Last Updated on March 11, 2021 by Filip Poutintsev
At least 3.5 billion users use social media platforms and they are always looking to discover something new which most of the time happens to be products or services. This is where the business can cash in and leverage the presence of people on social media. The use of social media for business has grown rapidly since Facebook and Twitter took over the internet in the last decade. Facebook alone has 2.26 billion users and YouTube comes in a close second at 1.9 billion users.
The traditional way of promoting business going door to door, printing flyers, printing ads in magazines and newspapers and calling the customers, is left behind. Social media platforms started to become a honeypot for marketers and advertisers for so many years already. The average time spent on social media is 144 minutes a day by an individual.
Let us discuss the Pros and Cons of Social Media in Business.
8 Pros of Social Media for Business
Social media comes with a great feature where you can target the audience according to your requirements like a certain age group or geographical region as per the need of your business. Below are some of the advantages of using Social Media in Business.
1. Encourages Business Viewpoint
Social media platforms are creating a great opportunity where small businesses and startups can start marketing and collect feedback for the product or services. Marketing of a business in the social media platforms costs no money to get started.
Survey on their feedback, look at the market demand. And then they can decide if it’s right or not spend at the moment. So, it’s encouraging for the new business ideas to validate based on the feedback collected using social media platforms.
2. Increased Brand Awareness
Spending on the video advertisement on television or asking public figures or celebrities for an endorsement can cost more amount of money as compared to social media. Social media platforms will cost less if used properly by any business.
So, here it does not only save money but works effectively and efficiently. With the right content strategy, any business can grow organically without spending money on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. When people start to talk and chat about your product it creates awareness among the public gaining attention and converting them to your potential customer.
3. Increased Inbound Traffic
As the world is running online all the products and brands are sold and purchased online. The customer means the online users, the people using the internet are the possible buyer or clients of your business.
People have a choice if your message or update does not appear on their social media feed. With the right viral content planning, there is a good chance of getting users visiting your site in good numbers. There is no other platform or way to sell a product with a viral marketing campaign with a very less amount of money spent.
4. Gain Market Insight
The business is going to be a success if the owner knows the customer’s needs, opinions, and interests. What would be greater platform collecting data than the social media, you can apply different processes to like taking a poll, throwing some offers and seeing its response.
This information helps to know the desire and interest of the customer, which product and what offers are they ready to deal with. This will be of greater benefit to your business.
5. Quick Feedbacks
SMM means marketing on social media platform which allows you to interact with millions of people, here marketing is fast as well as results too. You won’t be dealing with someone personally in office, you will be addressing the mass.
If you link your websites in your social media any updates you keep in your site will be automatically updated. This attracts your customer and you can know about You can write a blog about your products and have a link below to buy your products online with home delivery service. This can be good for your business.
6. Visibility & Interaction with Customers
SMM is going to provide you with the audience but it is in your hand how you are going to handle them. Social media has provided various ways to interact with your audience. You can organize small events and sponsor it in some small locality and interact with people around.
It shows your visibility in small market places, knowing their demand and needs and have a constant follow up. This will nurture your business and provide profitable results for your business.
7. Access To International Market
Your reach will be global, with just a click. You can take feedback from people and act upon it. If your product is praised and has loyal customers then you can work upon it. You can start with a small number of products you just need to set a dealer and just courier it.
It will be delivered to your customers, based upon your product people are ready to wait to get the delivery. There is no loss in trying it abroad as a test mission and then spend and work on bigger projects. One breakthrough is enough to attract customers from other countries. For example, Facebook has 2.26 billion users worldwide, with correct advertising a company can have global reach and influence.
8. Good for Customer Service
Customer spend lots of time in social media they may see or hear news about your company or a brand which has gone viral.
They would want to know about it, always be there to answer their questions and don’t delay than 24 hours. Be in constant touch with them respond quickly. That’s the loyalty customer wants to even make your bond stronger and you will gain a customer for a long time.
Social media platform provides a perfect facility of doing so and giving them a right suggestion with even increase your reputation.
7 Cons Of Social Media For Business
1. Takes Time
There are millions of people using social media platforms there are very fewer people who are seriously looking at the view you kept in front of them. Regardless of the importance of whatever they are doing, they are kept busy by social media.
Except for your family and friends, it can be difficult for other individuals to trust your authenticity. Growing an audience in social media is not an overnight thing, it will take some time. So, it’s not like it doesn’t work but you must be very very patient while using the social media platforms for your product and give it as long as it needs to flourish.
If you are working on or spending time on the wrong area or aspect you may wait and wait for nothing to come along.
2. Lack of Awareness Could Prove Fatal
The usage of social media between professional and personal matter has a very thin line in between. The way you talk with your audience to know their expectations and try to get their opinion you must consider your tone vocabulary and content.
It’s not like talking with your friends or family you need to be responsible for a single word you share with your audience or client. Some post that has no regard with your product or might be some political or social issue should not be addressed form professional id its fine whatever you do with your personal id.
3. Trends Can Be Hard to Keep Up With
The world is changing from minute to minute and second to second, you need to be updated and keep trying to live up to your standards. But never cross the limit, just to gain the popularity or attention of a crowd don’t plan and execute or post without thoroughly looking at its risk factor.
If you are unable to complete your commitment you will fall down faster than you climbed up in social media. Be on the safe side and just try to stay simple and relevant, it will be best for you to survive in the market.
4. Need To Hire Staff
You need to invest a lot of time to manage your update, events. Your product needs to be constantly visible and relevant and should be showing you a participant and engaging customer with the event going on like the world cup, miss world, WHO summit, etc.
This means you need to hire some people with the knowledge to perform these tasks. Social media is live, immediate and needs daily monitoring. The negative post needs to be deleted, if some query is thereby the customer then it should be consulted to the particular department and it should be answered. The more your staff it’s for good you at the same time more will be your investment.
5. Messing Around Will Ruin Your Reputation
Social media is very fast, news spreads in the blink of an eye. If you have done something wrong then it doesn’t need to be big because you will have competitors and they will be keeping a hawk-eye on your activities.
Many companies have fallen by simply not doing what they told was committed about in social media. The response by the people will be faster, and you can’t shout at them you are the one with the product so you need to be polite but people will ruin your reputation and motivation.
You need to be careful what and where you are going to write something and you need to ask yourself why and if you get the answer then only go with it or else just wait. Give it some time you will have your opportunity to do something.
6. Security
Social media’s dependency can also hurt your business. If there is power down or your account is hacked on the time when some other company is launching products to compete with you, then your product might be used as bait.
So, be smart and get pages in as many platforms as you can give your customers an alternate place to come and talk with you. Do not create unnecessary hype about your new product or service, if you did that just to grab the attention.
There are millions of people on social media and they can use it for free as you do. So, that will surely backfire your reputation and money.
7. Bad Reviews and Trolls
There are no authorities who can look upon the fake news and trolls on social media. As we know some movies get trolled or bad reviews even before they are released.
Negative online review creates and sends wrong information and impression of your product. Mostly your competitor will attack you the most in the critical situation and with the wrong intention.
We know anyone can open an account for free and since no authentic information is needed it can be anyone from anywhere hampering your reputation.
