Use social media, businesses told

Business Reporter
LOCAL companies have been urged to take up the use of emerging technologies as a way of marketing themselves and being in constant contact with their clients.Addressing internal auditors at the Institute of Internal Auditors Annual Conference in Victoria Falls last week, the director of South African based firm Enterprise Governance of IT (Pvt) Ltd, Mr Tichaona Zororo, said most businesses were now relying on social media to do their business.

“Social media is not only there for Facebook, it is about the changing business model, the changing marketing model. Most businesses are now relying on social media to do their marketing and this is changing the way business is being done,” he said.

He said this had enhanced direct interaction with the market as a company did not have to go through a secondary source to get in touch with a client but directly engaged with them in a different manner.

Mr Zororo said companies should also make sure that cloud computing is part of their audit plan because more corporates were moving toward the cloud.

“When we talk of cloud computing we say that there is no longer need to buy big servers or a big data centre but you can get all the computing services as and when you want them.

“Everyone is moving towards cloud computing so provide your company with the right information so that they make informed decisions,” he added. He said internal auditors needed to understand the way these new players in technology operated for them to assist their companies in formulating the right strategies.

“As internal auditors we need to make sure that we have the skills, we understand these new players and we provide an insight to our corporate in these areas,” he said.

He said although social media was playing a big role in companies’ marketing strategies, there was little being done in terms of auditing risk associated with such technologies. “As of June 2013, there were 1,1 billion followers on Facebook.

That is why more companies are using Facebook as a marketing tool, because that is where most clients and customers are now spending their time.