fbpx 5 Disadvantages of Social Media Every Business Owner Must Know
5 Disadvantages of Social Media Every Business Owner Must Know

5 Disadvantages of Social Media Every Business Owner Must Know

Social media marketing for small businesses is gradually becoming a necessity of the day. It helps you reach your target audience and hence boost your sales and ROI in a relatively less time period. Everyone is aware of the fact that social sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc are visited by millions of users around the world. Almost 100 billion messages and posts get shared every month on these social websites and people spend over 700 billion minutes per month on social networking sites (source: www.statista.com). However, there are still some disadvantages associated with social sites which you need to understand before social media marketing for small businesses. These  are not talked about much because social media has so many benefits. But if social media is done the wrong way, it can have negative effects on your social presence and your company's reputation. You could lose customers, time, money - or all three!

Here are 5 disadvantages of social media every business owner must know:

1. Time Wasted Managing Social Media Accounts

Time spent managing social media accounts can be tremendous. Just think about how often you update your social platforms (at least once per day), read comments (almost daily) and send messages (weekly). The more active you are with your social accounts, the more time you spend on social media marketing. If you work alone or in a smaller office without dedicated employees to manage social media accounts and social media marketing, you will need to know the disadvantages of social media for small businesses.

2. Too Much Content on Social Media Platforms

Today social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook limit how many characters you can use in a post (140 or less on Twitter; around 2,000 characters on Facebook). Because social media marketers don't want their social posts to look spammy with too much information, they resort to shortened links that direct you to longer versions of those social posts - basically turning your social profiles into advertisement hubs rather than real social networking sites. Make sure you understand all the disadvantages of social media and manage your social accounts appropriately so it won't be detrimental to your business' success!

3. Customers Expecting a Response Right Away

With social media you can interact with customers right away, which is great. But it also means that customers expect an instant response from your social media accounts - and if they don't get one, they might start asking for refunds. In the age of social media, social customer service is somewhat of a norm. People have come to expect immediate responses from brands - so offering any less than that will be detrimental for business! If you want to use social media in your small business, make sure you understand how social customer service works and stay on top of social interactions at all times!

4. The Competition Might Have Better Social Media Presence

Over 70% of businesses who actively engage on social networks do just that: engage. But social media isn't all about socializing. It's also about social marketing - and if your competition is social marketing better than you, they might have a better social presence, resulting in more traffic to their website at the expense of yours. Their website might even offer better products or services than yours, serving as an additional disadvantage of social media for small businesses!

5. Your Social Media May Overshadow Other Marketing Methods

Although using social media for your small business has many benefits, it may overshadow other marketing methods too much. For instance, when done right search engine optimization can drive much more traffic to your site compared to social networking sites - but if social media marketing becomes too important it might take away focus from SEO that will have a tremendous impact on the success of your online business.Make social media work for you - not against you! With social media marketing becoming more and more popular, it is important to stay up-to-date on social media trends that can help or hurt your social presence..

Always keep these disadvantages of social media for small businesses in mind so you'll know what to expect from social networking sites! Make sure social marketing does not overshadow other marketing methods too much by using social networking sites to market your products and services. And always remember: Social Media Marketing Works! If you have any questions feel free to contact us via email at our Contact Us page here.