Social Media : Ally or Enemy of your Business?

Our era could easily be characterized as “the era of social media ”. Almost all of us have at least one social media account. While the average everyday user uses them for entertainment, contact with friends and acquaintances and information, companies and organizations have completely different motivations.

Have you ever wondered how the founder of by far the most popular social media, Mark Is Zuckerberg among the richest people in the world when no subscription is required for Facebook users? The answer is inextricably linked to the reasons why an ever-increasing number of companies choose this space for display and advertising.

The low cost, the access to a large number of users and the lack of geographical boundaries, make them social media one of the most rewarding ways of marketing . The presence of companies and organizations in social networks gives them the opportunity to significantly increase their brand awareness, strengthen their relationships with their audience by interacting with them, inform about their services and project their culture.

When it comes to the ratio of cost and return on investment, the scales are relatively tilted towards profit. Especially in the case of small and medium enterprises, social media are the ideal promotion option. They are given the opportunity to advertise by selecting their audience by demographic and geographic criteria and to contact them with sub tenfold budget in relation to the cost of advertising in more conventional media such as television, radio and the press, without this implying results of lower quality and quantity. Quite the opposite is true: digital media in general and social networking pages in particular offer the possibility of quality contact with the public through interaction.

Understanding the needs and wants of the public makes a difference and gives a significant advantage to any business regardless of size, goals, products and services. In the world of online search and with the rapid increase in online shopping, the enormous importance of feedback , better known as feedback , has been emphasized and not without reason . Its proper management enables valid information about the opinion of the consumer public in relation to specific products and helps to improve businesses by giving them the necessary knowledge that is the first step in adapting them to what the public of their choice wants. Also, the innate need of every person to share with their loved ones anything that they think is of interest to them, offers generously and at a low cost brand awareness provided that the digital presence of every company that invests in its online promotion has to show something original, innovative and interesting.

Content is the biggest challenge. Most companies have realized the power of social media and wish to reap the benefits of the possibilities they offer. However, they tend to overlook the consequences of an unprofessional digital image, believing that there are specific norms and general ways of using them. For example, there is a tendency to overpromote services and products at the expense of information that would interest the audience and lead to interaction with them, in an effort to increase direct sales and the use of social media as leads generators . There is also a relative ignorance of the importance of editing texts, the creation of original graphic and audio-visual materials and the communication possibilities of social media. As a result, instead of users becoming recipients of the corporate culture and brand ambassadors are relegated to viewers of advertisements and promotions such as television, magazines and other conventional media.

The online presence of every person and every organization is easily accessible by millions of internet users, who through it form an image and opinion. The strategic use of social media is the core of most digital marketing tactics and methods and investing in them can, under certain conditions, catapult any brand ‘s awareness. However, their misuse and arbitrary exposure to them without a plan, consistency, clear goals and methods of measuring results can lead to problems such as wasting money and even worse, reducing the prestige of the company and discrediting its brand .

Social media can be described as a “double-edged sword”. Their mass use by the public can provide large-scale visibility which, depending on the content, can have beneficial, moderate or destructive effects. Designing your digital presence starts with making decisions. What kind of company do you want to be?