Social Media, Good or Bad for a Campaign?

Social media is not just a platform for easy and simple advanced online marketing, it is also the revolution of our century. In our generation today, Social media plays a big role as the modern tool for marketers who try every means to get their message out to their target markets. Social media is comprised of the different social networking sites such as the rise of Friendster, Multiply, YouTube and now the phenomenal Facebook, Twitter and also the booming Instagram. Facebook which is the most popular and used networking site offers the option of creating a fan page for a company or product, while Twitter makes use of 140-character posts that users follow. YouTube is a repository for podcasts and video clips, with a viewership of millions around the globe.  Another form of social media are Blogs which are online journals written by users, which can be influential in spreading news and information. Some sites offer display advertising options, but the majority are simply a method of sharing information with others.

Social media has its own numerous advantages and disadvantages which are:

ADVANTAGES

The Philippine Cyberspace infographic

• Information at your fingertips.
• Everyone (all ages) is on social media/social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) as Philippines is the 5^th largest country on Facebook with nearly 21 Million users as of 2011.

• When using social media for marketing products, social media could be easily utilized to create cost effective strategies and campaigns that can create viral results. The majority of social media sites are free to access, create a profile and post information. The advantage of reaching your targeted market for little or no cash investment is substantial, and the audience wanting your information voluntarily joins or follows you.
• Social media has the power to drive traffic to bring people together, especially when promoting global products or cause-related campaigns and ideas since it allows people from the different geographical location to meet at a single point and express their views.
• Social media could be the spark you are looking for to attract attention to your site, product or service. It could also be used to further build loyalty and long-term relations with your audience.

• The viral nature of social media means that each person who reads your posts has the capability to spread the news farther within his own network, so information can reach a large number of people in a short time.

• Instant, with social media, you can announce campaign or special event as soon you finalize plans. Social media gives candidates/ business owners the ability to share information, such as blog posts, tips and ideas and coupons instantly.

• Interactive. In social media your constituents can ask a question and watch how quickly your fans and followers reach out to give you their responses. Anyone can even leave messages on your page if they have a customer service concern. Social media marketing enables you to provide the people with assistance on-the-spot. Social media networks also gives you a chance to interact with other entrepreneurs and leaders in their industries. The information you receive can help you improve the way you manage, operate, market or finance your campaign.

DISADVANTAGES

• The wrong online brand strategy could put you at a viral social disadvantage and may even damage your reputation, i.e, when you make a mistake offline, a few will know but when you make a mistake in front of hundreds or thousands of you online audience, most of them will know. When social media is used excessively or in the wrong way, it could have serious detrimental outcomes on both mental and even physical health of individuals. Based on our recent events, recall what happened to Senator Tito Sotto and his plagiarism act that draw a lot of attention online where people posted their reactions, pictures and memes on how disappointing and embarrassing the senator was.
• Using social media for marketing and advertising could be more time consuming than what people expect because it requires a real-time information and quick response so it needs to be managed 24 hrs or if not most of the time.
• Information and Identity Theft. Whether you like it or not, the information you post on the Internet is available to almost anyone who is clever enough to access it. Most thieves need just a few vital pieces of personal information to make your life a nightmare and if they successfully steal your identity, it could cost you dearly. 
• Privacy is also one of the major issues in Social Media as information travels fast and widely.
  

Social Media is very useful in our generation today and in my own personal opinion that it is of great advantage for the 2013 election candidates. Social Media will help them in touching as many constituents as possible where mostly the national candidates such as the senators and party-lists can gain benefits from it because information online travels fast and can be shared to everyone which is almost all of the population of our country which will result to saving their time and effort in reaching all of their constituents. One of the major issues during the election campaign period or even after is the financial aspect of the whole campaign. As we all know millions and even billions of peso are involved per candidate and many organizations are questioning where those money are coming from, through the Social Media they will be able to minimize their cost because posting posters and videos online is free via YouTube, Facebook and other sites. The candidates personal privacy is not much of an issue because we all know or it is a norm that when you run into public office you offer all yourself to the people because transparency and accountability comes from it. One important thing in campaigning thru the social media is to take extra care of the information that they will share to avoid or to lessen negative criticisms.  

The Social Media Effect infographic