Social media has become a powerful force for communication in today’s world, and serves as a great tool for increasing your company brand name and presence. However, with the power of social media comes responsibilities; when you decide to use this powerful tool, be sure that you know all there is to know about what are the pitfalls of social media as communication tools so that you can prevent yourself from being an unwitting victim.
If you’ve created a blog or a website, then you’ll know that it is good to promote your content. There are many ways to promote your content but one of them is through social media. However, there are some pitfalls of using social media for sharing content. If you have no idea about pitfalls of using social media for sharing content, then this post will help you.
Failing to Track Results:
No matter how successful your firm’s social media presence, you’ll struggle to understand or make improvements when flying blind. Even highly successful social media campaigns require fine-tuning. It’s important to consider shares, website traffic and other metrics to guide future initiatives.
You can receive negative feedback
People use social media to post content they love, but they also use it to share experiences they didn’t love. If someone had a poor experience with your business, it opens a door of opportunity for them to share their poor experience with others.
This negative feedback comes in different forms. On platforms like Facebook, someone can leave a negative review on your page and share their negative experience. When someone checks out your business next, they’ll look at the reviews and see the negative feedback.
On sites like Twitter, users can tag a company in their posts and share their negative experience. People can retweet that poor experience and spread it across the network.
Social media platforms are catalysts for complaining and leaving negative feedback. People use their profiles to help others understand their poor experience. Many people feel there is a social obligation to share their experience to prevent others from having the same experience.
Having too much negative feedback can negatively impact your future marketing efforts.
People trust others to give them insight into your company, especially if it’s the first time they are hearing of your business. With social media, it’s possible that negative feedback can hinder your business from earning leads.
How to adapt to this social media disadvantage:
Whenever you receive negative feedback on social media, respond to it. Don’t leave people’s complaints and concerns unaddressed. Not everyone is going to have a positive experience with your business, but addressing the issues can speak volumes about your company and its values.
You open up the potential for embarrassment
It’s easy for posts to go viral on social media. People keep a close eye on the good and the bad on social media. If you aren’t careful about the content you post, you can end up embarrassing your company and getting caught in an awkward situation.
For example, at one point, the hashtag “WhyIStayed” was trending on social media. This hashtag was about victims of domestic violence sharing their story. The hashtag took social media by storm and became a facilitator for conversations about abusive relationships.
DiGiorno Pizza saw this hashtag trending and decided to jump in on an opportunity for brand exposure. They shared a tweet that said, “#WhyIStayed you had pizza.” Within minutes, people became outraged at the company for their tweet.
The pizza company hadn’t researched the tweet beforehand to realize what it was regarding. The tweet was deleted in minutes, but the impact lasted a long time. People were still talking about the tweet long after it was removed.
This was an embarrassing moment for DiGiorno that blew up over social media. They spent the next few weeks doing damage control and addressing their mistake with thousands of people on Twitter. The carelessness of the tweet made people have a negative perception of DiGiorno.
When you post on social media, there is always an opportunity to embarrass your business on accident. This is a big downside to social media.
How to adapt to this social media disadvantage:
Always do your research before posting content on social media. Whether it’s a photo, a hashtag, or a video, do your research to see if there is any way it could be construed the wrong way. Research helps you adapt your content to prevent your company from embarrassment.
Privacy concerns
Determining the appropriate amount of information to share and knowing that it is truly being shared with the person identified on the other end also can be a challenge. In addition, the digital footprint left by navigating different social media sites may have unforeseen effects on youth regarding inappropriate posts. They also may be particularly vulnerable to other predatory individuals. Other privacy concerns involve what information parents, guardians, or other family members may share online.
Addiction
While social media has the possible benefit of creating a broader social network, particularly for someone who may be anxious in more traditional settings, it also can reinforce isolation from “real-world” experiences and the sense that no one else “gets” him or her. Without knowing who is on the other end of the keyboard, tablet, or smartphone, it can be difficult to ascertain if others in the community are reinforcing maladaptive behaviors and further withdrawal.
Self esteem
Images promulgated online often are highly idealized and edited, and are meant to exhibit a specific point of view. Exposure to these images can have a negative impact on self-esteem.
Another study of preteen girls (10- to 12-year-olds) indicated that increased time spent on social media sites such as MySpace and Facebook led to greater internalization of a thin ideal, increased body image concerns, and decreased self-esteem.5 Further data suggest that youth who are in need of more mental health support may engage in increased amounts of social media use. In a Canadian study, daily use of more than 2 hours per day was associated with increased reports of emotional distress as well as suicidal ideation.
You must spend a lot of time on your campaigns
Social media isn’t a one and done type of marketing method. You must constantly create new content, post content, and engage with your audience on these platforms. A big drawback to social media is that it is time-consuming for companies.
If you have a small business, small marketing department, or limited resources, it’s challenging to manage a social media marketing campaign.
You have to find time to balance posting content, monitoring that content, responding to people, and measuring your content’s impact. If you don’t have the resources, it can be an overwhelming task.
If you aren’t doing enough with your social networks because you don’t have time, people, or programs to help you run your marketing strategy, your campaigns will suffer. You won’t be as effective as someone who has the necessary aspects to run a successful social media campaign.
You have to wait to see results
When companies invest in marketing strategies, they want to see immediate results. You want to know that your strategies are working and that the investment is worth your time. With social media marketing, you don’t see immediate results.
Social media marketing’s success is predicated on the campaign’s overall success. Posting one piece of content doesn’t determine the success of your campaign. You must post multiple pieces of content over a period of time to determine the true success of your campaign.
This is a downside of social media because you have to wait to see results. You must be patient and wait a few weeks to see results before you can adjust your campaign.
How to adapt to this social media disadvantage: The only true adaptation for this downfall is to be patient. You must remind yourself that you can’t see true immediate results until your campaign is running for some time. The best thing you can do is track the performance of your social media posts as you post them to have them ready for comparison once your campaign is running for some time.
Conclusion:
Should you use text or long-lasting images to share your opinions? Should you emphasize on creating and sharing content that elaborates a certain topic or subject? Sometimes there are so many social media apps we could do our businesses through they can seem like alternatives to e-mail! But is the world better with access to more communication tools?