Social Media Marketing Risks
The 21st century provides a competitive environment for marketing managers. Various media, fragmentation of customers’ target, and technological innovation are the important things that marketing managers should consider before choosing the marketing communication channels to promote their products. (Kitchen, P. J., & Burgmann, 2010)
University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing stated that social media provide interactive communication that connects companies to their customers. This helps companies to promote their products and reach out to more customers. Some companies even use social media not only for marketing purposes but also for recruitment purposes (University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing, 2015).
However, social media is intricated as it changing rapidly. Therefore, companies need to identify the risks of posting information on social media for advertising, marketing, and sales activities.
Risks of Using Social Media as Sales and Marketing Tools
Impact of Negative News — Brighton University (2018), stated that with social media, negative news can spread uncontrollably. This might impact the company negatively like when Netflix revealed its new pricing, their customers take up their arms by posting 82,000 adverse comments across social media resulting in the company lost 800,000 customers and two-thirds of its market value. (Brighton University, 2018)
Security Risk — Belbey (2015) stated that the companies data network should be secured to avoid the breaching or hacking of confidential information. Breaches and data leaks will ultimately destroy the brand image of the company, leaving the investors reluctant to invest in their products, and eventually, the company will lose its customers soon (Brighton University). For example, the Burger King case in 2013. Their Twitter page had been hacked with damaging posts reaching more than 80,000 followers before they regained control (Fanaras, 2014).
Damage to Brand Reputation — Companies need to protect their brand reputation by being respectful to their audience and avoid any insensitive controversial posts that might anger the customers (Fanaras, 2014). Fanaras (2014), stated that one of the most notable examples is the AT&T case in 2013. AT&T angered its customers with a sales tweet about the 9/11 incident. The customers revolted causing damage to AT&T’s brand reputation.
Employee Credibility — The social media marketing team members should be trustworthy enough to represent the company online since any poor responses to the customers can damaging the reputation of the company and causing it to lose future potential customers (Brighton University, 2018). For example, in 2020 an Indonesian sports apparel maker, Eager, lose some of their faithful customers due to poor response of the customer testimonial. The customer posted a testimonial video of the Eager product that he just bought and the Eager staff commented on that video, asking for the customer to take down the video due to its low-quality shot. The customer revolted since he didn’t give any bad testimonials. This case went viral so the CEO of Eager asking for forgiveness of their staff action.
Conclusion
Companies should consider the risks of social media marketing to maximize the potential of social media since social media is really powerful in influencing customers’ minds. By being credible, keeping their network secured, protecting their brand images, and thinking twice before posting on social media, the company can build a positive strong online presence in their customers’ eyes.
References
Belbey, J. (2015, May 21). Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joannabelbey/2015/05/21/protect-your-firm-from-the-13-risks-of-social-media/?sh=636b304d331e
Fanaras, L. (2014, July 1). 4 risks for your business to consider when using social media. Millennium Agency. https://mill.agency/content/4-risks-business-consider-using-social-media/
Kitchen, P. J., & Burgmann, I. (2010, December 15). Integrated marketing communication. Wiley Online Library. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/9781444316568.wiem04001
Principles of marketing. (2015). University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing.
University of Brighton. (2018, January 8). The benefits and risks of social media marketing | Digital marketing blog. How to get started with blogs | University of Brighton. https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/georgeday/2018/01/08/the-benefits-and-risks-of-social-media-marketing/
Note:
This article is written based on University of The People Marketing Management (BUS 5112) written assignment by Fristy Tania in October 2021
