There are various websites that offer interactivity and build a sense of community through the fundamental services that they offer. These sites may include Facebook, Whatsapp, and Instagram which are among the most popular social media platforms. The three mentioned sites keep their clients engaged through the provision of text messaging services, and most significantly, through the development of picture and video sharing applications. As such, this makes the three sites to be the most preferred among the users of social technologies due to their efficiency and convenience in maintaining effective communication. Consequently, the clients keep coming back for more services from the sites mentioned above due to the fact that the service providers maintain constant upgrades of their systems hence improving the customers' experiences.
Generating Income
The three sites make money even though they seem to offer free services to their clients. Illustratively, Facebook earns huge profits from target marketing whereby the purported advertisers pay the organization to push the ads to specific populations. Whatsapp has a simple business model which enables it to earn about $1 from each user on an annual basis as a result of the subscription fees. Just like Facebook, Instagram generates revenue from advertising fees which are paid for the sponsored posts. Significantly, some of these sites including Facebook and Instagram earn huge sums of profit from selling data as demonstrated in the recent Cambridge Analytica Scandal.
Strengths and Weaknesses
One of the multiple strengths that Facebook enjoys is having more users than their competitors such as Twitter and this keeps the profit margins on an upward trajectory. Besides, Facebook is selective about the kinds of advertisements that it sponsors and this enhances the quality and value of its marketing schemes. The most notable weakness is the fact that the sponsored advertisements do not guarantee the purchase of the products and services been promoted. Similarly, Instagram enjoys the same strengths with Facebook and this may include having many users. Instagram and Whatsapp have the constant support from their parent company Facebook which is currently the largest social media organization. Both Instagram and Whatsapp have the weakness of ensuring the privacy of their users and this has prompted the two sites, particularly, Whatsapp to improve the situation by introducing the end-to-end encryption features. Observantly, the entire three websites struggle with the fact that only the people with smartphones or other sophisticated telecommunication gadgets can use their services; hence, limiting their business growth.
Retaining the Audiences
The above-mentioned social websites engaged in multiple strategies to attract clients and have remained persistent in retaining these users. First, Whatsapp has kept its initial promise of refraining from ads and this has played a vital role in retaining clients. The three sites have also
ensured that the media and public are constantly updated regarding their milestones. Often, Facebook and Instagram retain their clients by offering incentives as a way of keeping them loyal to the services provided. Significantly, the three websites also capitalize on tracking their metrics and this is an effective way of showing their users the population of the subscribers utilizing the same services. Facebook and Instagram retain their clients through the use of internet links which are essential in driving traffic to the respective social sites by means of cross-channel promotions. Conclusively, the three sites have remained updated regarding the latest online trends and this has aided them in retaining their relevance amongst their clients.
