When one thinks about social media, names such as Twitter, BlogSpot, MySpace, Facebook and Tumbler are some of the common terms that cross the mind. Most organisations have become popular as household names using such forms of media. For example, with the help of these social sites, organisations such as Virgin Atlantic have gained much popularity and have attracted a large number of clients, thanks to the internet technology. Social media has been of great importance in communication and decision-making tasks in such companies as Virgin Atlantic because in executive marketing, social media is used as a tool for connecting the business to the customer (Baker and Green, 2008). For the marketer to effectively communicate with the customers and come up with comprehensive decisions that can boost the products or services being sold there has to be dynamism in the approach adopted. In addition, with a flexible social media channel, space is reduced between the customer and the business because the media offers a communication platform. The social media has made it easy for a two-way communication, where complaints are heard and answers concerning service delivery are given within a short period.
In comparing and contrasting the best practices on the effectiveness of social media for in Virgin Atlantic, it has been seen that the social media is a platform for communication and socializing. This acts as an avenue for both customers and managers in terms of people processing tactics. Since it is a service-providing institution, Virgin Atlantic has developed sites where employees can improve on their knowledge and skills hence become innovative in rendering their services and provide a uniform way of socialisation, which thus ensures that a socialisation strategy is developed. Another effect of social media socialising is observed in information seeking. Virgin Atlantic is one among many in the aircraft industry and with social media; marketers are able to gather useful information on what customers prefer and what they seek for before having any booking in a flight. With the use of social media in information searching, the organisation will always be persistent in delivery of its services as it will always be ahead of the competition. One has to portray the right image in the company. With the use of social media, a company becomes visible. This is evident in customer care service that is offered though the various social sites, where customer-friendly services are developed based on customer responses and reactions. With free access to technology, quantitative and qualitative research will be carried out to enhance experience consumer behaviour.
Relationship formation is another way that social media has influenced the organisation. This is significant where it has brought all department employees together and this has brought about a bonding relationship, where workers achieve the organisational goals in time due to sharing common interests and exchanging of different ideas. Through the social media, employees boost the company through interaction with different experts as they know that with their knowledge, the company can improve, while the obtain rewards and recognition. This has been a strategy used by Virgin Atlantic. It has seen many associations between organizations and has promoted the image of the company through diversification of relationships (Conrad, 1983). Knowledge sharing through the social media has brought about a range of information obtained from exchanging with other travel airlines. Consequently, there has been a situation of overcoming some organisational boundaries, especially where employees have a chance to express themselves and give a chance to the site users regarding the acceptability of the social websites.
On the other hand, these social sites can be a limitation to the organisation as most people, especially employees, can spend almost all the time in these social spots making their importance insignificant. Though the social media has been used in acquisition and exchange of knowledge, it can also act as a site where a company’s negative image can be portrayed and a point of exposure of trade and negative secrets on how they manage to survive in the industry.
The department authorised to be in charge of communications at Virgin Atlantic collaborates with other departments in social media used to connect travellers. With the launch of their website ‘www.Virgin-atlantic.com’, customers are given full communication details and the ability to book online in any flight of their preference. To increase their customer base, the company has sought to advertise through the social sites and any advert made has a $5 dollar contribution towards charity work (Herring, 2004).
The strategy used at the organisation aims at establishing the importance the extent to which social media can improve the company’s performance. With that, background information is given in order to make a comparison of where the company was when prior to advancement and application of social media and the current state of technological application of the media. This regards to the number of customers and different ideas that have emerged in the recent times. With these strategies, companies are able to achieve their set objectives using social media.
References
Baker, S., & Green, H. (2008). Social media will change your business. Web.
Conrad, C. (1983). Organizational power: Faces and symbolic forms. London: Sage.
Herring, S. (2004). Slouching toward the ordinary: Current trends in computer-mediated communication. New Media and Society, 6, 26–36.