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Traditional marketing has lost its grip over Millennials and Generation Z. To connect and attract the younger generation of consumers, businesses have to pivot. One such means businesses are highly reliant on these days is social media.
According to Statista, brands are expected to invest $56 billion in paid social media marketing. This is $40 billion higher than that of two years ago. Further, as per Meltwater’s State of Social Media 2022 report, the primary goal of social media usage by 82% of organisations is to raise brand awareness. This is followed by other goals, including “increasing brand engagement” and “acquiring new customers.”
It’s true that you cannot deny the impact of social media on audiences. The fact that it enables brands to experiment and try new things is amazing. Businesses can easily determine the interests of their target customers and can see which content will drive their attention.
However, is social media the right strategy for every business? Can every brand benefit from social media? Well, in most cases, YES.
With over half the world (more than 4.5 billion people) using social media, businesses have immense opportunities to achieve their marketing goals. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tik Tok offer companies unmatched exposure and organic engagement.
While social media offers numerous benefits to businesses, it has its limitations too. Hence, you should consider the pros and cons of social media before plunging into them for better success
The best digital marketing agency Melbourne experts touch on the advantages and disadvantages of social media that are shared below.
One of social media's biggest benefits is its reasonably affordable method of enhancing website traffic, creating brand recognition, and generating conversions. Additionally, there are several other advantages. Here is a more detailed explanation:
The recognition of a brand by potential customers is referred to as brand awareness. The greater the exposure of your products and services on social media, the more people will become aware of your business. Hence, many businesses use social media marketing strategies to improve their brand's visibility and exposure. This is advantageous since potential clients can learn more about you, which may increase their inclination to purchase from you.
Social media marketing offers a significantly higher return on investment and is less expensive than traditional marketing campaigns such as TV ads, print ads, and mailers.
Social media marketing also helps to increase website traffic. While billboards are not clickable, social media posts like Instagram are. Brands are leveraging this potential by linking their posts to product pages or blog posts.
Most brands today use social media platforms to launch new products, conduct promotions, and hold giveaways. Shoppable tags allow brands to link their products to their followers' accounts. This lets them purchase what they see in the image with a simple click. Similarly, attractive posts can also be used to direct users to their websites. This way, businesses can attract more and more leads to their websites in lesser time.
Social media is an amazing tool to get market data that you can use further to improve your marketing strategies. Regularly posting on your pages lets you know and understand your target customers more.
Social listening lets you know what type of content attracts and engages your target market. Using the information you get about your market and competitors, you can adjust your strategies accordingly to promote your offerings more effectively.
Nothing can be more beneficial for businesses than interacting with their customers directly. And social media is an effective platform to achieve the same.
You can interact with your customers directly through comments on your posts, that too, in real-time. Further, you can respond to their complaints and resolve them immediately.
Social Media is undoubtedly a low-cost marketing tool. Businesses can easily establish their brand using social media without spending much. This is because creating an account is free of charge, and no extensive marketing knowledge is required to promote their products or services.
Knowing how to use the features provided by each platform enables you to promote your business online. Businesses can grow their business using social media by:
Additionally, you can implement premium marketing strategies on social media, such as running paid ads that are not too costly.
Although social media marketing offers many advantages, there are also some downsides that brands should consider while strategising.
Social media poses a great threat to your brand reputation. This is certainly the biggest negative impact of social media platforms. Even one small mistake can lead you to lose the trust and respect of your large following. a great threat to your brand reputation. Even one small mistake can lead you to lose the trust and respect of your large following.
Being on a social platform, it’s almost impossible to hide anything from your digital community. Therefore, activities like harsh comments or negative mentions can undesirably affect your brand. Such things can go viral in no time and destroy the brand image you've built.
Another drawback of using social media is that it demands continuous attention. This can be time-consuming for businesses, especially if there’s no one to manage multiple social media pages dedicatedly.
Social media operates 24/7 and is directly linked to your business. Hence, you require staff who can constantly monitor and keep the pages updated. Customers expect businesses to be available on these platforms at all hours to address their concerns.
As such, failing to respond in a timely manner can result in poor customer service and disappointed clients who were previously loyal buyers of your offerings.
Social media strategies change rapidly over time. What worked for you yesterday won't necessarily be fruitful today. Hence, companies need to stay up-to-date with the newest market trends.
But if you fail to do so and don’t adjust your promotional approach accordingly, you may not be able to utilise your social media pages fully. To leverage social media at best, you must be aware of, adopt and implement changing trends quickly.
With social media, both company’s and customers’ privacy is at risk. Hackers use the information available online to acquire personal data that can lead to identity theft if not secured. They may also hijack your business's social media accounts and modify the profile details and visuals to reflect their interests instead of yours.
This can cause potential customers to doubt your brand’s authenticity and reliability. This, in turn, may result in reduced sales and revenue.
While social media is cost-effective, it is more time-consuming. Brands need to spend a lot of time brainstorming creative ideas and creating content to plan a social strategy work.
Social media is no more just about posting static images or creating a few promotional lines. Instead, it’s all about videos today. Hence, coming up with new ideas, shooting videos, editing and posting them is the real challenge.
Further, managing their posts, maintaining a schedule, responding to customer queries, adjusting their strategies, and constantly monitoring KPIs is taxing.
In today’s time, when everything is changing fastly, social media is an amazing way to move along. With social media, businesses of every shape and size can offer valuable services to their customers in the way they need them. Whether it’s product or service information, customer support or minute-to-minute updates, social media is a one-stop tool for all.
While social media can offer a way to produce tailored content for your audience, its downsides shouldn’t be overlooked. Ultimately, the decision to utilise social media depends on whether the benefits outweigh the risks.
To ensure the best utilisation of social media, hiring the best digital marketing agency in Melbourne can help. Only the experts will help you achieve and escape the impacts of social media with the right strategy. Find one and start a result-oriented social media campaign for your business today!
