Lebanese American University

Byblos, Lebanon

Fundamentals of Oral Communication

Name: Sarah Barakat

ID#: 201504399

Central Idea: Social media is a double edged sword; it can be an opportunity for a business to grow as
well as it can be a threat to ruin it. Despite that social media can harm a business if it is not effectively
managed by the company; social media is a chance for businesses to cultivate as it helps them reach a
wide variety of customers at a low cost and increase their sales and profits.

Introduction:
“We’re living at a time when attention is the new currency. Those who insert themselves into as many
channels as possible look set to capture the most value. ” Pete Cashmore, Founder of mashable.com.
Social media is a place where users from all around the world communicate for different purposes.
Social media users are of different ages and levels their engagement is categorized as only a user, a
customer or a business. Enterprises are participating in the world of social media to make their
products/services viewed by a huge number of people. They are using many different methods to
attract customers to them such as free giveaways, social media influencers or promotions. However,
the process is very delicate as it should be managed and performed in a very strategic manner. What I
will be supporting is that social media is an effective tool for businesses to reach their customers and
increase their sales.

Body:

Argument 1:

“People influence people. Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend.
A trusted referral influences people more than the best broadcast message.” - Mark Zuckerberg,
Facebook. This means that social media can help companies enlarge their networks, connect with their
customers and help them develop their business. Social media is a tool to create brand awareness. It
increases the exposure of a company to new customers. This process is fast and low in cost.

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  According to (Coles 2017), it is important for businesses, big or small, known or unknown, to
have a presence online so that their customers will find them available. A business with no
presence can lose its customers because they can easily switch to another online business. To
sustain customers and gain more customers social media should be used. Shoppers engage
online and support companies through following them, subscribing to their feeds or giving
comments which create the “influence effect” on others. This means others will try to seek those
online businesses that our friends and fellows use. And as “Social media will help you build up
loyalty of your current customers to the point that they will willingly, and for free, tell others
about you.” – Bonnie Sainsbury (@bsainsbury)Hence, it is important that a company to engage
their customers to increase this influence and attract more customers to the business.

 “With consumers spending more and more time in the social media realm, an increasing share
of communication occurs within these new social network environments.” Buyers and users are
becoming active participants in the business online. Therefore it can be an opportunity for a
company to gain knowledge and insights about them. They can easily target their needs and
interests.

 A study conducted by public relation firm Burson-Marsteller shows that 86% of 100 largest
companies on the Fortune 500 list have presence on at least one of the social media platforms
(Pradiptarini, 2011). Moreover, a wedding photographer has gained new customers by posting
on Facebook albums of pictures of his work (Yankee, 2009).

 Social media helped business to build close and strong relationship with their customers and an
increased brand loyalty that they didn’t have before using it.

Argument 2:

Companies are creating online websites or pages though which they are promoting their
products/services with the price to each. With a click, clients can pick what they want buy it through
different payment methods. Their item is then delivered to them by a specific date determined. The
process is easier than traditional shopping because they can filter their choices and choose the size or
feature they like with only a click. Because of the millions of users on a social networking sites firms
can generate revenues and profit by having a presence online.

 According to (Fetherstonhaugh, 2010), among the two-third of the most successful salespeople
claim that they use social media as a crucial tool to sell their products as it helps them
communicate with their customers effectively.

 Constructing online community and inspiring offerings from online clients improves

the client know-how likewise as will increase the occurrence of social media visits and endorse
sales in most cases.

 Companies are using Feedburner as tool to generate profits and increase their revenues. It enables
them to promote and deliver their products.

 According to ( Evans 2010), Companies are establishing CRM software is helping in generating
sales by collecting and analyzing customers interests and needs generate new products suited to
their demand.
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  Creating a page on one of the social media platforms is free and having your clients following
you and accessing to your products/services is also free. Moreover, it is good to note that the
advertising and promoting tools are low in cost. Hence the whole process is costly low and
profitable.

 As companies are building business network through social media platforms more clients from
all around the world are buying from the company.

 What is so interesting about employing social media in a business is its ability to give enormous
and valuable data about customers, competitors, suppliers and many external stakeholders.
These data is utilized and analyzed by a business analyst to help the company stay up to date
and stand out.

Counter argument:
“If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make
customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.” – Jeff Bezos. On social media
platforms there are many anonymous users that can harm the company’s reputation by posting false
comments or by creating fake harmful pages about them. Moreover there are also users that are not fake
and are real people that really had a bad experience while they are buying. They can also put the
reputation of the company at a risk.

 When some users have bad experiences their reaction is variable . Some might pose bad
comments or unfollow the company. Others might direct others to not buy anymore from the
business. The more their claim that the business is reckless the more the risk posed.

 Some companies are really successful outside the social media world and their products/services
are of a good quality. However, when they are online they might have the attitude that they lack
response or make inadequate response. Some managers respond in way online that makes the
problem even more tensed. Others ignore the problem and do not give it importance.

Refutation:

You’ll get both good and not-so-good comments, but the not-so-good comments are as valuable to your
business as the good. Bad comments from customers can feed the company with knowledge so they can
fix the issue, eliminate the mistake, apologize for their customers and keep the good experience with an
appropriate reaction. Social media is a place to improve customer service by building a strong tight
relationship with customers. When businesses reply fast to customers’ inquiry and solve their issues.
act quickly and minimize damage they are winning their customer back .Moreover this process can also
make their customer loyal to them because they are consistent with what they offer.

Conclusion:

Social media is place for everyone to use. Companies can also use social media for their own purposes
however in order to use it the right way companies should stay ethical and employ social media
specialists that can manage their presence online with no or small mistakes. Since we are living in a
digitalized world I believe it is important for an enterprise to have a presence online. The new 2018
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Global Digital suite of reports uncovers that there are currently in excess of 4 billion individuals around
the globe utilizing the web. Hence it is no longer a want, but a need.