Social Media Pros & Cons

Social media is everything, everywhere, and everyone is part of it! 4.48 billion people currently use social media worldwide, up more than double from 2.07 billion in 2015.

This surge of social media activity has created a whole new opportunity for many businesses to reach, distribute and promote services to customers. In this article we explore the top 5 pros and cons of social media marketing.

Social Media pros

 

1) Cost: Social media is often free or at worst it costs very little. It’s also versatile and allows marketers to choose what they spend and when so you have control over your own budget.

2) Massive Audience: The internet is HUGE, we all know that. Facebook alone has over a billion users, all of them in one digital location. This offers a host of opportunities to generate business and attract customers who would be considerably harder to reach offline.

3) Building your brand: Social media is all about just that. Being social! Interaction means that customers feel valued by your brand, thus building brand loyalty. Happy customers also have the chance to tell the world how great you are. If everyone can see you then everyone can also see these great reviews making it is easier for your reputation to be shared with your target market.

4) Its fast. Really fast: Social media is instantaneous and your results can be too. You can also synchronise your message across different platforms to reach even more customers. 

5) Customer Service: Do you care for your customer? You should. And Social media allows you to do that publicly. It’s easy for customers to contact you if they need to, and responding to customers is simple and personal.

 

Social Media cons

 

1) Stand Out: Due to the scale of social media and the sheer number of competitors it can be quite difficult to make your company stand out in the crowd.

2) Time is money: Social media marketing needs committed time and attention for it to be successful. 64% of digital marketers spend a minimum of 6 hours on Social Media Marketing, with the remaining 37%  dedicating more than 11 hours to it. If not maintained, your hard work will become old news very quickly and hard to rebuild.

3) Putting your reputation on the line: Social Media can make your brand, but it can break it just as easily. A billion opinions will never agree and a host of spammers and trolls must also be handled quickly and carefully.  Bad news spreads faster than good news and many people don’t understand how their often flippant opinions can affect your reputation. It’s essential your followers are engaged with regularly and honestly to reduce negative feedback.

4) Measuring success: Interest in your brand can come in waves and just because you’re successful onscreen, that doesn’t always mean your followers are behaving in the way you want them to. Despite insights and statistics, it can be difficult to accurately calculate the real world success of social media activity.

5) Security: You often publish brand sensitive information, aspects of your business structure, future plans and customer information can be out there on a platter for the taking. If too much information is shared online, or is if security is not maintained these details can be golden eggs for your competitors

Need help with your social media, contact us today on info@limegreenmarketing.co.uk