Social Media: The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Social media is a confusing, difficult, time-dependent medium. With fluid cultures and user bases, it can be overwhelming for digital immigrant business owners. With all that difficulty, why should you participate at all? And if you do, how do you control your image online? Let’s talk about that.

The Good

Social media allows businesses to raise brand awareness. Never before has your business been at the fingertips of so many people. These users can share experiences with your brand with friends and family, something that traditional marketing simply cannot do. Furthermore, these positive reviews, posts, images, and videos, are then attached to your brand, visible for the entire world to see. Accumulating positive reviews makes it simple for users to find new businesses like yours to try out. Have clients in multiple countries? Have clients who speak multiple languages? Social media greatly reduces communication barriers. Lastly, social media is fast. You can create personal, one-on-one interactions with your target demographic(s) in less time than ever before.

The Bad and The Ugly

Of course, these positives do have a dark side. Negative reviews can haunt an organization for years, and these reviewers are often difficult to contact. In addition, platforms like Yelp consistently filter out positive comments, leaving businesses with low ratings not necessarily representative of the organization itself. With nearly constant access to cameras and the internet, your business could be subjected to unauthorized photography or videography. Should unflattering images of your organization appear online, mitigating the damage can prove difficult. Lastly, social media is unpredictable and difficult to control. Gone are the days of carefully constructed corporate images and ad campaigns. Your audiences decide what your image will be, and your only choice is to be–or not be–one voice in the conversation.

So why not utilize your social media to positively contribute to your message? Use it to stand on your own company soap box and share insightful, educational, and inspirational messages. Give your organization a human side and delve into the emotional side of promotion and advertising.

Still feeling overwhelmed? Let Laura Mitchell Consulting help! With over 20 years of marketing and growth hacking experience, we bring both the technical abilities and interpersonal skills necessary to make your business excel. Contact us at info@lmcllc.us.