Social Network Marketing – Mechanics, Advantages & Disadvantages

Essentially, social network marketing is one way where business interacts with their target markets in the Internet through the various social media platforms. The most famous of these include Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Social media marketing is also used for all the general traditional marketing goals we know. In reaching customers, the marketing strives to increase referrals or sales leads. They build and develop word-of-mouth, increase the series of products or services for the site owner while providing a system of feedback.

Moreover, social media platforms will try to develop a reputation as an expert of thought leader. It will also drive traffic to a business site or blog. They will keep on developing new products and services and keep people informed about special events or anything newsworthy to a newcomer plus the business of providing customer service.

Social networks

The most popular social network for business includes Facebook (networking), YouTube (largest video networking), Instagram (image sharing), Twitter (message broadcasting), and Whatsapp (messaging).

The others include LinkedIn (business professionals’ network), Pinterest (image collection and sharing) and Tumblr (blogging and photo sharing).

Exceptions

Not all media platforms may be suitable for your business.  Even if your business had money to hire a marketing firm or an in-house social media team, the idea would not fit in because different customer segments have different visit different social media.  

There would be no point in spending time and money on promoting your business on a social network that your customers don’t use.

Advantages

As far as costs are concerned, social media is very inexpensive compared to other forms of marketing. It is free to create accounts on all the listed platforms and free to make postings to followers who will hopefully share the message of other members. The hope is that they spread it around.

There are also many various advertising options that can reach larger audiences within the social media community.  Facebook offers comprehensive options for ad targeting. (An example would be to target ads within a specific geographic radius.)

The networks allow the business to engage their target audience and develop interactive relationship with the customers.

Disadvantages

The main disadvantage with social network marketing from a business point of view is that it can be incredibly time-consuming. Social media marketing campaigns are not one-time affairs. They need to be nurtured over time.

Big businesses have been using this type of marketing effectively. However, they have the kind of marketing budgets that can assign a number of staff to conduct and manage social media marketing campaigns.  These are resources that small businesses don’t posses or can’t afford.

Not working

Most times, direct advertising on social media does not work. The businesses that are using social networks, like any other, want to sell their products. But the blatant advertising on social media would in many cases, alienated them from their intended audience. Some are expelled from their particular social community they are trying to infiltrate.

To use social network marketing effectively, businesses need to be seen as members of the social media that are willing to interact with other members.