Social network websites have become very popular these days, and it has become totally impossible for internet marketers to ignore them. But why should you or shouldn’t you use them for business? What are the benefits associated with using them to reach prospects. Face book, Twitter, LinkedIn and Youtube are among the most used social sites worldwide. The following in these sites is very enormous.
The following are some pros and cons you should consider before investing in using social networking sites for your business:
Advantages
1. Reduced costs
Using social networking sites has potential to reach a very high number of potential customers at low budget. This is unlike in buying adverts, where reaching clients require a relatively high investment. With these sites, you just open a free account and have someone to actively carry out maintenance- updating, responding to comments, suggestions etc.
2. Build strong trust
Connections with potential or existing customers on a personal level easily build a strong trust. By interacting with them on one on one basis- by responding to them, discussing issues in your niche, asking them their opinions etc- they tend to be loyal to your company much faster. This deep royalty and trust in turns translate into more direct or referred sales.
3. Online brand building
Enhancing your business brand is very important. Establishing your presence in social site is one of the most effective and efficient ways to enhance your brand on the internet. However, to successfully strengthen your brand, you need to establish an active presence in these sites. You must establish yourself as an expert in your niche, providing not only latest in your field but also in-depth details on what users are looking for.
Disadvantages
1. Time consuming
Unlike running advertising campaigns – Adwords, Facebooks Ads, other Pay Per Click, banners or others- marketing your products/services through social sites requires investing a lot of time. Setting up an adword PPC campaign for instance takes minutes. But since social site requires interaction with users, the results are only achieved as long as a lot of time is being devoted. There is absolutely no shortcut to winning users in these sites- you have to give them a great deal of your time.
2. Viral damage
The viral potential of these social sites means very fast spread of news regarding your company. Be it good or bad news. This is good when for instance you have a new product launch. But what happens if the news is about defects on your products/service? You see the point? It becomes very difficult and expensive to redeem your image once it’s tainted. A small mistake, even a comment from employee or management can result to acute brand damage.
3. Difficult to reach target audience
The fact that your target audience is using different social networking sites makes it very complicated to reach them. This necessitates running multiple accounts, each on a different social site. Deciding the best options for your business is not usually simple. Having multiple accounts may prove very complex to run effectively and efficiently. It may not be worth the money and time invested.
