Importance of Social Networks for Businesses

Introduction:
Companies , as they increased the rate of use of the social media and internet-based networks by users decided to make use of social networks to become more popular with regard to their bandsing strategies, positioning strategies marketing, customer feedback and services, the implementation of e-CRM or similar. Social networks are popular with people for communication with each other, share ideas, and to share information as well as for sharing information about themselves.Prestataire informatique lyon

While in the 1990s, use of the internet, a variety of social networks and web-based tools were in use, they were not widely used. Since the advent of social networks in a friendly setting and less complicated in terms of functionality for people This feature (social networking service) is now a part of our lives.

For clarity of the analysis of customer satisfaction, retention, as well as managing customer relations and feedback, social media have a significant role to play. In the end, companies have attempted to use social network services to better serve their customers and to achieve various other objectives. Many companies have realized that social networking sites (SNSs) such as Napster, Facebook, and Twitter and many others are the ideal places for them to promote their image, and expand their market share and sustain themselves.

What is what is a Social Network?
It is thought of as a platform that can be used to build social connections will be created between people, and sharing information can be made easier. Through social networking sites, personal data and connections can be shared, and users are able to keep in touch.

The majority of SNSs have a personal profile page to post, the ability to locate friends, as well as other functions like updating personal information and profile. They also can restrict or hide the information mentioned by the page’s owner from view of the general anyone else or a specific group of people.

These online facilities (SNSs) have enhanced the mobility of people on internet-based tasks, particularly within the social networks listed above in order to keep connections in spite of the distance (geographical restriction). In addition, they allow people to locate better jobs and more suitable partners.

In terms of how well these websites by the public, businesses are now keen to be involved in the process which they are able to market their products and services to better meet the requirements and desires. By conducting an study of the patterns of buying by consumers and their comments, they are able to refine their decision making procedure and also their strategies.

The following information shows that the amount of social networks has increased since 1997.

1997: SixDegrees.com

1998 1998: —

1999 Asian Avenue, Live Journal, Black Planet

2000: LunarStorm (SNS relaunch), Migente

2001: Cyworld, Ryze

2002: Fotolog, Friendster, SkyBlog

2003 CouchSurfing, LinkedIn, MySpace 2003: HI5, HI5, Tribe.net,

2004: Orkut, Dogster, Flicker, Facebook (Harward only), Mixi, Piczo, Hyves, Catster

2005: YouTube, Zanga, Yahoo.360, Facebook (Highschool networks), Bebo, Ning, Asian Avenue & BlackPlanet (relaunched)

From 2006 to now: QQ, Windows Live Space, Facebook (Corporate Networks), Twitter, MyChurch Then Facebook (Everyone)

A number of companies in the last decade due to the increase in the usage of social networks made the decision to enter SNSs in order to collect the pertinent information about people that they are able to collect information from and then examine them to take a decisions based on market movements and not just in terms of their customers, but also with regard to competition, the rules and regulations. They are aiming to gather valuable information that can be used to conduct external (Scanning and monitoring, forecasting and assessing) and analysis of industry (5 forces of Porter) and competitor analysis.

The effectiveness of social Networks:

• When you think of SNSs as marketing tools and a way for companies connect with their customers and build online communities and websites,
• Updated with the latest activities of companies advertisements, and providing clients with the tools they require or need to boost the amount of traffic to their website or blog.
• Help in the process of becoming informed about the company and encourage products, ideas and services.
• Avoiding the search engine optimization rankings,
• It assists in getting feedback from customers to improve the implementation of electronic customer relation management (e-CRM) and also to identify important customers to assist them in delivering value-creating activities.
• The focus is on the market, with a global reach, unlimited amount of customers that can be served to better classify the market and the customers
• Different advertising models are possible like word of mouth, suggestions for a particular groups or niches and more.
• Most efficient method of getting information and locate opportunities

Social Networking Sites as well as E-commerce Companies:
While other ways of communicating exist however, they are to a certain degree different to those of social networks. Social networks are a platform that people can become a fan of a page. They meet and, based on their shared desire, they can begin engaging with one another and create a community on their own.

The issue mentioned is an outcome of shifting control of SNSs from companies to consumers. The more popular social networks are however, the more challenging is the process of implementing traditional business practices so, companies should consider changes to their market strategy in this situation. In addition, by scouring the information through these networks, identifying important customers will be much more simple and businesses can provide its customers with a lot better in this way.

Concerning access of people to the internet, businesses moved to Brick and Mortar to Click and Mortar or to a virtual one that resulted in an improvement in efficiency and also generating income.

Companies are making progress towards the issue mentioned above (adaptation to EC) They employ various strategies to succeed. They employed a variety of strategies both at both the corporate and business level to cut down on transaction costs by reducing the time to deliver in order to better serve customers, and improve their management as well as better inform them of the activities currently being carried out by the business , specifically for service businesses. In light of the massive interest of users of social networks such as Facebook Twitter, Facebook, and others, businesses took the decision to lessen the gap between them and their customers by pursuing the passion of consumers. Consequently they began to make use of social media and possible additional web 2.0 applications to expand their operations.

In the present, nearly every company has a website and there are some that have a social network to improve communication with customers and is connected to the website via making use of plugins for social networks. Therefore, it is strongly advised to businesses that even should, if they’re not the first to move into social networks at the very least, they should not overlook the possibility of being a the last to move.

Effects from the impact of Networks on Marketing
As mentioned earlier people will be enticed to join popular social networks in order to build an account and communicate with other members, businesses or pages. Once profiles are created users can communicate with one another; they can also invite others to join. Once a link has been formed, messages to an acquaintance is easy for group members since users are likely to group themselves according to the affinity level, their life stages and psychographics. This is the ideal opportunity to target marketing.

The impact on Social Networks on Purchase Intention:
By using a social media, which was mentioned earlier members can share their opinions or opinions on diverse things like the latest item they purchased or a specific type of service they received or provided by a business. A lot of people across the globe prefer to speak to others who are consumers to gather the necessary information before making a purchase for a great product or service (a aspect of trust-word of mouth). In the present, consumers are influenced by accessibility of information on the internet , they prefer searching online, and when they are online, they than likely to use social networks to learn more from customers who have also purchased the product, and also what has been shared on social media pages of a particular business about particular kind of good or service.

In the eyes of marketers, the information provided is crucial for businesses to know that the information they share are actual facts that consumers or customers mention and their friends or followers of a specific group could be relying on or trusting other individuals (or their fans) to provide factual information.

Marketing is a key aspect social networks cover a range of aspects of marketing are covered.

• Word of mouth
• Market research,
• Market segmentation,
• General marketing
• Communication between customers and employees,
• Public relations,
• Customer service
• Management of brand reputation and positioning

Marketers make use of network marketing for its many benefits, and some of them include:

• Increased sales and brand recognition,

The internet helps companies improve the visibility of their products and services , especially through social networking websites.

In every interaction, marketing professionals attempt to influence members or their fans to keep up with the latest news from companies and all things, and to remember the company’s name and web site.

• Make it more frequent,

Every business tries to increase the amount of traffic to their websites by employing various methods such as sending out messages, sharing recommendations posts on SNSs, and accompanied by a hyperlink to direct a fan or member to their official site and let them know about products and services available.

• Enhance search engine optimization (SEO),

To increase the visibility of a site, businesses must share more links all over the world to make sure that search engines can locate the web pages’ content quickly. This way, people can be more likely to read the material that a business has published. Social media should be a part of the search engine optimization strategies.

It is important to note that the importance of content found on social networks is largely due to the fact that they look like natural search results to engines.

• Improve the loyalty of customers

Brand loyalty can be built by promoting its products or services on social media networks. If you publish content that is authentic and valuable the trust of customers increases and the reputation of the company grows.

When using social media, users feel they are part of the community instead of just users. If they believe they are a active, they’ll be more engaged and as because of the involvement of customers and value-creating activities of the company, customer loyalty grows.