Social Media – Is It Losing Ground?

The advent of social media brought a major upheaval in the advertising and marketing industries. Gradually, traditional means and ways of marketing businesses began to lose ground, with marketers adopting a more conversational-centric method, the social media. It was considered to be a small deviation from the traditional marketing methods and soon became a full fledged industry.

Businesses, small and large, jumped on to the social media bandwagon to promote and advertise their businesses. Though, many businesses have gained from social network marketing, figures show a decline now, with engagement numbers and stock prices plummeting.
Not only marketers, investors are equally frustrated with the not-so-bright performance of social networking websites. There are many indications that are evident of the decline of the social medium.

Declining Stock Prices – The last few months have witnessed a decline in the market capitalisation value of various social networking websites, such as Facebook. The iconic social networking website was valued at $100 billion in May, whereas now its worth is approximately $50 billion with a fall of 38 % in the stock value. This is not only the case with Facebook but with most of the other social networking websites as well. Social networking giants that were hugely popular not so many years ago are losing their credence in the market gradually. The various reasons that are responsible for this decline include their lack of experience and leadership skills, along with the huge expectations carried by them on their shoulders. Experts say that social media start-ups and their investors are only interested in making it big in a short period. Sustaining for a long time is neither their focus nor their calibre, and very few companies have been able to hold it on their own for more than a decade. This lack of focus and experience also leads to wrong decisions that adversely impact the market value, stock prices and profits of the company.

Lack of Real Social Engagement – While social networks is said to be more affordable than other marketing means, recent surveys have revealed that social networking sites are not as influential or effective as paid search or email marketing campaigns. Moreover, companies face major challenges in trying to acquire and maintain relationships on these sites, as users of social media sites are more fickle. Most advertisements displayed on these websites are never seen either, which further substantiates low social engagement. With more users accessing these websites through their mobile phones, chances of advertisements being viewed decrease even further. This lack of engagement rates also affects the popularity of these websites for marketers and advertisers, who are not as willing to advertise on these sites anymore. This, in turn, further affects the stock prices and market value negatively.

More Challenges in Gaining Visibility – With an overload of information on these websites, users are being hoarded with so much, making it even more difficult for companies to get the visibility desired. Those who adopted and joined the bandwagon early in the phase reaped benefits, which is not the case anymore. With almost every company vying for attention, it is becoming increasingly challenging for companies to reach their target audience. To gain visibility on social networking sites, one needs to assess all search engine optimisation techniques in order to create headlines that are catchy enough. The amount of effort that goes into this exceeds the returns, making this a failed venture.

With such evident signs of the decline of the social medium, it might be the right time for marketers and advertisers to return to traditional methods of marketing and promotion. The more effective platforms that have paid off consistently include direct communication with existing and prospective customers, website promotion and marketing, and public relation efforts among several others. Whether social networks will be able to upturn its misfortunes or not is something that only time can tell. However, relying on some of the tried and tested methods will surely pay dividends in the long run.

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