Social media marketing is something that seems to have gone beyond being a simple alternative form of marketing and now feels like it’s in a category of its own. It is a technique that almost all businesses like to partake in due to the sheer number of people on the various platforms available.
However, while it’s something that seems so inviting due to the low-cost nature of it and the precedent that has been set by those before you, it’s still something that has its own myriad of pros and cons. It will do you well to be aware of what these are before you plunge in with two feet, knowledge is power, after all, and in business, it’s all about being in as advantageous a position as possible.
The Cons
It’s best to get the bad news out of the way; being aware of what the potential cons are first can help avoid nasty surprises further down the road. First of all, due to the public forum type of format that social media tends to function around, it is possible for your business to develop some bad press through unfortunate interactions with users of the platform. This might be due to something out of your control that they’re saying or something that your business has posted that has been interpreted in a way that you didn’t intend. Either way, as easy and casual as social media can feel, it’s important that you’re careful when writing your posts and ensure that you read them thoroughly before committing.
There are more specific problems that you might encounter as well, from a range of sources that you might not expect. For example, while the social media platforms are what you’ll be working with, your prospective customers and audiences might be viewing these via use of their smartphones, which have their own issues to contend with. You might find, for example, that your social media advertising is affected by iOS 14 updates, so it’s important that you’re once again as informed as possible before you begin.
The Pros
However, as you’ve undoubtedly heard, there are a huge plethora of positives that you can enjoy through the use of these platforms for marketing your business. As stated before, the large user count and low cost of entry already provide you with a worthwhile incentive to get on board, and seeing how so many businesses are already established on social media surely shows that there’s something to be gained there.
It might be worth focusing your efforts on a particular social media platform, as you might find that each platform available has a different type of audience which might mean that your business is more suited to one than another. Doing ample research can help you to make the strongest debut possible, keeping your expectations in check, and knowing how you’ll use the platforms in such a way to maximize their potential can help to give you the edge that you need to succeed and stand among your peers.
