The success of any organization relies heavily on effective communication. Considering that, a company is a setting in which a large number of people coexist, and that the effective operation of any given department heavily relies on the others, communication channels should be kept open at all times.
However, achieving effective communication is not an easy task. There have been cases of unattended businesses, improper execution of duties, unsuccessful meetings, and sour business deals resulting from unclear communication.
This often results from the use of a wrong mode of communication or using the correct mode wrongly. Delivery of the desired outstanding results by the company can be at stake if the people in charge of channeling the information inter-departmentally are not careful on the kind of communication modes they employ.
Effective communication calls for the adoption of the latest modes of communication that are convenient, effective, faster, and reliable.
With the development of information technology, various social networking sites have emerged, thereby completely revolutionizing the ways of communication. People have been able to connect with new friends from all over the globe due to the social networking sites.
Social media are very influential and powerful sources that shape the way we live and interact in society today. For instance, Facebook, Badoo, Twoo, LinkedIn, and Twitter continue to infest the minds of people, both young and old.
The growing influence of these sites has placed them at the centre of all organizational communication strategies. However, to what extent do they allow enterprises in the United Arab Emirates to develop strategies?
Businesses may use the various modern media platforms to communicate to their clients, employees, shareholders, and even competitors. General information can be passed on via tweets and blog entries, while sensitive and confidential information can be relayed through emails, and faxes.
The effectiveness of these methods relies in mobilize the targeted audience to like the social media pages to receive updates as soon as they are made.
These new media platforms have also enabled businesses to develop new HR strategies. HR strategies determine a firm’s human resource requirements and lays ground for meeting those requirements to ensure continuity.
A company can use reactions from social media users to identify its employment needs. Most importantly, the HR department can create a social media profile where potential employees can create and update their profiles for future job considerations.
This leads to the creation of a pool of qualified persons who can be contacted at any point of need. Most new media platforms are free; hence, HR can save on advertisement costs.
When it comes to launching a new product in the market or simply promoting an existing product, new media have proven quite effective. A single post or tweet can be re-tweeted or posted a million times in just minutes creating an enormous impact.
The huge numbers of people using these new media platforms furthers this course. Positive tweets about a product can also change perceptions, thereby increasing a product’s sales. Tweets that precede a product’s release have also proven effective in promoting new products. A
s people discuss the product, they increase its awareness long before release, thereby giving it a good starting point upon release.
New media have not only infested product promotion, but also international events promotion. Events such as the FIFA World Cup, Grand Prix, and F1 continue to rule modern communication platforms. Participation in these events is often boosted by modern media activities such as blog posts and tweets.
However, a major boost for these events on the media platforms comes from participating celebrities. Most celebrities have huge networks of followers; therefore, by making a single post, they stir interest among millions of people.
A growing number of organizations have taken to marketing their products and improving their image using their leaders. Even in this process, modern media have remained integral. Apple is a good example in this case.
The company built its business acumen around its Chief Executive Officer, Steve Jobs, to win more customers globally. Steve Jobs was, to many people, a genius who dedicated himself to producing top-notch gadgets. In fact, during his peak days, Steve Jobs and Apple were like one identity.
Many organizations around the world use this strategy too; they have blogs for their leaders where the leaders interact with the public to promote the company’s image and products.
Government institutions, civil societies, and non-governmental organizations have used new media and communication forms actively to stimulate behavior change. Resistance and criticism often meet behavior change campaigns.
This calls for change of strategies. As such, governments around the world have adopted the use of modern media to promote behavior change. Given the power of the media to influence all people, old and young, this strategy has been successful in many quarters.
By relaying the same message several times on different media platforms, people who read it conceptualize it and begin to think about it. Slowly, but surely, such messages begin to take root even among citizens considered reservist or change resistant.