Digital Gains and Pains: What Social Media Can and Cannot Do for Your Business
Speak to any random person on the street and you’ll find that they’d have a presence on at least one (or even all!) of the social media giants of our time – Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat… the list goes on. Look up during your morning commute and you’ll see numerous faces buried in their screens, fingers incessantly scrolling through the latest feed updates. Such is the ubiquitous influence of social media; it’s hence increasingly more imperative for businesses to realise that social media is, and can be, one of their best communication channels to reach out to their target audiences.
Hootsuite reports that almost half of the world’s population are active social media users. In fact, about 80% of users on Instagram alone follow at least one business account. How can businesses then best harness the power of social media to their advantage? Before getting down to the technicalities, companies should first familiarise themselves with the different impacts that social media brings. Let’s review its pros and cons.
Benefits
Reach out to a wider and more targeted audience
According to Business Insider, millennials comprise about 30% of the population. They seem to be more inclined to use social media, a trend seen in every aspect of their social and professional lives, from shopping to even dating.
Social media provides businesses the ability to connect with millennials on their level, by providing a medium that is relatable and familiar. This will be critical if Buxton’s claim comes true. That is, the millennials will have a collective spending power of US$1.4 trillion, making them a key consumer group by the year 2020. Social media has also proven to be a good way to get a brand’s message out and boost brand awareness to a highly targeted audience at a minimal cost. Indeed, Fast Company claims that the proper use of social media can increase brand sales by up to 55%. It’s a win-win situation for businesses!
Engage with old, new and future customers
Social media allows businesses or brands to build up a community, providing an avenue through which users with the same interests or inclinations can rally together. It allows them to easily connect with customers who have been there from the start or to engage with those that have just taken notice. As Forbes puts it, customers are the “lifeblood” of any business. The act of engaging with users is simply indispensable for any business looking to establish a presence on social media.
Establish a connection with users
Social media allows brands to portray a human front, opening up an avenue for users to relate and communicate. Brand24 lauds social media to be a ‘two-way channel’, enabling businesses to build rapport with their customers and users. Before engaging a service or buying a product, it’s not uncommon for users to take to social media to suss out reviews from like-minded users.
Social media hence, in a way, allows businesses to establish a presence in their field and create a positive brand association. They are able to circumvent any perception of brands being cold and unapproachable, and instead position themselves as a ‘friend’ that they can confide in.
Disadvantages
Effectiveness is limited without a strategy in place
Without a well-thought out strategy, social media can easily backfire on a business. Clearly, brands should stay away from cookie-cutter posts that are churned out in a mechanical nature. This can give your business’ content a friendly, personable touch. WordStream emphasises that it’s crucial for brands to portray a unified brand image across all their social media handles. While each avenue has its own unique platform and means of portrayal, a business’ ‘core identity’ should stay consistent throughout.
Furthermore, brands should clearly outline a crisis management strategy. Misconstrued opinions can spread like wildfire on social media, which is something that a brand may find hard to recover from.
Constant maintenance is required
Social media doesn’t take a break; indeed, it goes on and on, 24/7. In this light, a business often has to allocate resources to regularly upkeep a social media page. It can be so convenient that some social media platforms like Facebook allow businesses to schedule their posts beforehand. However, Fast Company elaborates on how some pre-scheduled posts published by businesses in the wake of tragic events, such as terrorist attacks, often receive flak from users for the brand’s seeming insensitivity. The timing you choose to post is extremely crucial and important!
Conversely, such dedication can prove to be taxing for any business without the necessary resources to continuously maintain their social media presence.
An initial foray into the digital world can feel intimidating; however, know that your business isn’t alone!
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