Social media has quickly become a very valuable factor for businesses to use. It’s become almost necessary for companies to have social media outlets that help with communicating with their consumers as well as keeping track of their reviews. Since social media communication has become one of the main sources of communication, it only makes sense that business are reaching out the consumer in that same way. I believe there are more advantages to using social media than there are disadvantages.
Pros:
Direct communication with consumer’s
Direct source to reviews
Greater brand awareness
Great for promotional tactics
Quantitative data through social media sites analytical statistics
Cons:
Overlapping of personal and business social media use in the work place
Validity in consumer feedback (it could be fake)
Security complications (employees may post something public that should be confidential)
Lack of control over brand awareness (WOM through consumers is hard to control)
When creating a social media marketing strategy for a business it’s important to way the pros and cons that will directly affect the business. Some businesses may find it more suitable to create a presence for themselves online while interacting minimally with their consumers. While other business may create an online only position and fully involve within social media channels to satisfy all parts of their business needs.
Comparing this so using social media for leisurely time will be the business regulations that would need to kept intact. While I would have the choice of what I would want to post without regard to anyone else. Working with social media in a business would require limitations on what employees are allowed to post. These regulations may be difficult to maintain. Another aspect is that of time. I log onto my social media accounts when it is best suitable for me. A business will need to have constant monitoring to be able to respond quickly to consumers or stop any negative brand recognition that may start spreading.
I agree with you and the idea that there are more advantages than disadvantages for companies to utilize social media. I liked the promotional tactics idea you spoke about in your pros list. We see all the time local small business use social media to attract customers on weekly special nights or when there is a big game and they are having specials. Overall I tend to agree with a lot that you mentioned in your post, great job.
Initially I viewed this question a little differently, looking at it from a business standpoint, allocating resources to solely accomplish this task and the pros and cons of that for the company. I do agree that the benefits of social media marketing out way the negative impact they may have. The direct contact with the consumer as well as the feedback received is one of the more important Pros in my opinion. While as you mention the quality and validity of that feedback can sometimes have a negative impact I also believe it allows the company the opportunity to correct errors and possibly rectify the situation to better their image to the consumer. As you mention, controlling the information posted about products would be hard from a company standpoint that is why it would be extremely beneficial to have a position solely assigned to that task and trained in a way the company sees fit.
I agree that your business model will have a lot to do with how much you need to dedicate your marketing strategy to social media involvement. For instance, a venue with live events like a bar might get more value out of a very active social media presence than a barbershop or a grocery store.
I hadn’t carefully considered the validity of the consumer responses until I read it in your post. You’re right – consumers may react to marketing attempts in false ways for any number of reasons. Then, the marketing agent might have to guess why the campaign isn’t so effective. Good point.