Organizational structure has a close association with an organization’s success and development. An organization can be structured in multiple ways, depending on market conditions, organizational goals, business strategies, management, etc. Irrespective of the type, the structure of an organization will determine the modes in which it performs and operates. With the widespread integration of social media, the organizational structure has also undergone a major shift. This post discusses the impact of social media on the organizational structure of businesses around the world.
Organizational structure relies heavily on a company’s vision and long-term objectives and is much more likely to be considered “set” once it’s created. If changes do take place, they are likely to be the result of a new mission, a rebrand or another major shift within an enterprise. A solid organizational structure is essential to run a successful business. Implementing channels of social media will enable companies to target a larger base of customers. Developing Social Media strategies will cater to the right demographics and increase the revenue of companies. Below are the ways in which Social Media has left an undeniable impact on the organizational structure of business houses.
1.Defining the Organizational Mission with Social Media
The mission lies at the basis of an enterprise’s organizational structure. It’s the reason a company does what it does. An effective organizational structure will also be aligned with a company’s mission, and it will endeavour to meet the requirements of different stakeholders.
Even if an owner of the enterprise states that the mission of their company is to make money, there has to be more to it. Take for an example, Apple had a well-defined mission to “put a dent in the universe.” So, Apple created its organizational structure around Steve Jobs, a strong leader, who did exactly what the mission called for.
Companies are categorized according to their consumers’ needs, the legal and political scenario of the country, and the economic and technological aspects. When social media came into the picture, organizations often explored it as a means to connect with the consumers and market their products. Business organizations did not expect the humongous effect that it would have on their internal structure. The following are some valuable insights on present-day organizational structure.
2. Social media as a potent medium for business operations
Studies might indicate that successful organizations are in a perpetual state of flux owing to their environment. However, many organizations are looking at social media technologies as a way to market their product and gather knowledge about their competitors.
Social media can no longer be treated separately from a company’s culture and structure. Since social media technologies started in 2000, as nothing more than a means to connect with family and friends, organizations were not actively utilizing it to suit the needs. It wasn’t until the launch of Twitter in 2006 that companies started to consider using social media technologies to engage their consumers.
Today, social media technologies have dramatically lowered the expense of content distribution, creation, and discovery methods. It has become incredibly easy for individuals and organizations to create and maintain their online presence without incurring unnecessary expenses.
3. Social media and the shift in the marketing dynamics of the organizational structure
Global marketing has witnessed a major change in the recent years. One of the primary factors in this respect is the continuous boom of social media, which already has a far-reaching impact on people’s lives.
In this age of social media, ordinary people can speak their mind and voice their opinions in front of others. People can effectively interact with each other, without distinguishing between their occupation, economic status, or social class. They can also send their feedback or raise a grievance regarding a product.
All in all, the high level of openness, connectedness, sociability and popularity of social media has been a major contributing factor in terms of communication. This way, the views about a company or its product can be circulated over the internet.
It implies that an organization can easily suffer a crisis if they fail to follow what their customers are posting about their products and services. Whether negative or positive, the organization must react quickly. Otherwise, it will miss out a great scope to promote its products and services.
“Every organization should be equipped with social media strategies and shouldn’t stay away from making the most of it. And to react swiftly, an organization should prepare and implement a corresponding structure and match it with a reasonable mechanism”, states Kyle Cunningham, an online expert on marketing assignment help from MyAssignmenthelp.com. For instance, a company can create a special social media workgroup comprising of representatives from every department within the enterprise. This group will be directly supervised by the chief decision-makers of the organization.
4. Social media- a new dawn in the field of organizational structure
With a proper framework in place, every organization will take on their social media campaign in its own style. The element of transparency will help to move the team in the same direction when each member realizes the campaign’s objectives and vision and works towards their individual KPIs.
While the necessity of direction in the process of marketing is undeniable, constant training and sharing are pivotal to the sustainability of the organization’s social media team. A well thought out strategy indicates that the team has to present a list of Standard Operating Procedures that’s updated periodically to improve their methods of marketing. As the growth of social media sees a surge, the team will have new additions, and the SOP will become a concrete and efficient training tool.
5. Keeping up the transparency with social media
Transparency is one of the primary aspects to consider while utilizing the channels of social media. Companies can no longer decide what details to share or not to share with the public. In most cases, the details have already made its way through the employees, the suppliers or the customers who are actively engaged with each other via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
The perks of going viral and the speed at which information circulates through social media are the reasons why organizations cannot be “two-faced”. Failures and successes are decided within the brand’s community and the result is broadcasted virally within days if not hours. The good news is that companies are forced to address their issues with a plan of correction, or else they will risk losing their customers.
6. The rise of the hashtag marketing
Social media is a crucial aspect of web marketing for businesses. And hashtags are a powerful weapon of your social media strategy which allows you to share information with your target consumers even before they may search for it. In fact, organizations can get its employees to publish blogs they’ve written and share it on LinkedIn, or Twitter. They also can use hashtags depending what aligns with the topic and what’s trending within the specific industry or niche of the organization.
The amazing thing about using hashtags is that it can get articles in front of individuals you’re not connected on social media. This enables you (and your company) to have a positive exposure in front of the individuals you would not have otherwise reached. At a time when audience visibility, reach and engagements can make or break the business prospects of a company, hashtag marketing holds immense control to make the odds in your business’ favor.
Parting notes
The rapid advancement in the field of technology is compelling companies to restructure their business processes. As social commerce is the new platform for carrying out business operations, leadership and management need to warm up to this change to succeed. With time, business organizations should develop new policies, which can be included to train the employees regarding the best social media practices.
Author Bio
Gracie Anderson is a marketing professional working for a reputed e-commerce firm in Australia. She has received her MBA degree from the University of Melbourne. She has also been part of Essaygator.com as an Assignment expert.
