We are happy to announce Mr Robert L. Ferrari, our student from Italy, as the winner of the writing competition – “ The impact of social networking sites on business in my country”.  Robert is awarded 100 USD as prize.

It is an engrossing article where Robert sheds light on how social networking sites have influenced business in Italy. Read on:

The impact of Social Networking sites on Business in Italy 

Social networking sites (SNS) are second generation web applications regarded as a  communication technology that enables businesses to make entrepreneurial decisions based on  information about their online customers' profiles. SNSs are crucial in building and  maintaining relationships, offering information about promotions, collaborating in content  generation, and participating in social interaction. They are  widely believed to offer business, public, and governmental entities, impactful means of  enhancing their communications, processes, and, ultimately, performance. 

Web 2.0 (or Social Web) has evolved tremendously in the past decade; users  are more than simply passive recipients of content generated by specialists, they may also  produce, modify, and share content through blogs, wikis, and social media platforms inter alia  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin. Analysing how companies leverage social networking and social media technologies is a fascinating endeavour, especially given their  capacity to facilitate information exchange across groups, including corporate enterprises and  government entities. Social media  platforms are programs that enhance information and social  interrelationships among users and organizations, and they are founded on the facilitation and  reciprocation of user-generated content in as much as it empowers people  and businesses with a foundation from which to pursue further advancements. 

Web and social  media platforms facilitate  the flow and circulation of information across a broader audience, increasing the odds of  innovative ideas being funded by potential investors, as well as the proliferation of the stakeholder network encompassing these concepts, and even endorse the sustainability and  success of their objectives with little or no start-up capital. In Italy, the  percentage of people and companies employing social media and social networks has ramped  up threefold in the last few years. 

Italian businesses are forging ahead in social media, establishing an online  presence through employment of social networking applications. The most popular platforms  are Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Snapchat and Netlog,  followed by local social media platforms inter alia ItalyLink (for sharing interests with Italian  lifestyle aficionados), Vinix (for professionals and lovers of the Italian Food & Beverage industry), Fubles (for local soccer events), and more. Facebook is no longer the most used  social network in Italy, although penetration appears among the strongest at around 38%; As of the beginning of this  year, YouTube has eclipsed Facebook as the most popular social network in Italy, though by a small margin, respectively 85.3% against 80.4%, as displayed in Figure 1.  

This indicates either YouTube or Facebook are capable of reaching more than 80% of the total  Italian population, which is currently in the realm of 60.36 million, reaching 39.30 million for YouTube and 31 million for Facebook. Figures 2 and 3 illustrate that YouTube has a higher  proportion of male users, while Facebook, on the other hand, displays an evenly distributed  audience mark. Even among chat applications, Facebook trails WhatsApp by 5%. While  Instagram appears to be on the increase, it still lags behind in Italy, even among youthful users,  with a solid 67%, reaching 25 million users, whereas interestingly, female audiences tend to be  the dominant users at 53.8% against their male counterparts. 

This very first piece of research tells us something important: the Internet has overshadowed tv entertainment as a popular  medium. Furthermore, what is being experienced at this moment is neither more nor less the  renowned social phenomena of a generation striving to isolate itself from the preceding by  forsaking some ingrained habits in favour of newer, more genuine behavioral patterns.

Nonetheless, companies' active engagement in social media remains constrained, despite the  fact that Web 2.0 technologies are rapidly being used for marketing and public relations. Moreover, consumers have a rising and considerable effect over product offerings  and sales strategies. All of these opportunities have piqued professional and academic interest  in the study of the Social Web in general, and notably the SNS, as means of effective marketing  strategy, and as a new interaction environment for customers and enterprises. In relation to  economic investments, the chart in Figure 6 indicates that 28% of companies prefer investing  predominantly on Facebook, 13% on YouTube, and next to nothing on Instagram and WhatsApp, both of which appear to have dominance in terms of Influencer Marketing, leaving  plenty of room for future business consideration. 
 

In addition to social networks, and as displayed in the graph in Figure 7, most companies turn  to blogs (71%) and forums (55%) for social actions which, despite the impact of Facebook,  continue to resist. The employment of Chat/IP Voice stands out at 48%, while the observation  that nearly 30% of businesses do not advance beyond the utilization of social networks may be  alarming. The latter value should be maintained under control in order to ascertain how the  Web will position itself in the coming years; notably, a comparison of the trend of this data  and the employment of search engines would be beneficial. 

As displayed in Figure 8, most companies devote one or two individuals (56%) to managing  communication on social networks and given that certain firms are comprised of up to five  individuals (38%), this highlights the issue of a cultural clash between organizations who see  a potential in the employment of social media and those who compete at the highest level  through a solid team and a powerful strategy. Despite the benefits of social networks, many companies lack a realistic  framework for managing communication in social networks.

Having said that, it is a matter of concern to discover that,  in the majority of circumstances (36%), organizations are either out of the loop, misinterpret the measures to be undertaken, or lack social communication specialists. Corporate communication is still controlled by employees within the organization in 29% of situations, but only 18% have full-time personnel devoted to  social projects, and even fewer (7%) have a team zealous to relentless management of  communication through social media. On the other hand, another 18% of businesses rely on  employees who independently support (or drown) Web communication. Companies that rely  on outside agencies account for 15%.

 The graph in Figure 8 depicts the organizations' target  market; it is noteworthy that 40% target B2C, 40% target B2B, and 20% exhibit an equally  balanced approach across both strategies. Additionally, 38% strategize on application  development, 11% on monitoring, reputation, and analytics, 12% on advertising campaigns,  and 15% on content distribution. According to extensive research, 40% of firms do not engage  in any marketing effort. Furthermore, 35% would rather strategize on development, in order to see their community, improve and get more involved. 

This is quite encouraging considering  firms are now realizing how crucial it is to build ties with their consumers. Many businesses  (38%) crave their own APP, but only a handful have a clear understanding of what this APP  should accomplish. Advertising efforts are relatively minor (12%), but what is most concerning is that 60% do not appear to have a clear notion of marketing activities, therefore missing out  on their potential. 

Most organizations appear to be using social networks to attain leads or future consumers;  however, only 43% aim at leads, whilst the majority recognize the actual purpose of social  networks or aim at brand and communication enhancement (71%). Another fascinating  aspect is the desire to form one's own community (45%). Ultimately, the main objective of  organizations that engage in social marketing is to broaden their brand and increase interaction.  Companies who see the value of social networks choose to invest in training so that they may  be implemented more successfully. 

In conclusion, when considering a social media campaign in Italy, an organization must  consider having a clear target in mind and that sound information is available to everyone prior  to launch; for instance, it stands to reason sustaining a clear understanding of audiences and  members, targeting their ages and geographical locations, whether rural or urban, and the type  of interest they may entertain. Businesses who recognize the potential of social  media will accelerate their advancement and embrace a new way of conducting business, while  those who ignore the innovations may find themselves fading into oblivion.

Businesses' aims  of generating leads, developing healthy connections, and defining an identity, are still relevant. Innovative enterprises who recognize the momentum and extent of this are astute to leverage  social media to their advantage. Businesses may employ social media to establish meaningful  interactions and get to identify potential customers intimately. A company may develop a fan  base and get feedback from their target demographic. It has the potential to generate new traffic  streams that will drive consumers to their products and strengthen their brand's identification  in the eyes of the customer. Nevertheless, innovative approaches, inter alia experiential  marketing and guerrilla campaigns, are necessary, while striving to remain competitive:  millennial Italians foresee being astonished and impressed.