Facebook as a Digital Marketing Tool
Digital Marketing entails
marketing of goods and services using digital technologies and digital mediums.
In this context, it would be pertinent to note that with the advent of Web 2.0
or social media, marketers now have the chance to utilize the opportunities
offered by digital marketing using social media like Facebook. This article
explores the advantages and disadvantages of using Facebook for digital
marketing and discusses the various issues surrounding this concept. Before
launching into the discussion, it would be worthwhile to note that the
unparalleled access to a large consumer base afforded by Facebook makes it the
ideal medium of choice for marketers especially those in the business of
consumer goods and FMCG or Fast Moving Consumer Goods. This is because Facebook
has a combined user base of more than a billion people and reaches nearly one
in four adults in the United States alone. Apart from this, the use of Facebook
in the emerging markets is even more pervasive with estimates suggesting that
out of the 80 percent of the total Facebook users who are from outside of the
United States, nearly half of them are active users making the medium a
platform for brands to be noticed in the “noisy social media world”.
Advantages of Using Facebook
Continuing the points made above, it is indeed the case that
Facebook offers penetration and reach to marketers especially those operating
on shoestring budgets, as they do not have to spend large amounts of money on
expensive marketing campaigns. Moreover, unlike traditional media where the effectiveness
and efficacy of a marketing campaign cannot be measured directly and instead,
readership or viewership metrics are used, Facebook marketing can be measured
for its efficacy as click through and conversion of eyeballs into purchases is
readily available. Further, Facebook offers the unprecedented chance for
marketers to target a global audience and at the same time, consider local
factors. In other words, what this means is that marketers can create campaigns,
which have a global theme and at the same time can reach out to their local
audience as well. The conflation of reaching out to a wider audience without
compromising on the local customers means that Facebook becomes the social
networking site of choice when compared to Twitter and Instagram that are more
focused in their reach. Further, the “death of distance” and the removal of the
geographical constraints mean that spatial and locational barriers are
nonexistent with Facebook Digital Marketing. Already companies like Coca Cola
and Starbucks have used the power of Facebook to integrate it with their
marketing strategies for effective customer outreach.
Downsides
of Using Facebook
Of course, there are downsides to using Facebook as a marketing
tool and these include the rapidity with which negative publicity can travel
around the world in a jiffy. For instance, a jealous competitor or a
disgruntled employee might post negative comments or information about the
brand or the product and considering the ways in which such comments can go
“viral” in a matter of hours and even minutes, it is the case that marketers
and companies have to be always on the lookout for what is being said and
commented upon on their products. The point to be noted here is that by the
time, the marketer, the company representative comes up with a rebuttal, or the
disproving of the negative comment or publicity, the damage would have been
done. Apart from this, using Facebook as the digital marketing medium means
that instant gratification is the norm rather than any sustained engagement
with the brand. This results in users (who are mostly of the Generation Y)
forming opinions of the brand in a shallow and superficial manner which means
that little attention is paid to deeper thought and nuanced marketing as is the
case with traditional media.
Other
issues to be considered
We have considered the advantages and disadvantages of using
Facebook for Digital Marketing. Apart from these, other issues count in favor
of Facebook. For instance, marketing on Facebook is easy and inexpensive when
compared to traditional media as all one needs to do is to integrate Facebook
into the company’s online marketing strategy and create a fan page or a
dedicated page in addition to providing for targeted messages aimed the focused
consumer segment. Further, marketing on Facebook can bring additional benefits
as can be seen in the company’s recent moves to be more aggressive as far as
e-Commerce and m-Commerce are concerned. This has long been a sticking point
between Facebook and its corporate clients, as the latter wanted the former to
integrate these aspects more into the overall strategy.
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