As the world is gradually turning into a global village due to widespread internet connectivity, the popularity of social media is also on a rise. Entrepreneurs are using this social platform to put forward their business profiles as it helps connect to a humongous group of people without the physical inhibitions of doing so. It serves as a convenient medium to propagate one’s business and connect with the potential clients. Through social media marketing, a budding startup can draw the attention of people or a well-established company can attain criticism to work upon it. Due to its various advantages, a number of companies have dedicated a special team to work on their social media image. But just like technology, the social media impact can be beneficial as well as fatal for one’s business.
It is rightly said that social media plays a major role in shaping the opinions of people. This statement is applicable not only to issues related to current affairs but also the review of one’s business. Social media leaves no room for the company to make a single error as one mistake mentioned on social media can impact the opinion of thousands of people. On social media, news spreads like fire in a forest hence the companies have to tactfully handle any such situations. Not only this, the manner in which a company advertises itself on social media also contributes to the impact. Therefore it is essential for the company to plan out a marketing strategy before posting things on social media.
Causes of a negative social media impact
Social media marketing involves the company’s personal engagement with its customers. It is made it easy for the customers to put forward their complaints or expectations on the go. This helps in resolving any problem at the earliest. But because of this, the customer’s complaint catches the eye of other people as well. What could earlier be discussed solely between the customer and the company executive is now done on a global platform. Companies which do not promote such customer interaction are at a loss. Customers tend to find such companies unreliable. In order to market one’s products or services effectively on social media, avoid promoting the product directly but try to focus on why is that product useful for the customer and the quality factor as well.
It is important to keep a check on how does social media affect business.
Another major drawback of the social media impact on the company is that a misleading statement might spread among the customer base. If a customer uploads his complaint on any social media platform, people will know about it even before the company gets a chance to clarify itself. This leads to the negative publicity of one’s business.
How to avoid the consequences
Moreover, a company needs to be very particular about the efficiency of the employees handling their social media image. It might happen that an employee may accidentally reveal confidential information on social media. This may lead to damaging the company’s competitive advantage. Before the company gets a chance to rectify such an error, tons of people might have already read it.
The company must make sure that only the social media team has the authority to post information on its account. It can be difficult for a company to keep a check on the social media activity of all its employees. Hence the employees must be notified about not speaking on official matters without authorization. However, such a censorship comes with a disadvantage. Even if an employee means to post something positive for the company, he will restrain from doing so. The social media impact on a company will depend on its handling.
I have seen hundreds of privately held companies as well as several large publicly traded companies like Southwest Airlines, Capital One and BHP Billiton, treat their employees like trusted business partners, enabling them to make more money for their company and themselves. Profits and engagement soar.