In the past few years, social media has grown from being a medium where people socialize to one of the most powerful avenues for marketing and promotion of businesses. Social media marketing describes any marketing effort which is carried out via any social media platform; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn etc. The sharp rise in social media marketing is occasioned by the tremendous advantages that this marketing effort offers. More and more businesses are including social media marketing as part of their advertising plan, while those that already have a social media marketing campaign are doubling their budgets in this regard.
But there are two sides to everything; including social media marketing. Social media marketing will only prove successful if done properly and effectively. Just like everything on earth, there are rules, failure to abide by the rules of social media marketing will cause it to have a detrimental effect on your brand or business.
Do not follow the bandwagon and jump unprepared into social media marketing; you may get burnt. It is important you carry out proper research and be well informed about all aspect of this marketing effort before you subscribe to it. Below are 10 pros and cons of social media marketing in mobile app development;
1. Time-consuming:
This is one of the biggest cons of social media marketing for a mobile app development company. For an effective marketing effort, you need to spend as much time as possible online refreshing your pages with contents suitable enough to keep your audience interested and engaged. This usually requires a lot of research, which would consume a lot of time. Also, social media marketing requires you to give timely responses to audiences who may comment or ask questions on your platform. All of these makes social media marketing pretty time-consuming.
2. Long time on ROI:
Every marketing effort has a goal, for some, it is about improving their customer base, and for some, it is about increased traffic to boost relevance and yet for others it is about increased sales. Depending on what your marketing objectives are for your mobile app development company, social media marketing can take a long time before showing a return on investment. If you are going into social media marketing for the first time it is important you know it is not a genie that will instantly start granting your wishes, it sometimes takes time.
3. Risk of negative publicity:
Social media marketing is a very powerful tool for the promotion of a mobile app development company, but it can also use that same force to pull down or negatively impact a business. When you decide to adopt social media marketing, one of the things you should know is that you are going into a new world and exposing your business or brand to new threats. The internet is filled with miscreant and unscrupulous elements whose wish is to see your business fail. They will slander your business and post negative comments even when they have no idea what your company does.
Without proper management, such negative publicity can go viral and irreparably damage the reputation of your business.
4. Loss of control:
This point is in tandem with the previous one. When a dissatisfied former employee or customer posts something negative about your brand or mobile app development company, this can go viral and it is usually difficult to control. Social media marketing takes control off business owners and marketers.
5. Dilutes brand voice:
In cases where you have more than one individual handling social media interaction and posting information on social media channel, it could sometimes lead to a mixture of voices particularly when there is no perfect synchrony between the individuals. This can confuse the audience a bit and some may lose confidence in following your brand.
Pros:
1. Low cost:
This is one of the key advantages of social media marketing over traditional marketing and even other forms of digital marketing. It is free to join all the major social media platforms and it is equally free to begin interacting with potential customers at a basic level. However, if you want greater returns for your mobile app development company you can decide to go professional and invest some funds into your marketing effort. This will generate greater returns for your business at a fraction of the cost of getting that same return while doing traditional marketing.
2. Big audience:
This is another major advantage of social media marketing. Promoting your mobile app development company or business or products on social media platforms affords you the chance of reaching millions of people. While traditional form of marketing caters to a fixed pre-determined audience, there is no limitation to social media marketing. It breaks down whatever demographic barriers, be it age, sex, or social status.
3. Fast:
If you are looking for one of the quickest ways to reach an audience with news or another form of information, then social media marketing is your best choice. Social media marketing can be relied upon for fast action and results. Immediately you publish on social media platform it is immediately visible to your audience all across the world. Currently, people link their social media platforms with their website, such that new information published on their website is simultaneously published on their social media platforms.
4. Interaction:
Trust is important in every business, the more customers trust your mobile app development company the more confident they are to buy your products and patronize your service. Social media marketing was built upon interaction, which is a hallmark of social media. Social media marketing allows for greater interaction between businesses and customers, which is painfully missing in the traditional form of marketing. Existing and potential clients can use these media to communicate their fears, ask questions and give relevant suggestions. This regular interaction builds a long-term relationship that would generate a profitable result for any business.
5. Brand loyalty:
This point is in tandem with the previous one. The greater the interaction between business and customer, the more comfortable the customer becomes, and this would lead to brand loyalty. Such customer will be more than willing to promote the business without being told to do so, or paid to do so. It also boosts online reputation. Regular interaction with your customers shows that you care for them. This would make them more trusting of your products or service.
