Social media transcends just a means of communication; it has become a way of life. People spend more time on social media than any other activity and with the high competitiveness in various social media companies more and more people are subscribing to the various types that suit their needs. It has become a trend that is going to be around for quite a long time. The importance of social media cannot be belittled as people have their devices very close to them every hour of the day clicking, posting and participating in every social on-goings.
Most companies and entrepreneurs prefer to advertise their business on social media. This is because of the need for publicity. There are good sides to it and there are risks as well. Most companies do not realize that there are possible risks until it occurs. Social media brings everything out into the open, this can be good and this can be bad for business. Here are a few problems associated with social media on businesses;
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Takes too much time
Some people adopt social media into their businesses and they think that this is just the silver bullet needed to crack that money code but instead it takes a lot of time to set up, takes too much time to manage and takes too much time to start bringing in the anticipated value.
Social media requires patience and consistency; there is no magic to it.
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Excess Information
There is so much information on the internet that there is no certain way to sieve through the pile of jargons. If there are other companies offering your kind of service it might be a bit difficult to get people’s attention due to the search engine intricacies. This would in-turn extend the time for you business to gain adequate patronage from online clients
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Keeping the brand image
In order to keep the brand image there are certain restrictions that you may have to apply to your lifestyle and to the lifestyle of your employees as scandals may bring a negative name to the brand. Social media has a way of dispersing news before they can be controlled and employees conduct is one of the major causes of brands losing valued clients.
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Negative feedback and reviews
Putting up your business on social media means you are now subject to evaluation. A customer who had a terrible experience with your company can simply log on and write a long script on why people should not patronize you. Negative feedbacks greatly affect sales in businesses.
Yes there are risks and problems associated with social media, this is undeniable but there is more to gain from social media than you can possibly imagine;
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Tell your story
Social media offers business owners the platform to tell their story and this is done by means of strong well written content, picture albums, graphics, GIFs, and videos.
A company that sells products on health care would want to talk about the varieties of products available and their specific functions using images of before and after to drive on how efficient or potent the products are. Customer reviews such as positive testimonies also help to establish the genuineness of the product. This is sure to capture interests on social media and in no time traffic builds up as sales skyrocket.
The beauty of sharing your story is that audience are attracted to trends and stories, once you are able to storify your business using very catchy concepts social media takes care of the rest by exposing you to a larger market. But how would you know how much effect your content or update is creating? You can do that by using tools that monitor the statistics of traffic on your page. This allows you to know specifically how many people clicked on your page, liked your content, and watched your video and lots more. This helps you to know what you are doing right and how much effort should be applied on what direction.
Easier means of purchase
Social media can be used to increase sales on your products or ecommerce site by advertising your goods, as well as an easy way to make payment. People like to shop online because this is way more convenient than leaving their busy schedule to go out in search of certain products, so once they can find the product on websites or through social media and they would want to purchase immediately. Convenience is important.
Brand perception
Social media improves brand perception. It projects the company as very professional, goal-driven and is customer centric. When people go to stores to purchase products they often go for certain brands based on the popularity through advertising. Social media can get your business noticed and in no time sales would be off the charts.
