A quick peek at Facebook’s history

Facebook, or to call its former name “Facemash,” was created in 2003 as a platform for Harvard students. They could upload photos of themselves and add personal information such as class schedules, favorite clubs, etc.
After a while, Facebook permitted students from other schools like Yale or Standford to join. Ultimately, at the end of 2004, this Platform had almost 1 million active users. Adding extra features like “tagging,” wall,” newsfeed” raised the popularity of Facebook amongst its members.
After almost #2 years, non-students older than #13 had the authority to join Facebook. The opened membership made it a suitable platform for marketers. For example, “Procter and Gamble” company attracted almost 15 thousand users on a promotional effort with a teeth-whitening product.
Rather than marketing and advertising, Facebook also was governing the digital-political world. The 2008 U.S presidential election can be an instance as about a thousand Facebook groups were formed to support Barak Obama.

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The world of social media earlier than the time of Facebook

You may wonder, what about before the year 2003? Were there any platforms available for people to communicate and share ideas before the heroic rise of Facebook?
The short and quick answer to your questions is Yes.
Of course, the number was less than a handful. But, that small number could somehow fulfill the communication needs in people.
They lost the battle against Facebook and other new-raised platforms, and their strategies, planning, and bad luck were the ones to blame.
The three well-known platforms before Facebook were Myspace, Friendster, and SecondLife.
Let’s crack the codes and see what made them well-liked back then and eventually what made them fail.

Friendster

At one stage, it was the pioneer of social media platforms. Friendster, Founded by Jonathan Abrams in 2003, had almost #3 million monthly active users. Google even offered $30 million to buy it.
However, it was a flash in the pan as Abrams decided to reject Google’s offer and use Venture Capital private financing to grow his business.
They couldn’t keep up with the pace of new members. Webpages were always down, and the web redesign was no longer appealing.
Friendster said goodbye to the social network world only three years after being born.

Myspace 

Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe created MySpace by copying the main features of Friendster and eliminating the unnecessary ones. MySpace enabled users to make a community. The main focus of MySpace was on sound infrastructure, and it had a notable influence on both music and technology. At a certain point, it had almost 20 million monthly active users. However, it “fell from favor” due to the rise of Facebook in 2007. Millions of users migrated to Facebook, and that was the end of the MySpace empire. Although it’s not one of the popular social media platforms, it still exists and is more focused on music.

SecondLife

Dissimilar to Friendster, MySpace, and Facebook, SecondLife was more focused on promoting people’s meetings and interactions through the internet. This website enabled users to use avatars in order to participate in a virtual world. The different structures and purposes between Facebook and Secondlife have made it stay out of the severe competition between Facebook and its rivals.
But with the rapid growth of their users, they could no longer handle their stability. In addition to that, new policies and security issues made it even harder for SecondLife to survive.

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Final Words

Even before Facebook, people could have found a suitable way to communicate with others through the internet. However, these methods couldn’t live that long, and Facebook was one of the main reasons they’re out of the picture.

We’re more than happy you came this far
Xino Digital Team!

Read more about Social media marketin pors and cons

Some negative impacts of social media at a glance

• Constant Attention seeking 
• Distraction from life goals 
• Increases the risk of depression 
• Relationship failure
• Cyberbullying 
• Sleeping disorders 

Attention seeking 

The never-ending battle for more likes and comments is no secret to anyone. Looking for attention is a natural need in all of us. However, social media has taken this need to its highest level as it enables you to seek attention anytime you want. Remember, what you receive comes from the personality you’ve constructed online and not your true self, and that’s why it’s not fulfilling, and you still feel lonely.

Distraction from life goals 

It’s a known fact that achieving your purpose needs motivation and hard work.
However, social media works like the poisoned apple. It traps you and takes all your time, energy, and attention, making it hard for you to get back on track.

Increases the risk of depression

Most of the time, you compare yourself and your life to others without even knowing it. The damages caused by these comparisons are not recoverable. Therefore, you’ll feel more and more depressed due to the feelings of not being as good as your social media friends.

Relationship failure

So many factors caused by social media can break a relationship. Feeling jealous of other couples or constantly tracking your partner on social media is the common reason for controversy amongst young couples.

Cyberbullying 

As you know, people feel more comfortable expressing themselves on social media rather than in the real world. Disrespecting others and judging their look, face, accents, etc., count as online harassment. Unfortunately, the odds of encountering it on social media are very high. They ultimately can damage the picture of humanity as we believe everyone is trying to hurt us. Besides, it takes a lot of courage and hard work to ignore such comments. That’s why in most people, cyberbullying leads to low self-esteem.

Sleeping disorders

People who constantly use social media are more likely to have difficulty sleeping. The relationship between a good night’s sleep and scrolling through social media is not complex. The light emitted from your smart devices easily tricks your brain into thinking it’s still not the proper time to sleep. After a while, your body loses its capability to determine the right time to alarm you to go to bed.

Believe it or not, the list of damages caused by social media is even longer! These #6 negative impacts were just a heads up. If you keep ignoring them, they’ll interfere with your life quality. That’s why we’ve provided a list to help you avoid the “negative effects” of social media.

#7 practical methods to avoid the negative effects of social media

 Have a break

Consider taking a break from social media sometimes. Give yourself some time and space out of it to rest and energize. Besides, when you pause your activity in the virtual world, you have time to prioritize your friends, family, and yourself. Rather than that, As you’re repeating a task, your brain enters a sleeping phase which causes loss of focus and productivity. Taking a step back forces your brain to regain its strength and get back on the horse.    

Set a goal

Before engaging yourself with various platforms, try to create a purpose for each one of them. It can be either keeping in touch with your friends or even educational. For instance, I chose YouTube as a social media channel to learn new tricks and methods about Digital marketing. Keeping that goal in mind keeps me from wasting my time on junk content. 

Feel free to accept the friend requests of the ones you like

Sometimes, you feel obligated to accept the friend request of the people you don’t care for due to social conventions. I know how it feels to open your Facebook page and see the photos of the people you don’t even like. That’s one thing that can ruin your social media experience. Instead, try to connect with the people you adore and give off more positive energy. 

Change your point of view

We can apply the expression “the coin has two sides” to our everyday issues and struggles. The content we see on social media is not an exception. For instance, you can decide to be jealous of your friend getting a new job and feel bad for yourself or be happy for her and try harder for your own goals in life. 

Keep your newsfeed filled with positive content

People mainly underestimate the impact of the content we see every day on our mental and physical health. There’s a strong relationship between your exposure to bad news and negative content and your peacefulness. Fill your homepage with happy quotes and energizing photos and videos to see its direct result on your life. 

Play your part in this game

According to studies, active users build a stronger bond with the social media world. On the other hand, users who stay out of the game of liking and sharing tend to feel envious and lonely. Instead of scrolling, play your part and contribute to the platforms you’re using. 

Take control of your emotions

Remember, at the end of the day, YOU are the one responsible for your feelings. Regardless of the negative impacts of social media, you should be able to take control of your emotions. That’s why we have a table full of options such as block, report, unfollow or remove.

Read more about types of social media content

Final words

Despite all the features and benefits social media offers, it can have severe negative impacts on our lives. But don’t sweat it, as there are various methods to battle against it. Acknowledge these negative results and learn how to defeat them.

We’re more than happy you came this far
Xino Digital Team!

Read more about Social media marketin pors and cons

Taking a closer look at the vitality of social media content 

Suitable content serves your business in many ways. Understanding its importance helps you go to extra mile to generate content.

Your brand’s voice relies on your content

As you know, more than 75% of purchases happen online. People don’t just happen to find a brand. Instead, they’re more attracted to the brands they find more related to. Finding the proper voice makes your audience feel more connected to you. Each brand has a unique way of interacting with its audience. The first step is to find yours! 

Well-groomed content brings loyalty

Needless to say, every brand casts around for audience loyalty as it guarantees more purchases and shares. The key is generating high-quality content as it makes the audience feel respected and satisfied. Posting top-notch content also brings you more impressions. 

Organic traffic

Naturally, paid ads are faster and more convenient to boost your reach. But bear in mind, you can always gain organic traffic without paying a penny! The only thing you need to do is craft engaging and eye-catching content to attract more audiences. 

Knowing about the benefits of suitable content raises many questions in your head. “What is the best type of content suitable for my brand?” How to generate the content that works?” Xino Digital is here to give you the ingredients of the magic potion. We’ve listed #20 various content types you can use. 

20 various content types

1. Use UGC ( User-Generated Content)

As the name implies, you can use the content someone else has generated. You can easily repost it while giving credit to its creator. UGC boosts engagement and reach. Take “retweet” on Twitter as an example. People are more likely to communicate with you as they see their posts on your homepage. In addition, it shows your followers that you care about them, and despite your busy schedule, you check their posts related to your business. GoPro is a good case in point as it constantly uses the pictures people have taken using their camera. UGC method works effectively on Instagram, and here are the steps to generate UGC : 

• Constantly check your social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. 
• Find the posts that tagged you or used Hashtags related to your business.
• Repost them and mention the creator’s name and ID. 

2. Upload Quotes

According to the dictionary, quoting means to repeat someone else’s notes or spoken words. Nowadays, Quotes are broadly well-liked on social media. This type of content can be either visual or text. As always, visual content always has a better impression on the users. They also work better on Facebook or Instagram. Quotes have various types, such as fun, inspirational, or life-related quotes. 

3. Record Podcasts

Through the past few years, the power of podcasts had an eye-catching boost. Every day, we see more people wearing headphones and listening to podcasts while they’re walking home, working, or riding the subway. Interestingly you see only a handful of podcasts on social media channels. Hence, creating podcasts related to your business seems like a wise move. However, some platforms like Facebook or Twitter don’t allow you to upload your media files. There are two headache-free solutions for this problem. 

• You can share the link to your podcast in the caption o your post.
• Use video editor applications to put an image on your track and turn it into a video clip. Then you can upload the mp4 format on your social media accounts. 

4. Live-Streaming

Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube enable you to connect with your target audience through live streaming. You also have the option of saving it for the users who have missed it or need to watch it again. One of the methods to boost your sales or drive more traffic is to tempt your audience with special offers. For instance: “Pre-order tonight, through the live-stream at 21:00 to get the product with 20%off!”

5. Write Articles

One other way to provide your audience with valuable content is through Articles. Writing related texts keeps your audience informed and updated about your brand. Remember, writing articles can be tricky. For instance, the text you’re writing needs to be SEO optimized to perform well and drive traffic to your website. Before creating a blog section on your webpage, consider using the help of a professional copywriter.

6. Use charts and Infographics

The mixture of visual aids and data has proved to be appealing content. According to studies, people like learning new things. Frankly, texts can be tedious sometimes. So why not use the power of images and combine them with practical and short information? You may feel intimidated by creating Infographics at first. But some tools can help you throughout this process, such as Canva. 

7. Host webinars

A webinar or an online conference helps your business with direct interaction with the audience and effectively presenting your brand through videos and speeches. You can also use Call To Actions during your webinar. Remember to keep it short (30-40 minutes). After your webinar, you can upload it on your social media accounts. Then ask for your audience’s email addresses to access the link. This Email list will also serve you in other marketing practices. 

8. Share other customers’ testimonials

Imagine you’ve decided to buy a cellphone online. It’s unlikely for you as a customer to instantly press the “Buy It Now” button as you first look for other people’s comments and rates about that object. That’s the effect of Testimonials. They are persuasive, attractive, and can earn the users’ trust. 

9. Ask Questions

Most people love to share their points of view. Asking open-ended questions from your audience will shove your engagement rate. Ask questions starting with “Where, “Who,” What, and “How” rather than Yes no questions. 

10. Create E-books

If your business has the potential to make e-books out of it, don’t hesitate. Free e-books are suitable content as you can ask for your users’ Email addresses. You can also promote it using paid ads. 

11. Guides and Instructions

As previously mentioned, people like new information and data. Gather enough data about the topics your users like to know about and create a guide about it. You can also strategically add a CTA at the end of the instruction. 

12. Create memes

It’s safe to say that memes have taken over the social network! You can see them everywhere, and to be honest, they are hilarious! Memes are a perfect medicine for a stressed-out user. Cautiously add them to your daily posting routine. Monitor your audience’s relaxing hours to determine the suitable timing for uploading your memes.

13. Polls and surveys

Not only they’re a magnificent tool to boost engagement, but you can also understand how your audience thinks. Thus, consider using polls and quizzes once in a while. 

14. Share research and findings

If you’ve recently read interesting studies or findings related to your business, share them with your audience. Posting scientific studies help you boost your sales and products using proven facts. 

15. Make videos

According to professional marketers, using video advertising has directly led their business to sales promotion. Videos can be a proper content choice as they attract attention. You can choose between various forms you can use, such as TikTok videos, Reels, YouTube videos, and short or long-form clips. You also have the option of mixing these types. Note that Instagram and TikTok are better-suited platforms for short videos. 

16. Create Educational Content

When you provide your users with informative content, you’ll stand out from your rivals, sharing useless content. In addition, people enjoy seeing a brand trying to evaluate their knowledge using educational posts. There are various forms of content that you can use, such as Infographics, Tutorial videos, How-to instructions, etc.

17. AMA (Ask Me Anything)

If you’re looking to build a stronger bond with your audience, you can use AMA posts. The audience is free to ask you anything to know your personality. It’s the best opportunity for them to see who’s behind the brand they’re following. 

18. Share up-to-date Topics

Always keep yourself updated about your business. Know the trends and the most recent changes and create content about it. People like following the accounts that are aware of trends. 

19. Gifs

Using Gifs related to your brand helps your content look creative and entertaining. 

20. Stories

Snapchat introduced the concept of “story” to the social media world. Nowadays, you rarely see a platform without this feature. They are considered to be a suitable set for offers with limited time. 

Final words

There are various methods and types of creating content. But the key to success is to find the best combination. It doesn’t look easy, but once you find it, you’ll be able to boost your engagement and sales.

Social media marketing

Facebook is a good case in point to get the vitality of social media and its impact on marketing. Today it owns almost 3 Billion active users making it one of the most suitable and broad platforms for marketers. Likewise, other platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. Can effectively boost your marketing strategy. It all comes down to your business goals and unique game plans which one to choose. Social media strategies have been around for many years, but technological growth has
ameliorated it more than anything else.
For many marketing experts, social media is a godsent savior. It elevates all their marketing plans due to its massive prospects. However, for others, it’s all a doubtful advantage. It’s hard to neglect the ones believing that social media marketing can be make-or-break.
According to all of these conflicts, how can we decide whether to take our marketing plans on social media platforms and take the risk or lose our chance and stay on the safe side?

The only way to crack the code is to take both pros and cons under the microscope.

Advantages of Social media marketing 

As always, Xino Digital is here to answer your questions. Therefore, we’ve gathered the #5 chief advantages of social media marketing. Keep reading to find out why using social media promotes your business.

Boosting brand recognition

It’s hard to ignore the effect of social media channels on letting people know you exist! Mainly if you’re a newbie marketer or just started your business, these platforms are here to lend a and. The number of online channels is countless. TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat are just some examples to see the vast alternatives you have while opting for a suitable platform. In conclusion, the broader your audience, the better you’ll get noticed.

Promoting audience engagement

One of the most critical stages in social media marketing is engagement and boosting conversion. This factor’s essential as it works as an assurance that your audience will seek you anywhere and any time they need your service or product. Apart from that, by way of audience engagement, brands can widen the circle of their staunch customers and build strong relationships. Bear in mind the chief purpose of social media is interaction. Thus, it’s natural that combining your marketing strategy with online platforms lights a fire under your customers for more engagement. It’s a must to have a daily plan to keep your accounts dynamic and interact with your audience. 

Helping you to keep an eye on your rivals

When you take your business online, you’re able to monitor your opponents to know about their latest activities. It can also help you find out about winning strategies. You may consider this process cheating, but it is an essential strategy in the marketing world. However, you shouldn’t copy everything you see. Try to learn their tricks and modify them according to your marketing plans. There are now various tools helping you find the most successful ads. BigSpy, PowerAdSpy, and AdSpy are the most successful ad spy tools helping you throughout this process. All you need to do is buy your preferred plan and adjust the filters based on your desired ads.

Customer insights are at hand

Most social media users easily express their opinion on online platforms. That way, you’ll get to know about their needs and the factors they look for in a product or service. Try not to ignore this feature and make the most out of it. Collect all these insights and apply them to your marketing plans. The next step is to convince them that you’re providing what they crave. If you manage to succeed throughout this process, you’ll be able to captivate the attention of new customers, maintain your old audience, and consequently boost your sales.

It’s mostly free of charge

Most services are social media platforms are at no cost. For instance, Facebook wouldn’t charge you for creating a business account. That serves you in many ways, as you can promote your products or services through a public post. However, if your goal is to boost your reach, these services are no longer free of charge. 

So far, we’ve walked you through some benefits of social media marketing, but as we mentioned earlier, like anything else, it also has some disadvantages. We help you understand some drawbacks of social media marketing and how they can affect your marketing practices.

Disadvantages of Social media marketing 

It allows negative comments and feedback

Nowadays, social media users post almost everything they want. That includes even negative comments and feedback bout your brand and business. You may think a couple of criticism can’t take hold of your business, and that’s where you’re wrong. Believe it or not, they can make your brand hit rock bottom! Any negative feedback can break other customers’ trust, and mending that broken trust is not easy. As a result, it can ultimately lead to ruining your brand’s reputation.

It takes time, money, and effort

Social marketing may seem simple. But to run a successful campaign, you need to put all your time and effort. In addition, it may take more than a year to reach the results that you’ve planned for. There’s a solution to fix this problem and speed up the process. You can boost your ads by paying a certain amount based on several factors, such as frequency and audience reach. 

Countless marketers and ads

Every day, the number of social media users, platforms, marketers, and ultimately social media ads are rapidly growing. It means the amount of organic ads every user faces is superabundant. So as a marketer, standing out isn’t a piece of cake. Hence, the odds are against your easy success in brand awareness and boosting your sales, especially if you’re new in this business!

Deceiving data

Fake news and rumors are floating around all over the social media channel. The bad news is the number of people believing them is not slim! If a customer falsely has a bad experience with your brand or even you, they can run around and spread rumors or their false opinion about your business. That “bad press” can damage marketing plans as you may lose your potential audience or even the existing ones. Removing gossip off of the internet is not possible. So whenever people hear your brand’s name, they instantly remember the rumors attached to it!

Hackers in the air!

Social media platforms constantly assure us that our accounts are highly protected. Well, to speak frankly, this is only partly true. Nothing on the internet is 100% safe and secured as there are always some people, more intelligent than social media channels’ AI! When these hackers access your account, they endanger your reputation, data, money, etc. Taking any step online has its threats, but some social media experts can help you solve the hacking issues and prevent such problems.

After weighing up all the possible aspects of social media marketing, you’re able to decide whether to consider it as a well-fitted place for your ads or not.
Social media experts and professionals can help you throughout the marketing process and lower the chances of failing. You are free to decide what works best for your business, but we recommend taking the risk and walking out of your safe zone. However, that takes a lot of studies and consulting.

To wrap up 

Social media marketing falls under the category of risky decisions for your business. One of the ways that help you make the right choice is to examine the pros and cons of anything you’re doubtful about. In this article, we dug into social media marketing to draw you a more clear picture.