Social media marketing: opportunities and risks for companies
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11th August 2020
Social media marketing: opportunities and risks for companies
Is the use of social media a significant marketing tool for industries such as the medical device sector? The advancement of the internet has allowed global communication through social media platforms. Companies can interact with their audiences without geographic limitations using networking sites such as Twitter and Instagram. Business-to-consumer companies such as medical brands can market healthcare products directly to the end consumer while building a strong connection. Social media marketing eases brand awareness as compared to traditional forms of advertising. Marketers can post images and content that resonates with their buyers while creating new followers. Companies that sell healthcare equipment find Facebook and Twitter as cheap avenues for advertisement as post generation and user interaction are sufficient for building brand identity. People can become emotionally attached to a medical brand, thus allowing increased sales revenue due to repetitive purchases. However, social media also has its risks, especially for unaccustomed businesses in the medical device industry. Inappropriate posts could cause damage to brand reputation, leading to a reduction in customers. Social media accounts are liable to being hacked and controlled by hackers and individuals with ill intentions. Companies also pose the risk of being exposed to competitors that track their online content and digital strategies. The paper will analyze the opportunities and risks for companies, especially those in the medical device industry.
Literature Review
Scholars have discussed the significance of social media within the business realm and the medical industry. Social media marketing refers to networking sites to advertise products and services (Tuten and Solomon, 2017). Traditionally, networking platforms have been preferable for communication between family and friends. However, the transformation towards a marketing tool occurred through analytical features enabled by Google Analytics and Facebook advertising. Features such as Facebook pages allowed business to build company profiles and promote their values. The application of digital advertising on social media has led to the growth of 81 percent of businesses that use it (Flanigan and Obernier, 2016).ppl Hence, it is a proven standard for growing medical device companies. However, Flanigan and Obernier (2016) state that social media marketing is more suitable for business-to-consumer (B2C) companies as compared to business-to-business (B2B) companies. The reason is that B2B markets have a lower number of online followers due to their target market. As a result, social media advertising would not provide sufficient return on investment for B2B healthcare corporations. Also, research on B2B use of digital marketing is limited, making it a risky venture for such enterprises (Flanigan and Obernier). Therefore, medical branding campaigns for B2C markets can lead to successful outcomes so long as appropriate strategies are utilized.
Social media marketing opportunities for companies
Social media marketing enables an increase in web traffic for companies. Medical brands can post links that refer to the official website on social media posts. Healthcare businesses commonly face a challenge in increasing visits to their company web page. One of the reasons is because of a limited audience that recognizes their services in a saturated market. Social media allows the promotion of content by determining the type of audience to target on networking platforms. By choosing the right people to approach with an online advertisement, companies can witness a surge in website visits. People interested in medical devices will be interested in learning more about a company through its official web page. Such attention from customers is accessible through Facebook’s traffic campaigns. Facebook traffic campaigns enable marketers to determine their type of target market by designating customer demographics (Levy, 2010). Business can set the type of age and gender demographic that suits their interests. As a result, posts can capture interested buyers’ attention rather than being read by non-interested parties. Social media also enables posts and links to be shareable to other individuals. Companies that have blogs on their websites can post them with referral links to the homepage. However, the advantage of online networking is that users can share posts with their friends as well. Thus, the shareable aspect of Facebook content with people beyond the company’s online following is useful for generating traffic. The benefit of web traffic is that visitors are exposed to other product features that are only accessible through the company’s web site. Therefore, social media’s ability to target specific audiences and shareable posts creates an opportunity for higher website traffic.
Medical companies have an opportunity to build brand awareness through social media marketing. Brand awareness involves people’s knowledge and recognition of a particular brand. Digital marketing is beneficial in establishing recognition of a new healthcare device. Companies that are launching new items require the presence of a vast audience. Social media has a total of 3.6 billion people, while Facebook has 2.5 billion individuals that are active online (Clement, 2020). It means that when medical companies target the right audience, they can gain a massive following that is suitable for a product launch. Facebook pages also facilitate awareness of a company’s values in an accessible manner. Although visits to the company website are useful in generating traffic, new customers may not feel inclined to undergo a lengthy process. Facebook pages ease access to a company’s profile and knowledge of its values. Facebook users can learn about a product within a short time, thus enabling their brand awareness. Social media marketing provides an opportunity for growth through digital influencers. Digital influencers use their established online identity to attract customers for business organizations. Such individuals have created a massive following that a company can attract to its services. As a result, businesses do not have to face the challenge of finding followers. For instance, Shoes of Prey, a business for women’s shoes, gained 300 percent by using a YouTube micro-influencer (Holt, 2015). The strategic approach by Shoes of Prey also led to honorable mentions on digital publications, demonstrating the effectiveness of influencer marketing. Hence, social media marketing facilitates brand awareness for product launches by attracting new followers through micro-influencers.
Social media marketing also enables attachment to brand identity and a positive image. Brand identity involves identification with a brand, its values, and its image. Networking sites facilitate attachment to a brand through regular posts and updates. Medical brands can give information about their products and services, thus educating the public about their healthcare standards. The use of attractive images on social media to convey messages enhances customer attachment to a brand. Companies that label their posts with brand colors enable a positive association with their company image (Kissel and Buttgen, 2015). Consistent update of information influences audience identification due to increased familiarity with the business. Companies can also create a positive brand image by controlling the public’s perception of the company. Medical brands associated with charitable causes online can communicate their desire to have a positive social impact. Online users judge companies based on their posts, thus establishing an avenue for strategic posting. Brands can also reinforce beliefs amongst their market to encourage spending. For instance, Apple’s has established an identity of class and uniqueness through social media advertising (Dissanayake and Amarasuriya, 2015). As a result, customers who purchase their products want to fit into their unique individuals’ criteria. Social media marketing reinforces trust and loyalty to a brand’s identity. Brands can demonstrate the high standard and quality of their services, which reassures customers to purchase. Online users who are long-term followers of a company are less likely to opt for a rivaling product due to the established attachment resulting from consistent posting. Hence, brand identity enables an increase in market share. Buyers are inhibited from purchasing from other suppliers that are unfamiliar. Branding through social media allows audiences to differentiate a company from similar services. Organizations can identify a unique aspect of the business and use it as a point of focus through their advertisements. Hence, they become identifiable even within saturated markets. The advantage of brand loyalty is increased sales generation within a targeted market. Customers entrust the company with the quality delivery of services and are less likely to opt for a different one due to the possibility of being disappointed. Loyal clients also refer interested parties to purchase from the company of their choice. Loyalty programs also ensure brand attachment through incentives and gifts. Companies can offer rewards to online users that are repetitive customers or active engagers of their corporate posts. Loyalty programs separate companies from competitors by showcasing appreciation of buyers online. Organizations can emphasize the significance of customer loyalty by posting the names of active buyers online as a form of public appreciation. The approach is useful in encouraging other customers to show support and experience a similar level of recognition online. Therefore, healthcare establishments can take advantage of the opportunity to develop brand identity and loyalty through social media.
Social media marketing facilitates communication and engagement with an audience. Communication is essential for establishing a relationship with customers, which is facilitated by networking platforms. Medical companies have the opportunity to create discussion groups centered on their followers. Social media websites have forums that allow people with the same interests to hold conversations. As a result, people have a direct avenue for contacting a business and receive a fast response. Businesses can use private forums and chat groups to establish a reputation for instant responses during customer requests. The centralized communication feature in social media also enables ease in targeting a specific audience during marketing. Followers of a corporate Facebook page can receive instant updates upon the release of a new product. Brands also establish a good rapport through online communication and interaction. Customers acquire a sense of belonging by identifying with a particular brand and its values. The emotional attachment can be enhanced through direct discussions with the company as it creates the perception of familiarity. One of the methods used to promote positive contact between companies and online users is memes (Holt, 2016). Memes are a combination of images and texts that elicit humor from readers. As a result, companies have the chance to share and comment on memes posted by their followers. The tactic establishes a friendly relationship between a brand and its audience, which cultivates long-term loyalty. Companies can receive feedback and complaints through their online groups. Sending suggestions through the company website could be a tenuous process for individuals. The ease of interaction on a Facebook page enables an easier process for organizations to address service issues. It reduces dissatisfaction amongst disgruntled customers because their problems can be sorted within a short period. The company can also give emergency updates to its clientele on a centralized platform such as Facebook. Customers require constant updates on the progress of a problem to minimize frustration. Hence, online forums create an avenue for people to share their health-related worries and receive instant solutions.
Through social media marketing, companies can also conduct market research. Medical device companies require research data that can be used to improve services or generate unique ideas. Marketers can use trending posts to understand buyers and their interests in regards to healthcare equipment. Social media platforms keep track of trending conversations through hashtags (Stathopoulou et al., 2017). Hashtags are based on the most discussed phrases across the web, making it a tool for branding strategists. Trending conversations provide companies with the knowledge of current consumer preferences. Businesses that are not aware of customer preferences are unlikely to make suitable products. Companies can participate in the latest hashtags to increase engagement and public knowledge of their services. It maximizes visibility for participants while showing the nature of the market. As a result, products can be customized to fit the theme of an ongoing online conversation. Companies can research buying trends based on people’s posts and discussion about products. By tracking the posts of a targeted demographic on social media, brands can evaluate people’s spending habits. Hence, networking sites are useful in their provision of free access to research data. Social media also provides access to potential participants of surveys. Surveys and questionnaires collect information on people’s opinions that are crucial for feedback. Healthcare businesses can determine the effectiveness of their services and the quality of their equipment. Companies can give free products to interested participants and request for their opinions. Social media allows the most suitable people to be chosen based on their post history. Appropriate subjects can be identified by the number of times they have posted about a brand. Brands can also make public posts that recommend participants for a marketing survey due to the large audience available. Networking sites provide access to contacts through user profiles, making it easier to communicate with interested participants.
Marketing using social media enables measurement of performance through analytics. Data analytics inform healthcare businesses on the effectiveness of their marketing strategies. On social media, companies can determine the quality of a branding strategy through conversion rates (Levy, 2010). The measurement of website traffic in relation to successful conversions, such as the amount of sales showcases company performance. Websites with a high rate of visitors but a low conversion rate inform the company that most clients are not convinced to purchase its products. Companies can also evaluate performance through post interactions and follower activity. The decline in the rate of online users’ responses requires an adjustment of the methods used to generate interaction. Companies can use the information to trace whether the content of posts or other unfamiliar reasons could be an instigating factor for poor communication. The number of retweets or shares educates marketers on people’s attitudes towards the company and the products. Google Analytics is an online tool that allows the automated tracking of web traffic. The social media tool enables long-term tracking of consumer behavior based on their online activity. As a result, it helps companies to make informed decisions founded on accurate data. Performance measurement is available through user reviews and feedback. Internet forums encourage customers to post honest opinions due to the existence of privacy. Negative comments from users on public posts explain the dissatisfaction experienced by a company’s service. Social networking sites have access to numerous reviews from multiple users, thus enabling a better assessment. Through customer feedback, suggestions for improvement can be requested for future reference. Therefore, social media marketing is an opportunity for medical companies to review performance based on honest opinions and analytic data of conversion rates.
Risks of social media marketing for companies
One of the dangers of social media marketing is the risk of privacy concerns and security issues. Medical device companies are threatened by insecurity due to hackers that target businesses and private information. Hence, the risk of social media marketing is the exposure of sensitive company data to hacking. Hackers use social media forums to find victims and lure them through malicious links that contain ransomware (Bryan and Larsen, 2017). Ransomware is dangerous because they hold the victim’s data at ransom in exchange for payment. Companies that have an active feed are more likely to capture the attention of digital thieves. Hacking of a medical brand exposes sensitive corporate information to manipulation. Healthcare companies are supposed to protect data from unauthorized access as it could affect medical provision to patients. Social media followers that have participated in online surveys provide personal details to researchers. Such content is accessible through database penetration, which could leak private information such as a research participant’s home address. Mischievous penetrators of digital systems can alter the database content, thus causing loss of medical data. Research material can also be stolen and sold to third parties at a high price. The danger of cyber infiltration is damage to a company’s reputation. Social media accounts that are under a criminal’s control can be used to post negative material. Medical companies are dependent on their public image, and defamation can affect their sales due to the loss of public trust. People may not trust their ability to protect their information. Online posts that are made using a company’s identity can be problematic to prove otherwise. Fixing cybersecurity issues can be too costly for a brand. Destruction of reputation after the negative outcome of the hacking event can be challenging to recover. Public loss of trust may necessitate long-term efforts before people can regain confidence. Corporate businesses are expected to ensure security due to the amount of data at their disposal. Recovery of infiltrated data is also an expensive process. Medical data that is held at ransom by hackers can be retrieved at a high expense. Some information may not be retrieved, especially in the case of alterations made to the company database. Therefore, companies that use social media marketing should be wary of the danger of being hacked by criminals.
Another risk of digital marketing is a non-responsive audience that does not respond to marketing strategies. Medical companies may waste resources on online advertisements due to a lack of interest amongst consumers. People may not provide positive feedback on the internet because of privacy concerns. According to research, most internet users are concerned about sharing personal details on social media platforms (Matz et al., 2017). As a result, followers may decline to participate in marketing research because of the threat against online security. Past victims of online cons may fear visiting advertisement links provided by a medical company because of the possibility of being a phishing link. Companies that have not yet established a strong brand identity lack the authority for reassuring concerned social media followers. The events of voter persuasion attempts by Cambridge Analytica to control the outcome of the United States election created distrust of social media (Matz et al., 2017). Over 50 million Facebook users were targeted by persuasion strategies, which generated awareness of manipulative tactics pursued by companies. People have realized that information provided on surveys can be used as manipulative tools against them. Thus, medical companies may experience limitations in response to participation in research. Also, medical brands may risk poor responses to advertisement campaigns. Online commercials do not offer assurance of a responsive audience towards purchasing products. The reason is that people are untrustworthy of advertisements. Based on the study by Gallegos (2017), sixty nine percent of consumers do not trust the intentions of marketers. The reason is attributed to advertiser’s ambition to sell their products more while promoting their brand. Gallegos (2017) suggests that marketing agencies are renowned for creating fake stories about their products to increase sales. Therefore, brands may fail to penetrate a market that is unpersuasive to online ads.
Another risk that medical companies face is social media management by an unskilled group. Digital marketing requires sufficient knowledge and expertise in internet tools. Medical companies may not have a trained group of social media managers at their disposal. Healthcare may be used to traditional forms of marketing that do not require the utility of networking sites. As a result, employees responsible for technical assistance may be unfamiliar with effective tools for digital advertisement. A company that has not pursued internet-based marketing lacks policies that necessitate training of workers on digital skills. Workshops are necessary for building online capabilities that can identify the right techniques for appealing to a wide audience. Lack of digital experience is an obstacle during the use of internet platforms for marketing campaigns (Assaad, Gomez and Ossietzky, 2011). Experience amongst workers is developed through the consistent application of digital tools. Medical organizations that have an aging management overlooking matters related to social media may not facilitate training of employees for online roles. The internet consistently evolves through the update of advertisement and analytical tools. Inadequate training leads to an outdated knowledge of social media, and its features that can capitalize marketing. Unskilled marketers lack communication skills for establishing good rapport on social media. Brand identity amongst consumers is enabled through effective engagement and interaction with marketers. Inexperienced individuals are not familiar with tactics for persuading customers to purchase products on a digital platform. As a result, such employees may not provide appropriate responses towards unsatisfied customers, leading to backlash from other followers. Social media marketers require training to recognize trolling commenters and tactics for avoiding emotional responses that portray irritation from the marketer. Such employees can be baited by online followers into needless debates due to lack of self-control. Instances of poor communication on social networking sites can create a poor image of the company on a global scale.
Companies also face the risk of a poor social media marketing plan and strategy. A digital marketing plan is crucial for dictating strategies for building an online audience. Medical companies that do not have experience in managing social media accounts are likely to develop ineffective marketing strategies or fail to realize the importance of having one (Zarrella, 2009). However, medical device companies can make the wrong decisions during the development of the plan. Ineffective advertisement can lead to a waste of finances and company resources. Medical brands that do not have a strategy cannot overcome the challenges of online marketing. The marketing department may decide to stop its persuasive attempts due to low engagement from followers. Such a decision could be problematic because a long-term plan would highlight disappointing occurrences and backup strategies for such a scenario. Investments into strategies that lack a concrete plan are likely to cause misappropriation of company funds. Low return on investments can discourage shareholders from permitting future experiments with online promotions. Digital marketing requires a long-term outline that does not focus on immediate results. Possibilities of unexpected results should be considered and taken into account to ensure preparation. A poor social media marketing plan poses the threat of inconsistent results. Marketing goals serve as important metrics for measuring the performance of a medical company. Companies that have unspecified targets of achievement cannot determine instances that need adjustment of strategies. As a result, attempts to attract a wider audience can showcase temporary positive results that unexpectedly turn into negative outcomes. Inconsistent performance means that posts on the news feed are irregular. Audiences are likely to become disappointed and can decide to ignore posts in the future. Another danger of an unsuccessful marketing strategy is an overwhelming amount of social media posts. Marketers may assume that continuous updates of the news feed attract a higher following, but it can have an opposite outcome.
Furthermore, social media marketing creates the danger of legal problems. Medical companies can face litigation due to copyright infringement generated by their posts. Images are commonly used on social media platforms to engage with audiences. Nevertheless, inexperienced marketers are liable for posting without confirming whether a media form is protected by legal regulations (Tan, 2018). Copyright complaints can be costly for companies as complainants can sue for financial compensation. People on the internet may also decide to press charges for defective products acquired through online channels. Medical items are expected to perform at optimum conditions due to their significance to one’s health. Malfunctioning devices can instigate public complaints on social media, which is destructive to an organization’s reputation.
Critical statement
Opportunities and risks of social media marketing demonstrate the problem of the internet as an advertisement platform. On one side, social media provides access to a vast audience that can influence purchasing medical products for healthcare companies. Networking sites provide tools for engaging with followers but require awareness of possible dangers. Companies that do not evaluate the disadvantages of social media are likely to make poor decisions, such as an ineffective social media marketing plan.
One of the implications of the risks of digital marketing is the adequate training of employees. Medical companies should install policies for educating technical employees on managing online accounts. Marketers should spend a significant amount of time practicing their newly acquired skills before implementation. Also, companies should select internet platforms that suit their marketing strategy. Using multiple online sites without understanding their strengths and weaknesses maximizes the possibility of inconsistent results.
Conclusion
Social media marketing poses opportunities and dangers for businesses in the medical device industry. Companies can multiply their web traffic through referral links to their website. Medical brands can establish brand awareness and brand identity by engaging with followers. Social media facilitates an organization’s research process through easy access to online participants, and the measurement of performance through analytical tools. On the other hand, medical brands should be aware of the security risks posed by hackers. Internet users can be unresponsive to advertisements due to fear of manipulation by corporations. The marketing can be inexperienced and unskilled, leading to a poor engagement approach and litigation instigated by copyrighted posts. Nevertheless, problems can be avoided through training of employees on social media literacy and digital advertising techniques.
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