It is undeniably true that social media has taken the world by storm. However, it’s the kind of storm that has brought positive and negative impacts.
Social media made communication borderless, rapid and everything happen in real-time. It has also revolutionised the commercial market in many ways; businesses are now more accountable to the customer than ever before. And it has opened the world of marketing and advertising to anybody who has the understanding and know-how of selling.
On the negative side, people no longer enjoy the same privacy as they did pre-social media.
Maybe we should zoom into the marketing and advertising context – where there is a seemingly louder outcry of social media’s negative impact.
Social media increased the impact of advertising by adding a channel that has vast reach and affirmation. And while some corporates still believe in the ‘old’ ways of advertising and marketing, those days are officially gone now.
.@akaworldwide, are these custom sneakers because kunzima emhlabeni. ������ https://t.co/vLvAuJq5I2 pic.twitter.com/5zIAXXXadV
— NandosSA (@NandosSA) October 9, 2019
Corporates need to wake up to the fact that social media isn’t killing advertising, but has rather has made it easier and cost-effective for advertising to reach the customer in a more sophisticated manner. The days of one-way communication has become obsolete in this current world.
My advice for those who think that social media is cannibalising on advertising? Embrace change!
With that said, a majority of corporates have social media accounts while continuing to invest more in organic and paid social advertising. Social media halved the outsourcing of advertising services from agencies, but it has also opened up a new stream of digital and social media marketing agencies.
So, social media is definitely not killing advertising but, rather, augmenting and reinforcing it.
