Published on March 14th, 2016 | by Guest

A Myth of Using Social Media without Ads

Remember those days when social media was only dedicated to interacting with people around the world and sharing ideas carelessly without having to worry about anything? Sounds like an old news, isn’t it? It all changed when responsible media persons tried to bring in advertisement to the social media we once used as chatting hub and a place to express our thoughts.

In the beginning, it all seemed normal to us when various brands and businesses started interacting with people by and large around the world. But it was only a matter of time when their clicks began to generate traffic on their pages and the next thing we knew, they were designated to pay the price. Brands were too lazy to post any triggering content and social media on the other hand, thrived to make more bucks.

The thing we once so profoundly named as social media marketing is now paradoxically called as Advertising. If you are an owner of a certain brand and really want people to hear what you preach, you must pay the bills first. It is not a place where you can connect and interact with your potential customers – talk about what your product is really about and guide them with what’s best in the market, no! It is a place where everything is business now. It is not connecting with people, it is simply broadcasting. And that’s a shame.

Disk Costolo from Twitter recently cited that ads will “make up about one in 20 tweets.” It is also all very clear to us how many ads pop up when we so warmly post about our daily activities on Facebook; there are ads literally everywhere and anywhere you click. Also, let’s not forget what Snapchat actually meant when it launched “Discover”. Sure, we can keep ourselves updated about various channels by simply turning on the Tele – remind me again why would I need to visit the discover tab anyway?

Sure, social media has developed so much – we witness innovation, optimization, automation, and other development with each passing day. But does it have the same purpose as it used to have when we first started to avail it? Not really. It is not social anymore, since we have brought the business in it too. Now it is a place less for interaction and more for money-making purposes. Thankfully, there are still some networks available that are stick to the pure identity of social media and prevented themselves from advertising like Just10.

As a marketer, to adjust in this era of not-really Social media, one must have the traits to be as competitive as the rest of the brands in the market. If you want that your potential customers can reach your voice – you got to pay for it. The best of social networks like Facebook and Twitter aren’t supporting unpaid media anymore. But it is true that they can find the best target clients and customers for you – therefore, you can only grow if you are ready to put a big chunk of your media budget into their pockets.

But even when you are able to buy yourself some attention through social media, we still advise you to not let go of your artistic and creative side. Be true to your brand – your distinctive attitude may bring more money in your pocket than you think. Even if your brand is allowed to publish whatever the hell it wants, try to focus more on the best content that could easily attract people and less on re-sharing pictures of products from your website.

Don’t limit your approach in thinking that “more likes, more followers” is going to save your business. Keep in mind that social media promotion is just a brick on the wall. It is going to get traffic and popularity but you have to maintain a good business strategy along with a good media strategy. At the end of the day, you will pay to play. Avail this opportunity by keeping in mind that social media is now mass media and you have every right to get the best available customers out of this goldmine.

Tags: ads, business, marketing, media, myth, social, traffic, using, without