Should Companies Pay More Attention to Social Media?
In the internet age, social media is more prominent.
By David Benalcazar
July 18, 2018 9:00 p.m. ET
Many small businesses and even larger companies believe that being online is unnecessary because it will cause public relations disasters and will raise costs that the benefits of social media are not worth it. These worries are true. However, this can all be avoided if social media is used effectively.
According to Pew Research Center “Roughly two-thirds of U.S. adults (68%) now report that they are Facebook users, and roughly three-quarters of those users access Facebook on a daily basis. With the exception of those 65 and older, a majority of Americans across a wide range of demographic groups now use Facebook”. Pew Research presents some important information in that a whole lot of Americans use Facebook and their use is frequent.
The reason this is important to companies is because social media is where their consumers are. Companies can take advantage of social media in many ways but the two biggest being advertisements and consumer data.
You might think that consumer data buying and selling consists of two types of companies. First, the companies that sell consumer data (Twitter, Facebook, etc.). Second, the companies that buy consumer data (Walmart). Instead, it is not so simple as almost all companies collect their own consumer data.
After collecting data on their own customers, companies then buy and sell that data to create a bigger data pool. They interpret this data using computers to break down this large pool of data into smaller understandable insights. Consumer data is extremely valuable to companies as it helps identify consumer trends and allows companies to adapt their goods and services.
All this said, social media is a goldmine in consumer data as social media is used frequently and by a large portion of Americans. By having such a large portion of Americans using social media it allows social media companies (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to have a huge amount of consumer data. By having a larger amount of consumer data, it makes the predictions and insights that the computers translate into knowledge much more accurate. This is mostly referring to indirect consumer data tracking rather than direct consumer feedback.
Direct consumer feedback is also an important thing for companies to pay attention to in social media as a single image of something scandalous can cause the company to plunge into chaos. On the other hand, a heart-warming picture of the company helping the community will help the company obtain a positive image. A positive image means a stronger brand as different thoughts, other than what the company does, is associated with the company.
Advertising through social media is important to companies because it brings the advantages of (1) stronger brands and (2) increased revenue. According to Australia’s Department of Industry, “If you choose to advertise in social media, the ads can either link back to your business’ social media page or sometimes to your website. This can mean that you’re able to benefit from social media without needing to have a channel”. By taking the interested viewers from social media platforms and guiding them back to the company’s website; the website will receive more traffic volume. By simply increasing traffic volume onto the website, it increases the number of buyers.
Some may refute that advertising on social media costs more than it is worth. However, the reason advertising on social media costs so much is because companies value it highly because of the advantages of building a stronger brand and increased revenue.
Advertising in social media builds stronger brands. According to Australia’s Department of Industry through “Using social media allows your customers to connect and interact with your business on a more personal level. If you already have an established brand, social media might be an opportunity to further develop your brand and give your business a voice”.
To get a business to a more personal level, the brand must be able to evoke thoughts in consumers other than what the company generally does in business. For example, Wendy’s regularly banters on Twitter, almost as if Wendy’s is a real person. This can be seen in Wendy’s response to someone asking the location of the nearest McDonald’s… “Straight downhill”. By commenting like this, Wendy’s can engage with the audience and have people talking about them. This spotlight is something companies consider highly valuable as it can ultimately contribute to increased revenues.
Overall, there are many reasons for a company to pay attention to social media. Consumer data opportunities and advertising being two of the biggest reasons. Many companies are already on social media because of these upsides. Not to mention the fact that social media continues to grow and will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. Finally, after everything, if a company is not already on social media then the first thing they should do is create and engage with people on social media.