For the past four weeks we have been reading, learning, and blogging about the benefits of social media marketing and how this type of campaigning can positively affect a business. While there is no doubt in my mind that social media marketing is a useful tool in the professional world and that it can advance an organization in a variety of ways, I wanted to see what people are saying about the darker side of social media marketing. There are always two sides to every story and usually when something appears too good to be true, it is. I did an online search on the negative aspects of social media marketing and read a few blogs on what people were saying about how this type of marketing strategy could be not-so beneficial to a company.
One blog that I read mentioned that a business can appear out of touch if their social media is not managed properly. If a company creates multiple social networking profiles such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube it is apparent that the company is attempting to launch a social media marketing campaign. However, if these sites are not regularly updated then consumers and followers using social media to connect with their brands and products will feel as though their favored company is unreachable and unattainable. If you are not going to consistently manage your social media sites then it is probably better to not even create them.
The same blogger revealed a very good point about potentially revealing too much information through social media. Many organizations get excited about using social media as a marketing tool and want to post as much as information as possible in hopes of attracting, maintaining, and pleasing customers. The blog mentioned revealing too much information about an upcoming product. If other organizations out there are using social media to get ahead of their competitors (which they are) then they could see this information and potentially use it for their own benefit. Also, by pushing your upcoming product too much, you could decrease sales for your current product because people will decide to wait for the new and improved model.
Another blog I read expanded on this thought by saying that your updates should not be too excessive. This blog goes on to say that it is highly unlikely for a business to greatly increase its revenue from social media marketing. I am not sure that I completely agree with this statement. However, it continues by saying that if you are not reaping the benefits of social media marketing then you should reconsider how much effort should be put into this strategy. This is a very good point. Social media marketing may not be the best marketing tool for every business, therefore it is important for a company to assess the success of their social media marketing strategy and make changes if needed.
From what I have read about the negative effects of social media marketing, I personally conclude that this type of marketing strategy does not have the potential to greatly affect a business in a negative manner. Every negative aspect that was mentioned in the blogs I reviewed seemed to have a fairly simple solution. It is apparent to me that an organization that takes the time to develop and implement a well thought out social media marketing strategy can avoid these negative effects without much effort. No social media campaign is perfect, but if you properly monitor the effects that it is having on your company and why these effects are occuring then it is possible for you to make changes where needed to gain optimal success out of this beneficial marketing tool.
I agree with you, and think you made some very important points. If businesses do not update their social networking sites, and stay in touch with their consumers then people will start to feel left out. Companies should definitely make sure their sites are being monitored and being updated all the time. When people visit their favorite brands social networking sites, they want to see something exciting and interesting so they feel like they are connected with the company. I also think companies shouldn't upload too much information on their sites. If they do consumers might ignore it because they feel overwhelmed with all the information.
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