Consultancy Assignment: Evaluation of Learning & Skills Development

Question

Task: Consultancy Assignment Task one:
Having worked as part of the team solving your client’s business problem, this task requires you to reflect on the process and evaluate your learning and your skills development. Your critical evaluation should be supported with examples.

Consultancy Assignment Task two:
Taking into account your evaluation in task one, this task requires you to identify THREE skills gaps or areas where you consider that further development would be useful, for you to be successful in your business career. Propose a plan of action for filling these gaps/developing these areas.

Answer

Introduction
It is evident in this digital business assignmentthat in today’s world, the people across the globe are using social media and seem to be almost addicted to it. As per Yahia, Al-Neama and Kerbache(2018), social media refers to a technology which is mainly computer based and it helps in sharing of thoughts, ideas and information. The social media uses a virtual network for sharing information. Social media creates its own virtual community where the exchange of ideas and thoughts take place. The main aim behind inventing social media was to facilitate social interaction among people across the globe. The people can access any information or news of any part of the world, while staying at any other part. According to the design of the technology in social media, it runs on internet support. Social media has both positive as well as negative impacts on human life. However, over the years it has emerged as a very powerful communication and marketing tool. In this report, the aim is to investigate why social media has gained immense popularity among global citizens. The report would further analyse the effectiveness of application of social media in business.

Importance of Social Mediaas a topic of discussion
According to Feezell (2018), the world is changing very fast and the global population is highly impacted by the changing technologies. In such a competitive and ever-changing world, social media has made a very important place for itself. The global users of social media find it an inseparable part of their lives. Thus, it is significant to study and evaluate how social media has made this place for itself as a technology. The topic of social media is relevant as well as a contemporary area of study.

Social media today is a part of the daily life of the people. The social media platform, its information, shared posts and campaigns are facilitating better decision making for the people (Iankova et al, 2019). The global users are more informed and aware of things that are happening around the world. Through social media, these people are being able to develop an opinion of their own regarding the global issues. The social media platform has emerged as a very useful tool of communication. This not only allows local but also worldwide communication at any time from any place. The technology of social media has reduced the vast world into a close virtual community.

Social media enables anyone from any part of the world to connect with anyone, irrespective of the territorial distance or time difference. As opined by Oh and Lee(2019), the world population is constantly exploring and developing the features of social media to foster better sharing, creating and spreading of information. However, social media is an important topic for discussion not only because of its good aspects but also because it has several negative impacts. The surveys and researches have found significant evidence which show that social media has a direct link with mental health of people. It has been found that social media platform affects a person’s mind too deeply as they seem to be addicted to it. As per Berryman, Ferguson and Negy (2018), the social media causes anxiety, depression, loneliness, etc. This eventually can lead to self-harm or suicidal attempts. The users of social media get caught up in their virtual community. They feel that validation of their self-worth depends on their friends and followers on social media platform. The loss of popularity or lack of importance on social media platform leads people to feel inadequate or inferior about their appearance or life. Thus, on one side social media tries to make people feel better connected to more people but on the other side it makes one lose their self-esteem (van Oosten, de Vries and Peter, 2018).

Development of Social Media
As per Singh and Sachan(2017), technology is ever-changing and it brings along new innovations for betterment of human life. During the 20th century, technology had started changing very rapidly. In the year 1940, the first super computers were invented. However, the scientists did not stop at inventing the computer. They were constantly trying to develop a connection between the computers. For establishing this connection across the devices, the scientists needed a network. This search led to the invention of internet. However, in the early days internet was not what it is today. Internet in the initial phase was of a very primitive form. The CompuServe is one of the earliest versions of the internet (Fidler and Russell, 2018). This was developed in the year 1960. By this time, the electronic mail was also developed. By the 1970s, the technology of networking had started improving. In 1979, UseNet was introduced which facilitated communication among its users through virtual newsletters. During the 1980s, the computers in houses was becoming a common thing. Gradually, social media started taking its first steps in a sophisticated form. In 1988, the internet relay chats (IRC) were being used. The IRCs became popular during the 1990s. The first site of social media that received recognition was Six Degrees. This site was created in the year 1997. Through the Six Degrees social media site, the users were able to upload their profile. They could also make friends using this platform with the others users on the site. During 1999, the first sites for blogging gained popularity. Since then, social media required no promotion and no publicity. The sensation of social media has been growing with time (Carpenter and Harvey, 2019).

Social Media as a technology
The popularity of social media as a technology started exploding after blogging was invented. As stated by Dhingra and Mudgal(2019), the sites like LinkedIn and MySpace gained immense popularity among the users during the early years of 2000. The other sites that became popular include Flickr and Photobucket. Through these sites, the users could share their photos online. In 2005, YouTube started gaining prominence as a social media platform. The YouTube turned out to be a completely new way of communicating. The users could also share their ideas irrespective of their physical distance. In the year 2006, Twitter as well as Facebook were introduced to people (Winter, 2020). The global population or the netizens were thrilled with the availability of these social media sites. Even today these sites are one of the most popular ones on internet. Spotify, Tumblr, Pinterest and Foursquare are also popular sites. However, these sites appeal or address a specific niche of social networking (Nisar, 2019). In the current situation, there are several social networking sites. Many sites are developed in such a manner that it allows cross posting. Through the evolution of social networking sites, the users can create an environment in which they can reach out to maximum people with no compromise on their person-to-person communication intimacy. The growth and journey of social media can suggest that it has a prosperous future. No matter what changes take place down the years, social media will always remain a part of human lives.

Application of Social Media in Business
There are various organisations using social media. For instance, government agencies use it for public awareness. The businesses like Cisco, Pampers, Staples, Uber JetBlue, etc. are using it for promoting their business. The NGOs also use it for conveying their message to the mass.

Cost effective targeting
As stated by Arora et al (2019), social media has a very significant role to play in business. The business organisations find social media useful as they can use the tool to reach out to maximum people, nurture their target audience and engage them. The business organisations can interact with their target audience irrespective of their location. Businesses are not only using social media to connect with their target audience or potential customers, they are also using the tool for creating brand awareness. The leads are generated, sales are improved and revenue is enhanced through use of social media in business. The businesses are using social media platform to reach out to maximum customers with least cost and in least time. They can also get to know each customer individually and their tastes by reviewing their social media profiles. This helps in better targeting, segmentation and niche marketing (Coelho, Correia and Medina, 2017).

Getting better leads
According to Appel et al (2020), business organisations are utilising the immense potential of social media for the purpose of marketing. They are using social media for getting better qualified leads. In any marketing campaign, the best possibilities are the target recipients. However, they may not be interested in what is being offered by the company now or may not want to associate with the brand ever. At times, the business organisations plan their marketing campaign by including attractive offers to attract more customers. The market however, is so unpredictable that the potential customers may not be attracted to the offer or even might not review it. Thus, the marketing campaign’s outcome remains uncertain. In case of social media marketing campaigns, the scenario is not the same. As the companies are making their strong presence on social media platforms, they are also creating a good number of followers (Pop et al, 2021).

Therefore, when a company comes up with a lucrative offer, its followers on social media are likely to take the offer. This is one of the major reasons why social media is so important to business organisations. Social media helps a company to get more qualified leads. When a company is marketing to its users who are already loyal to the company, they know that they are targeting a more qualified demographic. The potential customers are also followers of the company on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. This implies that the customers are interested in knowing more about the company, its products or services and offers. The companies know that these followers would respond positively or favourably to their posts made on social media platforms. This is because the company and the target audience have already established a prior relationship virtually. The social media platform ensures that the followers check the posts and click the links to see the content (Li and Xie, 2020). These facilitate better sales as knowing about various offers and products often motivate the customers to purchase it.

Building a community
As per Ghosh et al (2018), in the traditional forms of marketing, the companies would spread their brand message on their own through circulation of email newsletters or flyers. However, these were ineffective ways of reaching out to target audience. Social media marketing, has a huge positive impact on the businesses as it encourages sharing and associating with the customers. The followers not only come across the content and promotional posts but also share the same. The followers direct the traffic to the company’s website or social media accounts. This is an effective form of marketing as people trust what they are told by people they know. When the followers share the posts with their family and friends, they take the recommendations more seriously and act on them (Reade, 2021). Thus, through social media the companies can build a community. They try to interact with their customers via posts, having direct conversations with them and encouraging them to leave positive or negative reviews. This foster building better relationships with the existing and potential new customers.

Enhancing brand reputation
In social media, the companies are at a risk of facing negative reviews from customers who can post the complaints (Istanbulluoglu, 2017). The reviews could be regarding poor product performance, inappropriate customer service, etc. This could create negative reputation for the companies. However, social media provides the platform for addressing the negative reviews and overcoming the negative publicity. The companies can maintain their reputation by constant monitoring over social media posts, pro-active outreach to target audience and effective management of crisis. The companies can build a positive brand image by making frequent posts on the social media account, posting good content and taking care of the reviews. The companies should use social media as a PR. They should respond to negative posts instead of deleting them, address and answer the questions of customers and follow the trends on social media. By catering to the concerns of the customers and righting the wrongs, the businesses can build a good reputation (Ho, 2017).

Conclusion
It can be concluded that the people all over the world use the social media platform to establish their ideas, share their opinions and also raise protests. The acceptance and excessive usage of social media by the global population makes it an inevitable part of human life. Social media today is also being used for business purposes. The traditional marketing had long been replaced by digital marketing. Social media is the most significant aspect of digital marketing. The companies are allocating a separate budget for social media marketing. The use of social media can prove to be highly effective for businesses. Through social media, the businesses are getting better leads, building a community of followers and potential customers, establishing their brand reputation and availing a cost-effective tool of marketing.

References
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