Social media has taken quite a lambasting in recent weeks with Twitter trolls and data breaches leaving many uncertain about these online micro-blogging platforms.

Now, one of the biggest pub chains, JD Wetherspoon, has used Twitter to tell its 44,000 followers that it is quitting all social media platforms, effective immediately.

According to the BBC, the firm said its decision had partly been influenced by concerns regarding the "misuse of personal data" and "the addictive nature of social media".

The chairman went on to say that it had consulted with its pub managers, of which “90-95% felt using social media was not helping the business”.

It poses the question: in this echo chamber of negative feedback, is social media still good for business?

Take a Breath

Let’s take a step back and really evaluate the situation unfolding before us. According to a recent survey the number of social media users grew to a staggering 2.46 billion last year, with an estimated growth to 3.02 billion by 2021. What’s more, 71% of consumers who have had a good social media experience with a brand would likely recommend it to others.

Social media has given us all an extraordinary global medium in which to communicate, engage and foster communities and relationships. However, as with any global channel, it’s going to attract negative coverage as well. After all, other communications platforms such as television and radio have had a share of bad publicity in their time. It’s important to understand that this doesn’t mean the platform as a whole is bad.

So, what’s the answer?

As with everything, it’s the users that control the communication device.  So how can your company enhance its user experience on social media at times when negativity is surrounding it?

To start with, social media is not a sounding board when it comes to business. It is a tool that can be used to cultivate an engaged and stimulated audience. It can reach and target demographics with such acute accuracy that both parties can be happy to receive and give out information. Additionally, this can be a crucial element in driving traffic to your website.

Social media isn’t just a good way to gain personal affiliation with your brand. It can also have a big impact on your website’s SEO. Search engine crawlers, Google in particular, will look at the pages that are consistently earning traffic which in many cases comes from social media. Optimising your website’s SEO through technical fixes and content is one thing, but if you can get your website traffic up, Google will recognise this. As well as this, Google will crawl the content on your social channels too, providing valuable SEO opportunities.

Finally, social media isn’t just a way to advertise your products and engage your audience. It also works well with the public relations of your business, promoting events and sponsorships that could generate your company publicity in the process. In short, it enhances the paid for, and organic marketing and media relations for your company.

What’s important to understand from this is that the marketing, advertising and public relations for all companies is no longer a linear, segmented process. It is all intertwined, and therefore creating integrated campaigns with each element complementing the other is what generates positive brand identity and higher retention of business.

So to summarise, social media has taken a hit, and of course there will always be the negative backlash from those who don’t use these platforms to their full potential. However, let’s look towards the future, and at the brilliant ways social media has changed businesses globally. At BBI Brandboost, we believe that integration across all aspects of marketing is a must, and offer our own Social Media Marketing, along with a range of integrated marketing options for your business.