Introduction:

With the rapid globalization of intranet technology in the 21^st century, the social media network has been introduced as an important potent tool for increasing interaction among the people. The business organizations use social media network as marketing tools for promoting their new products and services. Now the social networking channels have become an important part of any business for developing a strong connection with the customers across the globe (Hensel & Deis, 2010). The marketing and promotional activities of the organization have become easier with the social networking channels. The marketing management professionals can develop new strategies for marketing through social media networks for attracting a range of potential customers. Social media network provides a wide number of advantages for the businesses. According to Kaplan & Haenlein, (2010), social media provides a networking platform through which the company can share attractive contents, images, and answers of the feedback for attracting a number of potential customers across the globe. Different kinds of online discussions forums, blogs, feedbacks, and pages of the organization help the potential customers. Modern organizations use some popular social networking site such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn through which they can share attractive details of goods or services which manipulates the purchasing activities of the customers. The most important advantages of social networking sites are convenient, efficient, cost-effective, reliable, accessibility and capability of sharing a number of information which helps to maintain a long-term relationship with the customers (Rapp & Hughes, 2013). With the help of social media network, the customer care service of the organization can provide 24*7 supports to the users that increases the satisfaction of the customers. Despite a number of advantages, the social media network also have some disadvantages such security and privacy issues, time intensive and lack of control of the feedback which affects the sustainability growth of the business. This particular research study mainly focuses on the various advantages and disadvantages of social media networks in retail business organizations in the context of Australia.

Project objective:

The basic objective of this research study is to analyze the different advantages and disadvantages of social media networks in business organizations. In this particular research study, the significance of social media networks for managing various activities of business organization such as marketing activities, promotional activities, and brand awareness will effectively analyzed using a number of reviews of the past researchers and scholars.

Project scope:

This particular research proposal will analyze a range of advantages and disadvantages factors of using social media networks for the business organization. Various secondary sources such as books, articles, journals, and magazines will be used to review the different aspects of benefits and drawbacks of social networking sites (Schaupp & Bélanger, 2013). The various issues and potential risks of using the social media networking channels also will be highlighted in this section.  These research studies also will elaborate the various strategies for minimizing the issues of social networking channels.

Literature Review:

Introduction:

This particular section of the research study will review the various benefits and disadvantages of social networking for a business organization using a number of secondary sources such as articles, paper, company data, books, and journals. The study of the past researchers will be significantly reviewed to analyze the research questions. This particular section will analyze the significance of social media networks for business and various advantages and disadvantages of the social media networks for the business using a range of reviews of the past researchers.

Importance of social media networks for business organizations:

According to Schaupp & Bélanger, (2013) with the rapid advancement of internet technology the social media networks have becomes an important tool for managing various marketing and promotional activities of the organization. Social media technologies in business organization provide a number of opportunities for developing strong relationships with the customers. Most of the modern organizations have their own social networking channel through which they can directly interact with a number of potential customers. The organization also can maintain various marketing and advertising activities through social media for connecting with the customers. With the help of some potential social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest, the organizations can share various attractive contents, images, and videos about the product and other services for the customers. The brand awareness of the product and service can be enhanced using a number of significant social media networks. The word of mouth of the marketing activities can be enhanced using social media channels. Social media technologies can reach a number of potential customers that increase sales and revenues of the firm. With the help of Facebook and Twitter, the organization can share stories, contents, and images of the products or services which can influence the buying behavior of the customers. As opined by Woodcock & Starkey, (2011) the feedbacks shared in the social media networks regarding the products or services also can influence the purchasing behavior of the number of customers. In terms of marketing, the social media networks are very cost effective and reliable channels that can generate a huge number of traffics that could be helpful for increasing sales of the organization.

Benefits and drawbacks of using social networking channels for the business organization:

According to Liang & Turban, (2011) social media networking platforms have been considered as an effective marketing channel for the organizations to attract a number of customers. Different previous researchers have agreed with the above statement. In terms of effectiveness, social media platforms play a significant role in identifying the potential customers. Using a range of services of the social media the organization can optimize the marketing channels of social media networks. The marketing team members of the organization can share various catchy and attractive contents regarding promotion of the products or services which could be helpful for influencing the buying behavior of the customers. One of the most of significant advantage of using social media network is that it has a higher conversion rate. With the help of higher conversion rate, the organization can gain the opportunity of increased visibility that increases traffic and number of viewers. High conversion rate also enables the organization to develop positive impression among the customers that increase the brand awareness.  As opined by Sorescu & Bridges, (2011) social media also enables the organization to increase their search engine rankings that enhances traffic for the business. Most of the recent business organizations have achieved a sustainable growth in the market using search engine rankings in the websites. The overall sales growth, sustainability, profitability, revenue generation and productivity of the business firms can be enhanced by using a number of social media networks.

The social media networks also provide various disadvantages for achieving sustainability and growth of the organization. As opined by Anderson & Brusa, (2011) Security and privacy is one of the basic drawbacks of social media that may affect the customer satisfaction. Another disadvantage of using social media network is the lack of control on feedbacks. Sometimes the negative feedback from the customers may influence the buying behavior of the other customers. In order to maintain interaction with the customers, it takes a lot of time which may be another disadvantage of using social media networking for the business organizations. In order to monitor the post, comments and respond to the feedbacks the management team requires a lot of time that may affect the various activities of the business. The business organization should improve the security and privacy policies of the social networking channels which could be helpful for increasing security and privacy of the customer’s information.

Conclusion:

This particular section of the research study has significantly analyzed the review of the past researchers regarding various advantages and disadvantages of using social media networks for business organizations. This particular section has also has reviewed the importance of social media networking for the modern organizations.

Research questions:

Primary question:

• What are the different advantages and disadvantages of using social networks in business organizations?

Secondary question:

Various secondary questions for conducting the overall research study are as summarized below;

• What is the importance of social networking channels for business organizations?
• What are the different advantages and disadvantages of using social media networks for the business organization?
• How can the potential risks in social media be overcome using various strategies?

Research Design and methodology:

Introduction:

This particular section of the research study will focus on the various methods for gathering data from the various sources. In order to analyze the overall methods for conducting of the research, the various aspects of the methodology such as research approach, research design, data collection method, sampling techniques, research instruments and validity and reliability of the data will be highlighted in this particular research.

Research approach:

The research approach is the essential parts of research methodology section which offers a detailed structure of the research. The approach of research can be divided into three types such as qualitative approach, mixed approach, and quantitative approach.

The qualitative approach incorporates the descriptive type data for analyzing the objectives of the research. Various kinds of secondary data using books, articles and theories and primary data using open-ended questionnaires are used in a qualitative approach.

On the other hand, quantitative approach mainly deals with the numerical data and mathematical expressions. Using the primary data collection method, the collected data are converted into mathematical expressions (Smith & Von Voigt, 2012). The gathered data and information are presented using different graphs, charts, and images.

The mixed approach uses both the qualitative and quantitative approach for conducting the research.

For this particular research, 50 respondents will be chosen from various retail stores of Australia for collecting data. The gathered data will be converted into mathematical expressions using a graph, charts, and tables. Therefore, the quantitative approach will be used in this particular section. 

Research design:

The design of research is another key part of the research methodology which develops the structure of the overall research for performing the research. The design of research also can be separated into three types such as exploratory research, explanatory research design and descriptive type of research design. The exploratory design of research enables to analyze a range of new dimensions of the research study. The explanatory design of research helps to develop relationships between the different variables of research. The descriptive type of research design mainly deals with the various descriptive types of data. In this particular research study, the relationship between different dimensions and variables of the social media networking technologies will be highlighted throughout this research study. Thus, the explanatory design of research will be incorporated in this particular research for conducting the research.

Data collection methods:

Data collection techniques are one of key parts of the research methodology which analyzes the suitable method for collecting data from the different sources. The data collection technique can be primarily divided into two types such as secondary data collection technique and primary data collection. The primary data collection technique mainly deals with the different process for collecting of the data such as face to face interview, online survey, telephonic interview and video conferencing. With the help of a number of either closed-ended or semi-structured questionnaires are used to collect the data from the various respondents in this particular data collection method (Kaske & Smolnik, 2012).  On the other hand, the secondary data collection method mainly deals with the collection of raw data from various secondary sources such as books, articles, journals and company data.

In order to conduct this research study, 50 distinct respondents will be selected from the various retail organizations of Australia for conducting a survey using 10 distinct closed-ended questionnaires. Therefore, the primary data collection method will be used in this particular research. 

Sampling techniques and samples size:

Sampling technique is another major part of the research methodology which helps to eradicate the unrealistic data and information from the gathered data. Sampling techniques are used for selecting the reliable data for getting a valid result for the research study.  The overall sampling techniques also can be primarily categorized into two segments such as nonprobability sampling and probability sampling technique. In probability sampling technique, the respondents or samples are selected from a range of samples that have similar attitudes, behavior, thoughts, perceptions, and beliefs towards the similar question.

The nonprobability sampling is the opposite of probability sampling. In this particular type of sampling technique, the samples or respondents are selected haphazardly from a wide range of samples that have different beliefs thoughts and perceptions towards the particular question.

For this research study in order to get a valid and reliable result, the different 50 respondents of various retail organizations in Australia will be randomly chosen. Therefore, the nonprobability sampling method will be an appropriate method for this particular research study.

Questionnaires design:

In order to gather data from 50 respondents of different retail organizations in Australia, 10 distinct closed-ended questionnaires will be raised (Sorescu & Bridges, 2011). The interview will be based on the different advantages and disadvantages of the social networking channels within retail organizations of Australia. The gathered data will be recorded using various recording instruments.

Validity and reliability:

Validity and reliability of the data play a significant role in achieving a reliable and valid result for the research. For this research study, the data will collect from the 50 different respondents which will be recorded using portable recording instruments for further use. Therefore the collected data and information will be valid for conducting the research study. On the other hand, the collected data will be reliable because various data protection acts and regulations will be maintained for collecting the data from various respondents.

Research limitations:

This particular research study has mainly focused on the advantages and disadvantages of social networking sites for the retail business organization. For this study, the retail organizations only have been considered which may be a limitation of this research.  

Time schedule:

Activity	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9
Introduction
Literature review
Methodology
Data analysis
Conclusion and recommendations

Figure: Time scale of the research

Conclusion:

The overall research study will analyze the various advantages and disadvantages of the social media networks for the retail business organizations of Australia. This research study will help to demonstrate a number of the reviews of the past researchers regarding the importance and benefits and drawbacks of the social media networks for a business organization. This research study also will elaborate the appropriate methods for collecting data and information for conducting the study.

References:

Hensel, K., & Deis, M. H. (2010). Using social media to increase advertising and improve marketing. The Entrepreneurial Executive, 15, 87.

Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business horizons, 53(1), 59-68.

Rapp, A., Beitelspacher, L. S., Grewal, D., & Hughes, D. E. (2013). Understanding social media effects across seller, retailer, and consumer interactions. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 41(5), 547-566.

Zhou, L., Zhang, P., & Zimmermann, H. D. (2013). Social commerce research: An integrated view. Electronic commerce research and applications, 12(2), 61-68.

Schaupp, L. C., & Bélanger, F. (2013). The value of social media for small businesses. Journal of Information Systems, 28(1), 187-207.

Woodcock, N., Green, A., & Starkey, M. (2011). Social CRM as a business strategy. Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management, 18(1), 50-64.

Liang, T. P., & Turban, E. (2011). Introduction to the special issue social commerce: a research framework for social commerce. International Journal of electronic commerce, 16(2), 5-14.

Sorescu, A., Frambach, R. T., Singh, J., Rangaswamy, A., & Bridges, C. (2011). Innovations in retail business models. Journal of Retailing, 87, S3-S16.

Kaske, F., Kugler, M., & Smolnik, S. (2012, January). Return on investment in social media–Does the hype pay off? Towards an assessment of the profitability of social media in organizations. In System Science (HICSS), 2012 45th Hawaii International Conference on (pp. 3898-3907). IEEE.

Smith, M., Szongott, C., Henne, B., & Von Voigt, G. (2012, June). Big data privacy issues in public social media. In Digital Ecosystems Technologies (DEST), 2012 6th IEEE International Conference on (pp. 1-6). IEEE.

Anderson, M., Sims, J., Price, J., & Brusa, J. (2011). Turning “Like” to “Buy” social media emerges as a commerce channel. Booz & Company Inc, 2(1), 102-128.