Much is written and it talks about the benefits of social networks and social media, how they help the promotion, to know the customer and a long etc …, something that of course is totally true. However, I miss the disadvantages of social media. As a general rule, I always prefer to know the bad side, because the good side …. is good! It is like knowing my defects better than my virtues, if I know my defects, I can “solve” them.
For once this very personal introduction is made … I will apply this same criterion to find the “defects” of social media:
No content: failure
Many companies do not have the time or the people needed to generate content.
The time and effort in generating content is what makes sharing and being really social. Generate opinions, comments, criticisms, information in order that makes it really social
The social content has very short life
In case the time and the effort were not enough, besides, the life of the content in the networks is very short. The average life of a twitter post is 2.8 hours. In facebook are 3.2 hours and in the direct links are 3.4 hours (You get about 24 minutes more attention for your publications on facebook than on twitter)
Positive results are slow to arrive
A brand must establish a presence, build a community, perfect its content strategy and develop a way to analyze these efforts. This process needs a constant stimulus and many brands want to see the return of their investment immediately in their social development. Unfortunately, it takes time to see growth and success.
Clarification: the negative results are, unfortunately, immediate
Constant need for monitoring
There are millions of conversations happening right now through the social web. The likelihood that any of them will relate to your brand is quite likely:
It is very important for brands to constantly monitor engagement and their mentions on the internet. This allows them to be proactive for simple customer service issues and anticipate a customer’s reaction before major problems arise.
As with content generation, brands simply do not have the time or the professionals to keep this constant monitoring of what happens with our companies.
Do you know any “against” more and you dare not confess it?