Week 2: Business & Consumers: Communication and Reviews

     Over the years, the emergence of social media has transformed the way businesses and consumers communicate. Social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, X, and TikTok, now make it easier for businesses to get noticed and for consumers to access and find these businesses. Many businesses benefit from using social media to market themselves. Social media helps businesses increase their exposure, loyalty, and sales while decreasing costs and time. For consumers, the benefits are no different. Consumers are able to find products way more easily now, based on what they engage with and communicate on their algorithm. This communication is as simple as just sharing, liking, or commenting on posts from businesses. Communication between the business and the consumer has evolved drastically from the past when advertising was on television screens, radios, direct mailing, or even face-to-face interactions.

    As mentioned before, the communication and engagement most notable on posts on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook are mostly likes, shares, and comments. What I have observed mostly from different businesses I followed on Instagram is how they interact with comments. Some of these comments are just showing appreciation for their product, and some ask questions such as, "What is the price?" or "When is the release date?" Most of these businesses actually do a great job of communicating back by either liking their positive comments, showing their appreciation, or replying with more information about their product. I have also seen many small businesses use Instagram stories and use the 'ask me a question' feature, where followers can ask questions about their products or about future releases. It is also helpful because many people might have the same questions, and the business can post the stories for everyone to see.

    Reviews are also another form of communication between business and consumer, and I noticed they can be either beneficial or damaging to the business. After going through some reviews on different businesses, I noticed many positive but a few negative ones. People will write their experience about the business, and I also saw that the owners would reply positively and in a professional way. Some were well-written reviews with multiple sentences, while others were kept short.

    I don't usually leave any reviews for a product or business; however, when I do, I make sure it's a positive review. I tend to understand that it helps a business, so I try my best to write a well-written review that includes my experience and the service I received. I also understand because I've worked at a restaurant in the past, and the owners would motivate us to ask guests to leave a review on the Yelp app or on Google. After researching, I noticed that even though there were many positive reviews, one or two negative reviews would overpower the positive ones.

    If I were to have my business, I would prioritize communication with the consumers above, because I believe it's the best way to build trust and loyalty, which leads to potentially more sales. I think that as a business owner, you would have to be prepared to respond to positive and negative feedback. For the positive reviews and feedback, I believe that it would be important to show appreciation back. I've seen many businesses do this by liking their comments or replying with appreciation. For the negative reviews, it can be challenging; however, I think that replying back with comments or posts like "how can we improve?" or "we will prioritize fixing the problem for the next product" can be a way of replying back, but also keeping it in a professional tone. Overall, communication between businesses and consumers is important and way more beneficial than it is negative for a business.