The Impact of Social Networks on Growth of Business Make Social Networks work their magic on your business strategies www.hexaware.com Preface Business strategists and leaders recognize the importance of social media due to its strong technical roots and ability to shape future technical trends. Social platforms employ cloud technologies, APIs, natural language processing engines, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and geo-location to create an omni-channel experience for users and generate deep level insights and business opportunities for industry and business leaders. Despite of its evident benefits, several B2B companies who are still experimenting with social media and their social engagement strategies are not geared to evolve at the frantic rate at which social media is evolving. Hexaware’s Social Media oerings help such B2B companies address current and future strategic and marketing requirements and enable businesses to meet their vision and goals. We leverage social media to help you pursue strategic transactions, create brand awareness, establish thought-leadership, manage online-reputation, generate sales leads, and explore viability of new business ideas. With our innovative Social Media solutions, we integrate social touchpoints at every stage of key-decision makers’ journey to share useful information and content, provide insights and updates, and empower them to make the right decision for themselves. Hexaware can make your digital journey more productive and result-driven. Introduction Over the last 5 years, social media has changed the business landscape by connecting over 2 billion people on a single suite of platforms. Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and many other social media sites allow organizations to meet people across every geography and every niche. Today businesses are looking for a robust and practical social media solution to sustain their growth. Impact of Internet on Business Before taking a deep dive in social media, let’s look at the path through which we have reached here. The journey starts through development of Internet, the technology that has been universally described as the greatest invention of modern times. In the last 25 years, Internet has fundamentally changed the way business is done, conceptualized and strategized. It connected 100s of millions of computers and made the world notice the power of information, shared by all and made accessible to all. In 1991, World-Wide-Web was launched as an interface to access information residing on networked computers through websites. A few years down the line, we had millions of websites and hundreds of millions of webpages. Most of these websites oered little or no value, but they were instrumental in raising public consciousness about value of internet and connected networks. By 2002, a web-presence had become a part of a legitimacy check for every business, giving rise to an interesting and accurate notion that ‘if you are not found on Google, you don’t exist’. Organizations that meant business, and intended to stay relevant, invested in creating their web identities, and in the process discovered that web not only supported businesses but also sustained them. • Engagements Web and Online • SEO Social Business Model • Bill Boards • Inbound Business Address: • SEM Address: FB, Twitter, • TV, Radio • Profiling www.xyz.com • Banner Ads Instagram, LinkedIn • Newspaper • Predictive AI • Clickbait • Magazines • Kiosks 1993 1990 2010 2010 Brick and Mortar Business Address: ‘City, Street, Zip Commercial Web 2.0 Social Engagement code’ Internet and www Technologies Technologies Figure 1.1 Evolution of Social net Emergence of Social Media as the New Identity of Business In 2003, the idea of Web 2.0 set forth concepts of ‘Intuitiveness’, ‘Interoperability’ and ‘User Generated Content’. In other words, it made Internet participative and interactive. From being a one-to-many channel of information dissemination, WWW transformed into a many-to-many channel of sharing and collaboration. As users grew more comfortable with sharing and creating content on the Internet, Facebook (2004), Twitter (2005) and YouTube (2005) emerged to capitalize on this change of behavior, and eventually grew to become eponymous with the idea of social media. Initial social media users were mainly students and hobbyists who used it for fraternizing and as a getaway from profession-bound activities. However, as students moved up on their career trajectories and entered business and economics, they sowed social media concepts in their work-field and helped spread the idea. Social platforms achieved their sharpest increase between 2008 and 2013, with over 1 billion active monthly users accessing dierent channels by end of 2012. Today these platforms host largest communities on Internet, for whom thinking, and sharing are ingrained as part of their personal and professional lives. 1 Many businesses were quick to realize the benefits of social media Platforms as early as 2008. Dell, Nike, Amazon, Ford, GE etc. were among the early movers who capitalized on new channels’ strength and influence in reaching out to their target audience. Since then, millions of businesses have successfully made social a part of their marketing and strategic armory. Social media is now a substantial part of every marketing strategy, and the benefits of using social media are so great that anyone not implementing this cost-effective resource is missing out on a phenomenal marketing opportunity. Social media platforms have impressed both marketers and strategists on the strength of their functional and technological attributes. Marketers who understand how users have become independent and choice conscious in this digitally connected world realize that sponsored content, paid Figure 2.1 Social Media-Technology Wheel advertisements, and in-your-face outbound messaging are on a downward spiral. Social media platforms allow marketers to engage their target Social Media Users by Age audience with thoughtful content and provide contextual experience through their products and services. Business strategists and leaders recognize the importance of social media due to its strong technical roots and ability to shape future technical trends. Social platforms employ cloud technologies, APIs, natural language processing engines, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and geo-location to create an omni-channel experience for users and generate deep level insights and business opportunities for industry and business leaders. Figure 2.2 Social Media Use among different age groups Social companies like Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter are also at the forefront of new technology development and integration like Virtual & Augmented Reality, Haptic Feedback, Neural Implants and Biometrics, to name a few, that are further pushing boundaries and opening new vistas of business. Statista and Gartner reports on ‘Internet usage worldwide, 2015-16’ reveal that on an average, Internet users across the world spend 106-118 minutes every day on social media platforms alone, that scales to 40-60 hours every month, or equivalent to a full productive week! Social media usage is the heaviest among people below 40 years where over 80% of Internet users are actively using at least one social platform. This demographic group also happens to constitute the largest segment of active consumer base and decision influencers. The implications are two folds. First, a billion users spending 45 hours every month on social media has compelled every company to utilize these platforms in order to get on the radar of this influential, auent, cash-rich and always-online consumer base. Second, a billion users have clearly demonstrated their anity for social media and they will be more likely to favor and trust companies that are on similar platforms. Extending Business Value through Social Social Platforms open numerous opportunities for business developments, but at the same time they also bring a high degree of scrutiny and accountability for business enterprises. Social media users have higher expectations of trust worthiness, transparency, and ethical practices from companies on social media. Maintaining a steady reputation on social media is a challenge for even the best of the brands, as even a minor faux pas or miscommunication has potential to get amplified and go viral within hours. But brands with well-articulated social media strategy successfully pass social litmus test and enhance their business prospects. Social media is truly the great marketing equalizer. Let’s look at several key factors that help businesses create value through social media. Transparency: Social media is not a place where anyone, least a company, can easily escape consequences of misdemeanor, subterfuge or fact twisting. Social communities, in general, are extremely vigilant. They can quickly catch a lie, and it’s not uncommon for them to extensively investigate a claim to check its veracity. False claims and their perpetrators are then publicly exposed. As such any company with a serious intent of utilizing social media to drive its business should adopt a very transparent and forthcoming communication strategy. All the facts, statistics, and information a company shares should be cross verifiable and consistent across all social and public channels. Over time this strategy leads to creation of loyal follower groups who trust brands and become its advocate. 1 Online Reputation Index Context Persona Sensitivity Continuity Transparency