You’re trying to get a better idea of who your target audience is and what they’re already buying, so you turn to social media to see what your competitors are doing.
If it’s working for them, it should work for you — right?
Unfortunately, doing your market research on social media alone only gives you partial information.
In this post, we’ll uncover the advantages and challenges of social media marketing research and how to ensure you’re reaching your customers and staying competitive.
A Disadvantage of Using Social Media for Marketing Research Is That it Only Gives You Part of the Story
While it might seem like a good plan to look up your competitors on the various social media sites to see what type of ads they are posting, it doesn’t always tell the full story.
With “page transparency” on Facebook, for example, you can see …
- The number of active ads your competitor has
- What they’re advertising; and
- When they started that advertisement
… but what you can’t see is …
- How many people have clicked on the ad
- If their sales have increased; and
- How much they spent on that ad
… which means you’re missing some of the most valuable information.
Another disadvantage of using social media for marketing research is that social networks aren’t always honest. Just because your competitor shows 100,000+ followers, it doesn’t mean those are all real.
Or maybe your competitor is spending a lot of money on ads — but if they’re not tracking their results through the backend insights, then they could be suffering huge losses.
Additionally, many companies get very little traffic from social media. While they may be spending money on ads, there’s no way for you to tell how much of their marketing budget is geared toward social media vs. other marketing channels.
True competitor analysis for market research requires some further digging. You can invest in website analysis tools, like SimilarWeb or Ahrefs, but they can come with a hefty price tag. This doesn’t always make sense for small businesses with lower marketing budgets.
Pretty-Impressive in Houston builds integrated multi-channel marketing campaigns. We can help you attract and retain the clients you’re looking for.
Ready to turn $1 in ad spend into $12 in profits? Contact Pretty-Impressive today.
Inspire and Engage
At Pretty-Impressive, each client is unique. Which is why we create strategies tailored to the needs of each company. Reach out and we’ll help you get your brand exactly where it needs to be — ahead of the rest.
3 Other Disadvantages of Using Social Media for Marketing Research
Beyond the missing insights, there are a few more reasons why using social media for marketing research may not be in your best interest.
While it offers some minor insights, it doesn’t take into account these factors:
1. Not Everyone Is On Social Media
It’s true. It might seem like everyone is on social media, but in reality, Facebook has almost 3 billion active users compared to a global population of 7.88 billion people and growing.
That means that roughly 63% of your possible target audience isn’t even on social media.
Limiting your data collection and analysis to social media networks means that you will never reach your clients who don’t utilize these platforms regularly.
At the end of the day, using social media for market research provides a pretty decent reach.However, it’s simply not going to be as accurate as other forms of market research.
2. The Problem Of Herd Mentality
Let’s face it — people want to fit in. The need to belong to something bigger is a part of social psychology and it has been referred to as “herd mentality”.
Dr. Karyn Hall Ph.D. said this about belongingness:
“A sense of belonging is a human need, just like the need for food and shelter. Feeling that you belong is most important in seeing value in life and in coping with intensely painful emotions. Some find belonging in a church, some with friends, some with family, and some on Twitter or other social media.”
This need to belong or conform drives impulsivity and behavior mimicking. We’ve all heard the saying, “monkey see, monkey do”, and this is no different — especially on social media.
Imagine presenting a poll on social media where people’s responses are visible before taking a vote. Your intended audience may be swayed to vote differently than their initial instinct based on what the crowd ahead of them has already established.
When trying to gather data on social media, the social need of belonging to the group can end up negatively impacting the accuracy of your results.
3. Issues With Data Collection
Another standout disadvantage of using social media for marketing research is the issue of data collection.
Even though social media is a huge source of data, collecting and sorting the data that is relevant to your business can be a time-consuming nightmare — especially if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Consider these factors before you start collecting data from social media:
- The data may not be coming from a predefined demographic.
- There may not be enough posts to collect the required data.
- The posts may not offer any useful insights.
- Data quality and quantity may not be consistent.
- Social media typically doesn’t prompt in-depth feedback.
It’s important to know what you want to get out of the data before you start collecting.
Otherwise, you’ll end up with an unstructured sorting process that will not only take too long, but it will be highly ineffective.
Inspire and Engage
At Pretty-Impressive, each client is unique. Which is why we create strategies tailored to the needs of each company. Reach out and we’ll help you get your brand exactly where it needs to be — ahead of the rest.
3 Advantages of Using Social Media for Marketing Research
Social media is one of the best ways to track engagement, such as …
- Shares
- Likes
- Comments; and
- Followers
… of a particular brand. When used correctly, social media can play a big role when it comes to market research.
Here are some of the ways social media is a useful and recommended tool for market research.
1. Social Media Is Well-Suited For Some Types Of Research
Social media market research is not only an effective way to gather real-time data but it’s a great tool for companies looking for:
- Flexibility – you can quickly adapt your strategies and immediately respond to potential issues.
- Cost-effectiveness – conventional research can be pricey, whereas social media offers a low overhead.
- Unfiltered data – because social media doesn’t have the same structure as focus groups or surveys, the data collected is usually representative of your customers’ true feelings.
- 24/7 data – social media provides year-round insights, making it an effective way to follow trends and spot potential issues.
2. Social Media Research Can Help Fill Gaps Created By Conventional Market Research
Social media market research can be complementary to other forms of research in a few ways.
Take surveys, for example: If you used social media to first measure the mentions received by a brand prior to a survey, then you can easily reduce the number of questions on that survey.
This helps lessen respondent fatigue which may lead to an increase in the number of responses received.
Social media market research allows companies to stay on top of public opinion, rather than counting on quarterly or annual research, whether via surveys or any other methods.
3. Social Media Produces An Incredible Amount Of Data
The amount of data we create each day on social media is staggering. With all that data, there’s no end to what you, as a company, can learn about your target audience.
According to Forbes, in every minute of every day, social media users:
- Share 500,000+ photos on Snapchat
- Watch more than 4 million YouTube videos
- Send 500,000+ tweets
- Post 50,000 photos on Instagram; and
- Make 500,000+ comments on Facebook
And these numbers continue to grow. But, what do you do with all of this valuable data?
Sorting for relevant data can be extremely costly and time-consuming. Most companies don’t have the time, money, or persons dedicated to such a colossal task.
And that’s where Pretty-Impressive comes in.
Want to Use Social Media for Marketing Research the Right Way? Pretty-Impressive Can Help
The bottom line is that social media for marketing research is possible when it’s done the right way.
To grow your business in the digital age, you must use the internet (social media specifically) to your advantage.
But you don’t have to do it alone.
At Pretty-Impressive we take pride in our out-of-the-box solutions and cutting-edge campaigns that have drastically improved our clients’ profit margins.
Not only can we conduct the market research you need through social media and other marketing channels, but we can also help you get the best return on your ad spend.
Don’t waste any more time or money.
Pretty-Impressive can help you unleash a digital marketing research and ad campaign that will do the work for you.
