Forbes, and Pamela N. Danziger. “Social Media Has Over-Promised, But Under-Delivered For Retailers. Here’s The Fix.” Forbes, Pamela N. Danziger, 23 May 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2021/05/23/social-media-has-over-promised-but-under-delivered-for-retailers-heres-the-fix/?sh=25b072db1168.

In this article, Pamela N. Danziger reports that, “The gap between retailers’ expectations for social media versus its reality is something I’ve observed in numerous surveys my company has conducted among big retailers and small. For example, in Unity Marketing’s latest “State of Luxury” study, including results from some 200 luxury goods company executives, only 34% rated Instagram “very effective” and this was the most highly rated social media platform. Fewer than 20% rated Facebook “very effective” and more (23%) said it was of “limited effectiveness.” These results were mirrored in a survey just conducted by the small-business networking platform Alignable, which regularly conducts research across its network. With nearly 4,000 small businesses responding, of which 60% were independent retailers, the majority rated both Facebook (53%) and Instagram (50%) advertising only “somewhat effective” in promoting their businesses. Instagram was relatively more effective than Facebook, with 32% rating Instagram “very” or “extremely effective,” compared with 26% of Facebook users. Overall independent retailers that most need effective social media strategies are the least able to make social media work. However, even the biggest companies with the most sophisticated technical resources often find social media doesn’t live up to its hype either.”. Pamela provides a lot of research based on surveys that are taken both on consumers and business owners. Based on those surveys, most people think that social media isn’t doing enough for the businesses as people think. In reality social media isn’t as effective as people think, which leads me to think that social media isn’t worth putting a lot of money and effort into. However, it might be the company not using social media in the correct way. Pamela also states, “Retailers and brands run the risk of turning off, rather than turning on consumers when social engagement becomes too commercial”. When companies use social media just to promote and advertise, it probably won’t do as good because that’s the wrong way to use social media. The “right” way is by trying to engage with them, because that’s what social media was made for and according to the article, people like reacting and interacting. Â