Advantages and challenges of Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing is the strategy employed by companies to reach out to its existing and potential customers through content that is designed to boost engagement, build brand awareness and increase conversions.

The content that is posted on different social media platforms ranges from text posts, video posts, infographics, sale announcements, product launches, webinar announcements, publishing of free company pages, quote posts, etc.

Companies also use social media marketing to track customer sentiment and address customer pain points in real time.

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Social Media Marketing Strategy

The strategy comprises of the following elements:

1. Content Planning and Publishing: The first step is to draw up a content plan that will resonate with the target audience and identify the social media platforms where this content should be published. The content creation team then proceeds to produce the desired content and publishes it as per a content publishing schedule.
2. Listening and Engagement: The success of the social media strategy depends upon the feedback received by the company. This feedback can be in two forms. One, is the actual engagement, that is the number of likes, comments or shares on published content. These engagement metrics reflect the popularity of the content. Low engagement means that the company needs to redesign its content strategy.

The second is the engagement based on feedback left by customers on the social media handles of the company. Negative feedback needs to be attended immediately and companies deploy staffers to monitor such content.

For instance, a customer who used Uber and was unhappy with the way the ride was conducted may tweet his experience and tag Uber. The Uber social media team has to be alert for such tweets, and respond immediately. They can offer a full discount or a free ride to keep the customer happy.

Companies that respond quickly to such grievances build loyalty. It shows that they care about their customers. This is also valuable feedback received directly from customers and should be shared with the right department within the company.

3. Campaign Analysis: The social media platforms provide detailed analytics about how customers consume content and respond to social media campaigns. This data comes in very handy in understanding consumer behaviour and can help companies modify their marketing strategy. They can move out of social media platforms where the response is weak and focus on platforms where the reception is better. They can change the content mix. Instead of text posts they may publish more video posts. They can also review the days and time when they post, and freeze posting days and time to generate the best response.
4. Social media advertising: Companies invest in advertising to increase their social media reach. They choose the demographics that constitute their target audience and the social media platforms ensure that the content created by the companies is delivered to their chosen audience.

The emergence of media influencers has added one more dimension to social media marketing. The influencers charge fees to promote company content before their followers. They package the content in such a way that their followers are unable to make out that the content they are consuming is actually paid advertising.

Advantages of Social Media Marketing

The social media platforms today are like huge internet hives buzzing with people, and no company can afford to ignore them. According to Statista, the number of active social media users number close to five billion.

They hold out great marketing prospects for all companies. These include:

1. Creation of earned media: Earned media is like word-of-mouth marketing on the net. Companies love content shares. A piece of content created by them goes viral because customers liked it and shared it with their network. They like it even more when a blogger or an Instagram user writes a positive review. The companies get free publicity. This is endorsement that has great value. It has more respect because it is a friend or an associate who has shared the post. There is therefore greater reason to trust it.
2. Community management: Social media does not work in isolation. People with similar interests come together and build communities. For instance, they create Facebook pages around common interests. When companies engage with these communities, who are interested in their products or services, they build respect and trust.
3. Interaction: Unlike traditional media, where interaction is limited, social media provides endless opportunities for interaction, engagement and brand building. There is gratitude when companies respond to customer complaints. The interactivity opens a window to create and tap into user-generated content which the companies can the display on their websites and other promotional material.
4. Cost-effective: Like other Content Marketing strategies, Social Media Marketing is also very cost-effective. There are hardly any entry-barriers and it takes no time to get a campaign going. The reach is immense. Companies succeed in targeting large audiences with small investments. Non-performing campaigns can be tweaked or dropped. The result is a high return on investment.
5. Generates valuable feedback: Social media provides for two-way communication. Communities get an opportunity to talk to brands just as brand reach out to customers. The conversation can lead to valuable feedback.
6. Monitors competition: Companies can monitor the strategies adopted by their rivals and the response. They can learn about new launches and product promotions. They can also browse the feedback, learn from their successes and failures and utilise the insights to give new teeth to their campaigns.

Challenges of Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing can help in building a brand’s voice but it brings its own challenges. The most daunting is building the right team. Companies need to hire experienced staff or train beginners in the use of social media tools.

The staff should also be trained to respond to customer comments with empathy. A wrong response can go viral, and the company can end up losing a great deal of goodwill. Also, unattended negative comments in social space can damage the reputation of companies.

There can be lack of faith and disenchantment with initial follower growth. It is possible that some companies may even move away when they see unsatisfactory results.

Finding the right social media platform can also be tricky. Also, platforms can change their search and display parameters. For instance, Instagram which initially encouraged users to post photographs began encouraging video reels. Companies were therefore forced to adapt to stay relevant.

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