Social media marketing can be immense for a business looking to expand its appeal to the online community. However, despite the numerous social media marketing advantages that exist, it is not ideal for all types of businesses. The reason for this is that whether social media marketing is useful for a business or not depends entirely on the correlation between investment and returns. Investment here is not only monetary but also effort and time. Similarly, returns can also be in forms other than money alone.
The best way for a business to evaluate if social media marketing is useful for it or not is to understand its significance and potential as much as is possible. In other words, before a business commits itself to a social media marketing campaign, it is important for it to assess not only the social media marketing advantages but also social media marketing disadvantages.
Social Media Marketing Advantages
There are more social media marketing advantages than disadvantages provided it is used properly. Consider the following:
1. Social media marketing can be used to create brand value for a product manufacturer or a service provider. However, for this to happen, the content needs to be compelling and generate a lot of interest.
2. One of the crucial social media marketing advantages is the fact that it allows a business to gradually establish itself as an expert in the field. Becoming an authority can generate sales in its own right because it means that people view the business as trustworthy.
3. Social media marketing can be used to engage and interact with the target audience on a personal level so as to get their feedback about the business, product or service. This can create a sense of recognition and empowerment in the target audience.
4. Economically speaking, social media marketing is one of the cheapest ways of not only engaging the target audience but also putting across relevant information. In fact, there is a drastic difference between the financial outlay of a decently sized conventional marketing strategy and a good social media marketing strategy with the latter being on the lower end.
5. Moreover, the most direct of the many social media marketing advantages is the fact that it can generate leads and boost website traffic single-handedly. This can create a positive cycle where more visitors result in more sales and search rankings which, in turn, lead to more visitors again.
Social Media Marketing Disadvantages
While there are more social media marketing advantages than disadvantages, social media marketing is not entirely free of disadvantages. The following are some examples.
1. Even though a social media marketing campaign can be done without any investment of money, a lot of time and effort is required to make it a success. For instance, resources would have to be set aside for not only making updates but also following and responding to them as and when required.
2. Like most modes of marketing, the impact of social media marketing can be very difficult to assess quantitatively. The reason, as is obvious, is the fact that the objectives of such strategies tend to be intangible as opposed to statistical.
3. It can be very easy for a campaign to go wrong if it is not handled in the right manner. The proper use is the right balance between engagement and sales.
