By Stephen O.
We have all hear how social media is a powerful tool and revolutionize the M&A industry, but what if I tell you that social media as actually overrated?
It is true that social media has revolutionized the M&A industry and created a platform for companies to reach customers beyond their wildest dreams. The game has changed since social media was introduced. By 2006, Facebook and Twitter both became available to users throughout the world. Now Facebook became the most popular social media with the highest number of users with Instagram and twitter coming next.
Companies knowing the broad reach that social media has, strategize their brand, and advertise through social media. Because of this, companies are racing to join the bandwagon of social media strategy, making social media it's primary marketing tactics, and racing to create the next viral content or buzz. This is not a bad thing, of course. Still, the data shows that customers are very unlikely to purchase a product they see from social media advertisements. And the company ended up wasting tons of money advertising on social media when they shouldn’t. So what should we do if we don’t advertise on social media? To understand this, you need to understand social media presence.
Social media Presence
Social media presence is when a brand uses social media to convey its brand, to only create an online presence. For example, target creates an Instagram account and represent their brand and products overall. You can think of this as an online catalog to view their products and their brand’s vibe. But if you think about it, do you even follow your favorite grocery stores or telecommunication brand online? Target does not actually need social media to have people know their brand, because they know that social media may be good for them but investing in their marketing strategy on them is not beneficial.
What does this all mean then? For startups, consider your brand identity think through if social media is going to leverage your marketing strategy, or is it just an accessory to your brand? You can still create an online presence, of course, but is it worth investing your marketing strategy on social media? Just because social media is a powerful, too land has a high reach of users does not mean that it is the best marketing tool for you. What works for them may not work for you.