When done well, social media for business offers numerous benefits today. There are, however, some things to watch out for.
For better or worse, the advent of social media turned the business world on its head. It created more options for marketing and has also given businesses the ability to reach and connect with a much wider audience.
Some of the top platforms out there, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, make it much easier for businesses to market their products and brand.
While this can be an incredible benefit for businesses, social media also has the potential to hinder them. There are a handful of challenges that businesses need to watch out for when using social media. In fact, if not utilized properly, social media can actually be damaging for a business.
Many big brands have had huge setbacks and barriers because they weren’t aware of the huge impact that social media can have. They’ve had to endure being investigated, negative press, and a huge revenue loss, simply because they were unaware of the power of social media.
Understanding the impact that social media has on businesses and the challenges they face when using it, is the first step in avoiding the brand pitfalls of social media.
The benefits of social media are such that it’s imperative businesses develop an effective strategy for using it. Not utilizing social media will put any businesses at an extreme disadvantage compared to its competition.
However, when creating a social media strategy, brands need to understand the challenges that they face as well. If ignored, these challenges can have a devastating impact on the business.
Take a look at the three largest challenges big brands face with social media:
It’s often been said that too many choices leads to too much stress and overwhelm. If you have too many clothes in your closet, it can be hard to figure out what to wear. If the menu at a restaurant is too large, it can be difficult to decide what to order. If your to-be-read bookstack is too big, it can be a challenge to pick a book to read.
Too many options is a huge issue and it’s one of the top social media challenges facing big brands today. Every business has a certain budget and a certain amount of resources that they can devote to social media. However, the number of social media platforms is huge and continues to grow.
Think about it. There are hundreds of social media platforms that brands can use, including the most popular such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. With so many options, there’s no way that any business could devote time, effort, and resources to using them all. Businesses must decide which platforms to focus on.
Ideally, each business would utilize every platform out there as a way to reach the largest number of people. However, the vast amount of social media sites makes it impossible. Instead, every business needs to take the time to determine their target market and discover which platforms they use the most.
The challenge of too many options could lead businesses to make the wrong decisions and focus their efforts in the wrong places. When that happens, they spend too many resources in areas that won’t have a reward.
By effectively researching your target market and narrowing your social media platform options to those that your intended demographic is most likely to use, you can make the most of your resources and develop a successful strategy.
The next challenge comes in the face of your competition. There are millions of users on each platform. That’s great in terms of potential reach, however, it also means a LOT of competition. It’s incredibly difficult to get your name out there and to stand out to your target market.
Differentiating your brand from the competition is a huge challenge. When you have hundreds of brands in the same place that are directly competing with yours, it’s not easy to ensure that yours gets noticed. Utilizing your resources for a social media strategy that doesn’t help your business can be disastrous.
In order to execute an effective social media strategy, you need to focus on engagement. The best way to do that is through the creation of unique, relevant, and expert content. Written posts, videos, images, graphics, and more are all important parts of social media content.
To ensure engagement, you’ll need to not only deliver content that helps your brand stand out, you’ll also need to be responsive to your audience. Respond to comments and messages from your audience and customers. Share, mention, and tag people as a way to increase engagement.
Social media gives people the ability to communicate directly with brands. As long as the brand is responsive and engaging, this is a huge benefit for them. Instead of being an elusive company, they can become a present, authentic company that is relationship-focused and provides value to their audience.
The messages that you put out from your brand on social media are essential. The challenge lies in creating a foundation and carefully putting out the right message in order to capture your audience and gain traction with your posts.
Messaging that isn’t executed properly has the potential to backfire. A non-loyal or uninterested audience can twist your message into something it wasn’t intended to be. When that happens on social media, the wrong message can take off like a wildfire.
To deliver a positive message that is well-received by its audience, take the time to develop a relational foundation. Engage with your audience on social media, as well as through emails, your website, and even with your customer service. Show that your brand cares about their customers and works on having a positive impact in the world.
Carefully consider the messages you put out. Know your target market enough to understand what they value and what they will respond well to. Craft messages that check those boxes in order to showcase your brand in the right light. With the right message, you can greatly increase engagement, build a loyal following, and expand your reach. However, the wrong message can have the opposite effect and spread negativity about your business across the globe. These days this can even lead to being “canceled.”
Make sure your messaging is intentional, relevant, and valuable in order to positively reach and impact your audience.
In order to propel your business in today’s competitive and saturated market, you need to utilize social media. It has the ability to help you reach the widest possible audience, to engage with them, and to increase your conversions.
However, you need to be aware of the social media challenges that could set back or even damage your company. With awareness of the challenges, you can be intentional to develop an effective social media strategy.
If you’re unsure how to craft and execute top social media and website design, contact BHirst Media for quality social media and web design services.
