If you go back a decade, when Facebook and Instagram were new, very few people used Twitter, and LinkedIn was just a networking site, social media marketing meant spamming.
In fact, people never really took social media marketing seriously. Algorithms, too, were pretty strict. Unnecessary posting on groups and pages could lead your account to a permanent ban or suspension.
But not anymore. Today, social media marketing is the talk of the town. Brands invest heavily to engage their social media following. And why shouldn’t they when they are getting a pretty hefty return?
According to a study by Hubspot, 64%of marketers invest in building social media communities. Along the same lines, 82% of marketers say they repurpose content across social media channels.
But that’s not the complete story. While there are advantages to investing in social media, some disadvantages can’t be overlooked.
In this article, we are going to talk about the top advantages and disadvantages of social media marketing in 2022.
Advantages of Social Media Marketing in 2022
If we take every small benefit of SMM into account, this article will never end. Instead, we are going to shed some light on the most noteworthy ones.
1. SMM Means a Broad Reach
The biggest advantage of social media marketing is you get a chance to target a broad audience—limitless marketing. You are not marketing your business or product to a town, city, or state, but to the whole world.
Billions of people all over the world use social media. Facebook has 2.936 billion users worldwide, Instagram has 1.21 billion, Twitter has 330 million, and Linkedin is growing fast with 830 million to this date.
Where else can you find so many prospects at once to market your business? Only on social media do you get a chance to interact with billions and get your message across!
image source: webfx.com
2. Everything Organic, Yet with Quick Results!
So when we talk about social media marketing, we refer to organic growth and reach. The majority of digital marketers in USA suggest investing in SMM for fast and long-term growth for start-ups that don’t have the budget to invest in paid ads.
And it makes sense. People nowadays religiously follow brands on social media—clothes, food, jewelry, SaaS, and many more. Once you have built credibility and a solid fan base, you don’t have to spend anything.
All you need is some form of useful and engaging content—video, post, infographics, live sessions— to keep your business visible there.
3. An Opportunity to Dive Deep & Procure Insights
Social media marketing lets you connect with your audience at a core level. When you engage with people in the comments sections or observe the posts that got the most engagement(views and shares), you grasp the mindset of your target audience.
Thus, you are able to prepare much more effective content than guesses and whims. And content that resonates with people is actually the catalyst that drives sales and builds loyalty.
At the same time, you develop a rough idea about how your audience perceives your business. Maybe they haven’t really developed the required trust yet, or maybe they see you as an authority despite being new to the industry. Accordingly, you market yourself and set up the ideal ROI.
4. Drive Traffic to Your Website
For small businesses and start-ups, getting online traffic is a real challenge. While many have the luxury of an SEO service at their disposal, some of them have to rely on organic traffic. But SEO requires a long-term investment of time and money—at least 6 months.
On the other hand, if you leverage social media to amp up sales and leads through your website, you can expect fast results. Many social media platforms let you share the link of your website on social media, or at least blog posts and articles.
Ultimately, when you consistently share content from your website on social media platforms, you get attention. The same people who follow your Facebook page, Instagram account, and Twitter, will visit your website too.
image source: contentstadium.com
5. An Exciting Opportunity to Go Viral
Every day we come across memes, educational, and mind-blowing social media posts that go viral. And once a post has gone viral, a never-ending cycle of likes and shares perpetuates. Even people from another country would come across a viral post and share it with friends and relatives.
This is the power of social media. Without spending a buck, purely on the basis of content, your brand gets worldwide recognition. There’s a reason why big brands like KFC, McDonald’s, Nike, Amazon, and Apple take their social media seriously and make each post count.
According to Statista Research Department: “During a 2022 survey carried out among consumers from the United States, 39 percent of responding millennials stated they liked being contacted by brands via social media. The same was true for 44 percent of respondents from Generation Z.”
6. Spy on Your Competitors
All small businesses out there—whether small, local, or large-scale brands—strive to stay ahead of their competitors. Some even pay for social media marketing services to manage their social channels through which they get a significant traffic boost and sales.
But what if your competitor is doing something extraordinary, unique, and so magnetic that your whole traffic is being diverted to their social media and then website?
That’s where you can use social media marketing to stay ahead in the race. Keep a watch on your competitors by following them on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. See what they are doing and what’s different in their approach.
You don’t necessarily need to be a copycat but seek inspiration from their work to improve your marketing strategy.
6. Get First-Hand Knowledge of Customer Problems
Customer problems and complaints, when left unsolved, can lead to the downfall of your business. Instead of acquiring new customers, you end up losing the existing ones.
Seventy-eight percent of customers have backed out of purchase due to a poor customer experience. (Glance)
Conversely, 89% of consumers are likely to come back and buy again after a positive customer service experience. (Salesforce Research)
Let these statistics sink in. It won’t be wrong to say customer experience can make or break your business. And social media marketing allows you to take this customer experience to a whole new level by interacting with your followers live.
Listen to their problems in live sessions, answer their queries in the comments, and take prompt action to prevent similar issues from occurring in the future.
Read Also: Which Social Media Platform In 2022 Is Best For Marketing…
7. Budget-Friendly Paid Marketing
While social media marketing saves you a lot of time and thousands of bucks, this doesn’t mean you can’t run paid campaigns. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and even LinkedIn lets you run paid ads.
So, if at any point you feel you need a boost in engagement, you can set up your paid ad campaign within a matter of minutes. In case you are not aware of the paid social media marketing strategy, you can hire an SMM agency to take care of paid campaigns.
Global social networks ranked by number of users 2022
Disadvantages of Social Media Marketing in 2022
To be honest, there’s hardly any downside when you think of investing in social media marketing services. Only when you don’t execute your strategy the right way, do you end up with a handful of disadvantages. To name a few:
1. Negative Reviews Can Be Really Embarrassing
This is the dark side of being actively present on social media. While people leave positive reviews when they receive exceptional services, an irate customer—due to a rare mistake—would tarnish your reputation.
Eighty-two percent of customers actively seek out negative reviews. (PowerofReviews)
As it goes without saying, a single bad review would shed the value of a dozen positive reviews. So having disappointed customers—or someone paid by your competitor— venting their frustration in the comment section can be a bit off for your business.
2. Social Media Demands Patience & Persistence
When you hire a social media marketing service, sometimes the results are immediate while sometimes your patience is tested. But perseverance always wins in the end.
If you aim to do one post a day, never miss it. If you aim to do one live session every week, don’t back away. Stay active even if you ain’t getting results. On and off change your strategy to observe the impact.
Consistency is the key to getting results with social media marketing. Your brand won’t reach the moon overnight, but slowly and steadily you will take your brand off the ground and into the heights of the sky!
Final Words
Social media marketing lets you reach millions of people in one go. It’s affordable, guarantees long-term results, and can be an integral part of your SEO for the traffic it directs to your website. When done right, you’ll reap great results for your business.
Conversely, if you mess up your social media marketing campaign, you tarnish your reputation and credibility. So it’s extremely important to hire creative, social media savvy, and honest people to manage your social media.
That’s exactly what we do at Digital Gravity USA for our clients. Need help with your social media strategy? Reach out to us and we’ll forge your way to success!