Social media advertising is when an organisation pays a platform to show its adverts and promoted posts to that platform's users. It can reach a huge number of people at once, but it brings real drawbacks that an organisation should weigh up before spending its money.
Comments under an advert are public, so negative comments are read by everyone browsing the post, not just the person who wrote them. One complaint about a faulty product, or a rude reply from the organisation, can put other customers off, and an angry response makes things worse — people screenshot it and share it. An inappropriate advert causes harm on its own too: clumsy wording that upsets a group of people, or an advert appearing next to unsuitable content, makes customers think less of the organisation and many will take their money elsewhere.
Competitors can also watch what your organisation posts. A clever offer or a popular video can be copied within a day, with a rival undercutting the price before the original campaign has finished. The organisation has paid for the idea and the exposure, but the extra customers and income go to the competitor instead.
Running an account takes time. Staff have to post regularly to stay visible, answer questions and deal with complaints, and that is paid working time taken away from other jobs. A slow reply looks like the organisation does not care, which is just as damaging as saying nothing.
Even a well-made advert may not be seen. There is a huge amount of content competing for attention, so a post can be scrolled past in seconds, and plenty of customers do not use social media at all. The algorithm — the rules the platform uses to decide what to show each person — controls who sees the advert, so it may reach people outside the target audience or hardly anyone, while the organisation pays for the campaign either way.
Pearson BTEC Digital Information Technology · Communication with Stakeholders