LaurenListen, we do this social media thing for a living. And we even have a love/hate relationship with it. We recognize that social media has so many faults. But we also admit that a lot of good can come from it.
We do love the dog pictures and connecting with our college roommate and discovering a new coffee shop in town and cake decorating videos. (If you’re not watching cake decorating videos, you probably aren’t relaxed enough. Go watch some!)
But we agree that social media can be detrimental! We’re done with the inauthenticity and comparison games and rude comments from people hiding behind their screens. Ugh!
We’ve heard business owners use these negative ideas about social media as an excuse for not having a presence there.
Isn’t social media just a big time suck?
Doesn’t social media take away from personal connections in real life?
Aren’t people on social media fake?
Doesn’t social media perpetuate a negative self-image, anxiety, and depression?
All those things are probably true for some people. However, we believe that each individual determines his or her social media experience. We can all make good choices about how we engage on social media.
It’s become normalized to blame social media for the problems of society. But there are many ways social media can influence our lives for the better.
Social media provides a way to enhance our connection with others.
Social media provides an inexpensive (compared to traditional advertising) way for businesses to reach their target demographic.
It can be used for noble, philanthropic causes.
Regardless of whether social media is good or bad, the fact of the matter is that people are using it . . . a lot.
According to the Pew Research Center, 69% of adults use Facebook. And out of those, 74% admit to visiting the site daily.
73% of Americans are on YouTube, but fewer people (53%) visit the platform every day.
While Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter may have smaller percentages of the population on their platforms, the numbers are still staggering. In addition, there are still significant numbers who frequent these platforms daily. And also interestingly, a brand can target a specific platform based on the demographic of people they’d like to reach. For example, Instagram usage is high for younger people. And Pinterest usage is high for women.
With all social media channels, your ads will be cheaper than traditional advertising. Plus you can target the people you really want to reach.
If this much of the population that you want to purchase your product or service is on social media, you should be there too.
Our recommendation is that you develop your platforms into something you can be proud of. Something that contributes to the good of society. Be a help and a value to your social media followers. And don’t miss out on potential customers who simply don’t know you exist because you don’t have a social media presence or yours is lacking in professionalism or consistency.