a lack of
communication. The remedy is to stick to the point, use clear and concise messages
that are easy to understand.
• Withholding Information: In an organization, much of the information is kept
confidential due to company policies. Make sure the information that is needed is
readily available and easily accessible.
• Different Status: Management must keep employees well informed and encourage
feedback.
• Ineffective Communication Processes: The maintenance of the hierarchy in the
organization is essential, but its very presence can reduce the flow of the
communication. It is therefore essential to reduce hierarchical levels and increase
departmental interaction and communication.
• Lack of Trust: The most important factor behind a lack of communication in an
organization is competition, which leads to a lack of trust among the various
employees. Share information, communicate openly and honestly, involve others in
decisions.
• Language barrier Language barrier is another important factor in business
communication, if communication happens without a common language, it is not
worthwhile.

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 There are several methods of business communication,
including:

• Web-based communication - for better and improved communication, anytime and

anywhere.
• Video conferencing which allow people in different locations to hold interactive
meetings;
• E-mails, which provide an instantaneous medium of written communication
worldwide;
• Reports - important in documenting the activities of any department;
• Presentations - very popular method of communication in all types of organizations,
usually involving audio-visual material, like copies of reports, or material prepared in
Microsoft PowerPoint or Adobe Flash;
• telephoned meetings, which allow for long distance speech;
• Forum boards, which allow people to instantly post information at a centralized
location; and
• Face-to-face meetings, which are personal and should be succeeded by a written
follow-up.
• Suggestion box, it is mainly for upward communication as because some people
may hesitate to communicate to the management directly so they can give suggestion
by drafting suggestion in suggestion box.

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 Conclusion

All in all business communication is the best way how to use social media. In near
future we would be able to say at home and use electronic communication because it
is the modern way of communication that includes electronics and latest technology
for communicating such as teleconferencing e-mail, etc. More and more people
watching tv and use internet, social pages and so on. Advertisement and the power of
social media are in our sub consciousness. Internet, TV, radio, mobile phones, and
newspapers are necessary in business communication because it is cheap or mostly
free at all, widely spread and easy to share in social pages or websites .In my opinion
business without social media can’t exist in future.

Source List
1. Daniel Nations (2014) what is Social Media? Internet access:
http://webtrends.about.com/od/web20/a/social-media.htm

2. 5 Benefits of Social Media Business Owners Need to Understand. (2014)

Internet access: http://www.inc.com/peter-roesler/5-benefits-of-social-media-
business-owners-need-to-understand.html

3. Joachim Nilsson (2012) Social Media. Blog, Internet access:

http://www.brandwatch.com/2012/12/an-experts-view-on-how-to-monitor-
social-media/

4. Neal Rodriguez (2011) Social Networking For Business. Forbes journal.

Internet access: http://www.forbes.com/sites/nealrodriguez/2011/08/10/ten-
myths-about-social-networking-for-business/

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