SOCIAL MEDIA

The Affect of Social Networking on Small Businesses

The Affect of Social Networking on Small Businesses

PART 1

TASK 1

The unprecedented growth of social media has changed the way businesses operate. As a successful organization, each business wants to get it noticed and develop a better understanding of its consumers. Social media have changed the marketing, advertising, PR, promotion and research dynamics for businesses, both large and small. It has an impact on business processes, systems and communication. Social media presence has become mandatory, especially for smaller businesses, and more companies are convinced of the benefits accrued from it. The Social Media Marketing Industry Report for the year 2011 presents interesting statistics to reaffirm the claim made above. Social media have affected the society world over. When used effectively, social media increases traffic on the website, improves sales, generates customer interest in the company and its products, and reduces cost of marketing.

Nine out of ten users in the United Kingdom visit a social website every month. Research statistics show that approximately 4.5 hours or 12% of all the time they spend on the internet is spent on social websites. This time distribution is more visible among youngsters than it is among the middle aged. This increase in trend is also seen among the elderly who are 55 and above.

It is non debatable that the number of small businesses in the UK using social media has increased, but there is still confusion as to the benefits that these companies are deriving from this usage. For instance, Rachel Selin along with her husband, in the year 2009, founded a small boutique advertising agency. Their business has managed to carve out a niche for itself. They cater to smaller businesses who cannot afford to pay for the marketing services of the super talented companies that demand skyrocket prices for their mind's creations. Hence, the social media has not only opened many opportunities of affordable marketing for the small businesses but also led the way to a new industry, that of firms that provide consultation services and guidelines to align the objectives of the smaller firm with the use of media.

Aims of the study

To determine whether the social networking impact small businesses significantly.

Comparison of small businesses that have significantly succeeded and those who have not succeeded that way.

Research Question

Today, in the world of competition, small business entrepreneurs are certainly keen in expanding their business to different regions but require heavy investment to accomplish the objective. The study will be used to determine whether the social media marketing has certainly reduced the concern of small businesses in monetary terms.

TASK 2

Types of objects used in the research

Social media optimization

Social media optimization (SMO) requires that the business ensures that its presence in the media is positive, and any post regarding it appears to the targeted audience as frequently in the search result as possible. A social object could be a video, image or post that the company posts on any social ...