10 Disadvantages Of Marketing Your Small Business On Social Media
Marketers are faced with an array of new choices with the rapid increase in the use of social media. Small businesses use social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube to connect with their existing and potential customers. These social networks give businesses the opportunity to build relationships with their customers by sharing tips and blog content, soliciting feedback, engaging them in trivia, sharing pictures and videos, and driving visitors to their websites. While social media offers businesses a host of advantages, there are a variety of disadvantages to consider.
1. Lack Of Feedback Control
One aspect of social networking that is especially damaging to marketing campaigns is negative post responses. Unhappy customers or industry competitors are able to post disparaging or offensive pictures, posts or videos and there is not much a marketer can do to prevent these occurrences.
2. Difficulty In Chosing The Appropriate Network
There are various social media sites for business owners to choose from, which can leave small-business owners wondering which social media network will yield the best results for their businesses. Entrepreneurs have to pinpoint their target markets, then research to determine which network their ideal customers use the most.
3. Use And Skill
Learning to use social media can be daunting for entrepreneurs and their staffs. While setting up a profile or page may be easy, figuring out the best ways to engage with customers and use social media to help a business achieve its business and marketing goals may be challenging. With no social media strategy in place, it’s difficult to set goals and measure whether it’s successful for your business.
4. It Needs Time Investment
Managing a social media account day to day is a time investment many small-business owners hesitate to make. A successful social media campaign counts on interaction between a company and its customers. This means entrepreneurs, or their employees, have to set aside time each day to post engaging information, ideas and tips and respond to comments their fans and followers leave.
5. Negative Feedback
While it’s beneficial for businesses to get feedback from their customers, social media makes the feedback public. If a customer has a bad experience with your brand, he may be compelled to share the experience on your social network profile. As a business owner, you have to be prepared to handle negative feedback immediately, before it ruins your brand’s reputation.
6. Difficulty In Measuring Results
When a business sends an email marketing promotion to its customers, using an email marketing program, the business can track how many emails are sent, how many people opened the email and the number of sales generated as a result. Social media doesn’t offer the same measurability, so business owners find themselves wondering if it’s worth it to invest time and dedicate human resources.
7. Fraud.
It is often important to monitor social media even if you are not using it yourself. It is all too easy for someone to pretend to be anyone especially on twitter with cyber squatters all over the place. If you do not have a social media presence, someone could pretend to act as your business which could cause great damage to the reputation of your brand.
8. Takes On Persona Of Author .
The organisation turns into whatever the writer/social media manager wants them to. This can mean that an organisation’s reputation is placed in the hands of one person, often far too junior and this can be damaged very quickly if not dealt with properly. It is important to get the right person or team to manage your social media.
9. Slightly Impersonal.
Social media will never be able to beat dealing with consumers face-to-face, yet many organisations still come make it seem like they don’t really care about their followers by using things such as auto DMs on Twitter. When an organisation auto DMs a new follower it makes it seem like they don’t not have time to have a quick look at the followers profile for a few seconds. It is far better to say nothing than to send an automated, uncaring message to a potential customer.
10. Mainly Attracts Current Brand Users
Another potential downside to social network marketing is that it easily attracts current loyal customers, but much more effort is required to attain new business. Of course, this is excellent to rouse existing patrons into making repeated purchases.
