EDU10010 Essay: Social Media Marketing Advantages and Disadvantages

This essay critically discusses the advantages and disadvantages of social media marketing (SMM) in Australia, where a significant portion of the population actively uses social media. It explores SMM as a crucial component of the marketing mix, focusing on platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and YouTube. The essay analyzes peer-reviewed literature to evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of SMM, arguing that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It examines the impact of SMM on small businesses, emphasizing its role in building customer relationships, reducing marketing costs, and obtaining customer feedback. The essay also delves into the cost-related benefits of SMM, highlighting its effectiveness in targeting large audiences and segmenting markets. Furthermore, it explores how SMM influences consumer behavior, brand equity, and the role of social media influencers. The essay concludes by emphasizing SMM's significance in shaping customer behavior and its cost-effectiveness for businesses, ultimately providing key advantages such as increased brand awareness, higher conversion rates, and improved brand loyalty.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ADVANTAGES AND
STUDENT DETAILS
STUDENT DETAILS

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Social Media Marketing Advantages and Disadvantages
In Australia, there are about 18million active users on social media. In simple words, it can
be said that the majority of the population of the country is utilizing the applications of social
media. While handling the business, social media marketing is considered as an important
source of the marketing mix. The major social media marketing platforms which are present
in the country are Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and YouTube. Apart from this, there are
other platforms also such as WordPress.com, LinkedIn, Tumblr, etc. This essay, will
incorporate information about norms of social media marketing (SMS) through peer-
reviewed literature. From large scale enterprises to small scale enterprises all utilizes the
advantages of SMS. However, there are various threats of utilizing social media marketing
which will be discussed in this essay through peer-reviewed literature. According to me, there
are more advantages to social media then disadvantages.
Article 1: Impact of social media on small businesses
This paragraph will examine the impact of social media marketing on small business through
the aspects of available internet advertisement benefits in an effective and efficient way
(Jones, Borgman and Ulusoy, 2014). Internet era has positively impacting on business
performance because social media marketing helps small business owners to create
awareness among their targeted audience by utilizing online norms of advertising (Jones,
Borgman and Ulusoy, 2014). For example: it helps SMEs to build a lasting relationship with
their customer and it incorporates low marketing costs. Apart from this, these two concepts
are the major advantage of the social media marketing, First, it acts as an important tool for
the business houses because it allows the business to establish effective communication with
their customers. Second, social media marketing (SMM) also helps the small business owners
to get feedback from the customers in order to improve their services and product quality.

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Thus, it is concluded that SMS is the necessity for business houses (Jones, Borgman and
Ulusoy, 2014).
Article 2: Social Media Marketing: A Myth or a Necessity
This paragraph is going to illustrate about the cost related benefits of SMM. It is the well-
known fact that marketing or advertising is the essence to run the business because it helps
the business owners to market their products or services in order to fascinate their targeted
audience (Whiting, 2014). Thus, SMM is the cost-effective way through which business
owners successfully create a long-lasting relationship with their customers, establish ease of
personalization, it helps SME to target a large number of audiences, SME can follow
effective market segmentation (Whiting, 2014). Through these advantages, business houses
gain major benefits that help to conduct effective business operations. Not only SME’s but
Large enterprises also utilize the norms of the SMM in an effective and efficient way. SMM
also helps the business houses in minimizing their cost. For example: advertising on social
media applications such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc. incurred low cost which can
minimize the cost of the companies. Thus, it can be concluded that SMM helps business
owners to establish long-lasting customer relationships and it also helps in the influence of
brand equity with consumer behaviour (Whiting, 2014).
Article 3: Social media marketing efforts of luxury brands: Influence on brand equity
and consumer behaviour
This paragraph is going to illustrate about the benefits that SMM provides towards consumer
behaviour and brand equity (Godey, et. al. 2016). Since 2012, social media is created a whole
new era for business owners in terms of efficient and cost-effective marketing. SME also
looks towards social media as an interactive way to reach and engage with a targeted
audience (Godey, et. al., 2016). For example: SMM influences customer behaviour by
creating brand loyalty, brand preference and possibilities of the brand to offer the best price

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to the customers. In this way, it positively impacted consumer behaviour in an effective and
efficient way possible. As it is noticed that nowadays consumers also become completely
familiar with social media marketing activities so business houses should carefully choose
their effective social media marketing strategies in order to fascinate consumers towards
themselves. It is concluded that SMM plays a significant role in shaping customer behaviour,
although SMM also incorporates social media influencers as a strategic communicator
(Godey, et. al., 2016).
Article 4: Social Media Influencers as a Crisis Risk in Strategic Communication:
Impact of Indiscretions on Professional Endorsements
This paragraph is going to illustrate about the SMM used as communication medium (Sng,
Au and Pang, 2019). The major advantage of utilizing social media influence is that it helps
business owners to fascinate customer psychology and desires. Utilizing this form of social
media marketing incurred a little more costly than the standard form of social media
marketing. Thus, it is analyzed that SME's generally avoid utilizing social media influencer
marketing. Influencer marketing is also noted to establish trust, creating a reputation, etc
(Sng, Au and Pang, 2019). For example: social media influencer empowers the business
owner to approach to a famous public figure or celebrity, business houses make a deal with
them to advertise their products or services on their official channel. When advertisement
gets published then it is expected that 15% to 20% of the followers of that public figure will
try to consume the listed product or service. It is concluded that this form of marketing is
known as the best form of marketing because it changes the customer psychology and helps
the business owners to accomplish their goals (Sng, Au and Pang, 2019).
Article 5: Instafamous and social media influencer marketing
This paragraph is going to illustrate about SMM as Influencer marketing. Influencer
marketing incorporates two major platforms of social media such as: Instagram and

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YouTube. On this platform, influencers or public figures or celebrities market a particular
product or service with an aim to fascinate their followers (Jin, Muqaddam and Ryu, 2019).
On social media, fashion enthusiasts have gained massive popularity and they have achieved
massive success. Business houses also identified and utilizes their popularity as the means of
effective promotion techniques. Apart from this, social media influencers marketing
incorporates a little bit more costly than the standard form of marketing on social media but it
brings massive successful results. However, business houses should not always assume that
influencer marketing will bring more sales in their business, sometimes it brings negative
results too (Jin, Muqaddam and Ryu, 2019). For example: nowadays consumer becomes
aware of the kind of marketing strategies that are being utilized by the business houses. In
this way, when a business houses approach to any public figure who does not have a good
reputation in the market then it can create a negative impact on people's minds towards the
product. Through this example, it can be concluded that business houses should pay serious
attention while selecting the appropriate public figure for the marketing of their product. It is
advised that while choosing influencer marketing, business houses should conduct research
on the popularity of the celebrity with their brand value. This is the modern form of
marketing, as traditionally celebrities endorsed only to the television form of marketing but
due to the emerging trend of social media, it brings massive marketing opportunities for the
business houses (Jin, Muqaddam and Ryu, 2019).
It is concluded that social media marketing brings major advantages to the SME because this
form of marketing is cost-effective and it enables business houses to reach a large number of
targeted audiences. SMM delivers major advantages in the market such as it increases brand
awareness, attract more inbound traffic, higher conversion rates, improved brand loyalty,
SMM improves brand authority, it is cost-effective, etc.

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References
Godey, B., Manthiou, A., Pederzoli, D., Rokka, J., Aiello, G., Donvito, R. and Singh, R.
(2016) Social media marketing efforts of luxury brands: Influence on brand equity and
consumer behavior. Journal of business research, 69(12), pp.5833-5841.
Jin, S.V., Muqaddam, A. and Ryu, E. (2019) Instafamous and social media influencer
marketing. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 1(1), 78-90.
Jones, N., Borgman, R. and Ulusoy, E. (2014) Impact of social media on small businesses.
University of Maine Business School: Maine.
Sng, K., Au, T.Y. and Pang, A. (2019) Social Media Influencers as a Crisis Risk in Strategic
Communication: Impact of Indiscretions on Professional Endorsements. International
Journal of Strategic Communication, 13(4), pp.301-320.
Whiting, A. (2014) Social Media Marketing: A Myth or a Necessity. Journal of Applied
Business and Economics, 16(5), 74-81.