8 Social Media Pros and Cons
Just like everything else, social media comes with its pros and cons. Social media is a blessing for many brands. Most businesses have adopted social media as one of their digital marketing strategies. This is because the world is going digital, and being on social media is one way to participate in the new digital world. As many businesses have gone online on social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, Pinterest, etc., it then begs the question Is Social Media all good for your business? Although Social Media presents a lot of benefits to businesses, it has its bad side. In the course of this article, we would highlight the pros and cons of social media for your business and how to effectively use social media for better results. Pros of social media for your business The world is online. The Internet community is growing rapidly as more and more people are getting into social media. What does this do for your business? You will reach more people than you would normally reach outside social media. The advent of ads and promotions has proved your business can reach millions of people with one click. If your brand harnesses the power of social media well, your brand awareness will reach its peak. Because you can reach more people on social media, there’s a higher chance of getting a lot of people into your funnel. This would lead to a higher conversion rate and the generation of more revenue. Throughout the history of marketing, brands have not been connected to their customers the way they are doing with social media. With social media, you can engage with your audience, communicate with them and create a deep mutual connection with them. Social media has harnessed the emotional side of being human and linked it to effective business market and revenue generation. If your brand can master effective storytelling, feedback management, and social engagement, it will succeed with social media. The good thing about social media is that you can 10x your results without spending a lot. Comparing digital marketing to offline marketing, we’ve seen that brand has been able to reach more people than they can with traditional mediums without spending so much. Social media marketing is the best way to save costs with marketing. If your competitor is not on social media, you would have a high chance of outperforming them when you’re on social media. This is because you would reach more people beyond your business geography, connect with them and make them like your brand. A consistent social media appearance will place your brand in the hearts of your customers. This will increase trust in your brand a higher loyalty. The insights and analytics available on social media networks have made it possible to track your results. It helps you know what’s working and what is not. You can leverage these analytics to make better decisions to improve your brand. Cons of social media for your business Because you reach a lot of people with social media, when things go wrong, the impact will be widely noticed. A single mistake in your brand’s message can ruin your brand’s reputation online. Also, anybody online can come out to say negative things about your brand and this can spread if not properly managed. You can handle this by setting a risk management guide for your social media activities and educating your team on how best to handle this kind of situation. You will need a deeper knowledge of social media and how it works before you can be successful at it. This can mean a higher hiring cost for your brand or a lot of time to learn on your own. it will take time to see the results of all your efforts with social media. Although the time it takes depends on how much effort you put in, there will still be a “waiting” at one point or the other. Pros and Cons of Social media: How to maximize social media for better results Plan all your activities from start to finish. Things as little as your social media tone should be planned. This is to create a consistent brand identity around your business. Having a planned strategy will guide you through your social media activities and better set you apart from your competitors. Be good at what you do. Don’t take your social media business lightly. Let a professional handle your social media This helps to know what you’re doing and how it affects your brands. The analytics tool on social media networks can provide a deeper insight into what’s working for your brand. You can even make use of other external analytics tools. Don’t sit on a particular method, innovate and keep growing with the trends. Adapting new trends and methods for your business will place you in the good books and give you a higher chance of connecting with your customers. Pros and cons of social media: Which social media is best for your business? Before you can tell the best social media platform for your business, you have to do thorough research on your audience demographics. This would better inform you of where they are and the kind of content they like. The platform to base your social media presence depends on your audience and where they are. Also, the age of the people you’re targeting is a factor. For example, if you’re targeting an older audience, Facebook is the best. For a younger audience, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tik Tok are the best And if your brand is focused on creating mentally stimulating content, Twitter is best. But then, it is always good to experiment with as many social media networks as you can to check what works. Final Thoughts on the Pros and Cons of Social Media The benefits of social media outweigh its disadvantages. This stresses the fact that your brand can do way better with social media if you’re serious about your social
The Best Digital Marketing Strategy
Having a digital marketing strategy has become compulsory as many brands has started their digital marketing journey. Although more brands are adopting digital marketing, so many of them do not get many results because they didn’t create a strategy for their digital marketing. Doing digital marketing without a plan won’t get your brand far. In the course of this post, we will take you by the hand and guide you on the steps you need to follow to create a perfect strategy for your digital marketing efforts. What is digital marketing? Digital Marketing are all marketing activities done on the internet and other digital media. It’s a means of promoting your brand, engaging with your audience, and making sales without showing up physically. It could be done through social media, website, blog, email, mobile App, etc. Digital marketing could be done offline or online, more like a broader version of web marketing. What’s so special about digital marketing and how will it affect your business? The world is evolving and businesses need to adapt to the digital world. If your brand is not digitally present, it might go out of business soon. There are so many benefits digital marketing will give you over traditional advertising. The major benefits of digital marketing for your business include: What is a digital marketing strategy? A digital marketing strategy outlines how your business will achieve its goals. It’s the method your business has chosen to reach its customers online. A digital marketing strategy could be a social media campaign, influencer marketing, email marketing, online PR, etc. A digital marketing strategy can either be time-bound or ongoing. Since a strategy is a set of actions to take to achieve a particular aim, your digital marketing strategy can change from time to time as your goals change and your brand grows. Why should you have a strategy for your digital marketing activities? Having a strategy for your digital marketing will keep your marketing efforts more focused and easy to measure. Whether it’s for a particular time or it continues for the long term, you have to plan well for you to get results. The Various Strategies for Digital Marketing Include 1. Content marketing Content Marketing is an all-encompassing digital marketing strategy that involves creating content for your business to attract, engage and delight your audience. It could be a blog, an ebook, a case study, or even social media content. The aim here is to nurture your audience and make them like your brand. Depending on your goals, your content marketing efforts should be measurable. You can do this by setting KPIs (key performance indicators) that you can measure 2. Social media marketing It’s done on social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter, etc. Social media marketing is not all about posting on social media but it also involves running ads and promotions to reach your audience. You can use Instagram promotions, Facebook ads, or Twitter ads to reach your target audience. The good thing about social media marketing is that you can position your brand right in the face of your audience and quickly get results from it. Always consider social media marketing while creating a digital marketing plan for your business. 3. PPC (Search Engine Marketing) This one involves paying for ads on a search engine like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. to place your brand in front of potential customers. You can pay per click or impression. Before you start any advertising campaign on search engines, you should understand your audience and know the best keyword to reach them. Also, consider your budget and bid within what you can afford. Do your research and learn a lot about Google ads before you start your campaign. 4. Video marketing Video marketing is a content marketing strategy that involves videos. You can educate, inform or sell to your audience using video. Video marketing is fast trending and it has proven to work more than other content formats. Learning and investing in the best video marketing strategies for your business is an effective digital marketing strategy. 5. Email marketing This involves sending emails to your customers and email subscribers. This is a good way to nurture your leads by sending them your product updates, flash sales, discounts, etc. Email Marketing is an effective strategy for your digital marketing if your goal is to maintain a good relationship with your customers. 6. Instant messaging marketing This involves sending messages directly to your customers either on an online platform like social media or offline as an SMS. This digital marketing strategy can be used for announcing flash sales, new products, updates about product orders, etc. This is the best strategy if you want to reach your customers instantly. You can also use this method to build a stronger relationship with your audience. 7. Affiliate marketing This is when other people sell your product for a commission. This strategy is best for B2C businesses as it is the fastest way to make sales. B2B brands can also adopt this method if it works for them. Affiliate marketing becomes a digital marketing strategy when it is facilitated by affiliate marketing software like selar, pay-pal, etc. To be successful at affiliate marketing, you have to learn a lot about how it works. Also, make sure you onboard the right people to be your affiliates. 8. Online PR This can involve guest blogging on popular blogs, reaching out to media publications and journalists to share your brand’s story, engaging online reviews and reports about your brand, engaging comments on your social media pages and blogs, etc. The whole idea of online PR is creating a reputable image for your brand in the minds of your audience. This is a digital marketing strategy that involves careful planning and execution. It might take time and resources, but it’s going to be worth it in the end. What’s the newest strategy for digital marketing? 9. Automation Automation is quite new. It is creating