Social media and online reviews…they can be a company’s best friend or their enemy. In the past few years, lawsuits over negative reviews have risen. With this trend, there has been an increase in businesses suing consumers for their overzealous negative reviews and comments.

Facebook continues to be in hot water. Today, a New Scientistinvestigation has found that data from 3 million Facebook users who used a popular personality app, including their answers to intimate questionnaires, was left exposed online for anyone to access. 

Online privacy is becoming more of a concern for consumers and now even advertisers. Recent news has some companies second-guessing the social media platform. 

Brand Distrust
Some brands are and having losing confidence in Facebook. A few large companies are already scaling back on their Facebook advertising. Proctor & Gamble and Unilever have been threatening to pull their advertising.  And according to Digiday, Adidas has already stopped buying video ads on Facebook and has not ruled out other cuts, said another executive, whom Adidas briefed on the matter.

Now, don't shut down your page or pull your ads from Facebook just yet.  Once the dust settles and Facebook has fixed its kinks their advertising platform will be better because businesses and Wallstreet are demanding it. 

The Cost of Advertising
Facebook users may be inclined to share less data. The less data they share, the harder it is for advertisers to target their audience. If it becomes more difficult, the cost could go up too. 

Advertising on Facebook isn’t getting any cheaper, Digiday says that in the first quarter of 2018, the average price per ad on Facebook jumped 49 percent, according to Facebook’s latest results.

But, Facebook advertising is still far less expensive than traditional advertising. It's targeting tools are also increasingly effective. 

Facebook also continues to develop sophisticated artificial intelligence to analyze user data. This will put the social media platform on top of the advertising marketplace. 


Don't Rely on One Source
Like anything else, don't put all your eggs in one basket.  Companies should be doing is exploring other advertising avenues for their brand.  Marketing managers should focus on other efforts to acquire new customers. The two things business owners should think about what additional ways can you market to people? And how are going to identify with your customer?

Keep Advertising
The worst thing a business can do is stop advertising. While you may need to tweak your advertising platform and plan, you must figure out how to cut through the noise. Do your research, reach out to professionals or hire an in-house marketing and advertising team. But you must reach your target audience somehow and advertising will help you get their easier. 

Crisis Planning
If there is one take away from Facebook's data scandal is that a crisis can hit any company large or small at any time. It is more important now that ever that you have an effective crisis plan in place. And review it often. The number one thing a company can do is be prepared and stay on top of the story. 


Don't let Facebook's recent issue scare you off the platform, but I highly recommend you dive deeper into your digital advertising strategy and ensure that your message is getting to the right people. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this and if you have switched to other advertising platforms. Share your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter! 

You are in a new city and looking for a restaurant to eat dinner. What do you do?  You begin to search online. You look at the reviews, website and social media. All three of these play a major role in your decision-making. Here’s what I do.

We all know how valuable social media is. In fact, most of us have come to rely on it for information. For businesses to be successful in this cluttered market you need to use social media effectively. Just in the last 2 years, marketing and advertising has changed significantly with a huge focus on social media outlets. I’ll leave those specifics to the geniuses at The Silent Partner Marketing. But I will touch on how social media can help you grow in your profession.

Before the internet and social media if you were quoted in the news, it would usually only appear once in print and on TV. But, that is certainly not the case now. If and when you are in the news, it appears on multiple social media outlets. This is a good and bad thing.