Social media marketing The form of marketing that provides global-scale interaction between the company, its stakeholders and customers through virtual networks and communities is called social media marketing. With the help of social technologies nowadays, information is spread without borders and content constraints. People want to share and exchange their experiences and knowledge online, which marketers see as a tremendous opportunity to build relationships with their consumers and raise awareness of their businesses on a larger scale. There are still naysayers who see significant disadvantages of this new marketing platform. These disadvantages are: time consuming, violation of privacy and risk of criticism. In my opinion, even though social media marketing can have some reasonable drawbacks, companies should use it, because with a targeted marketing plan it brings many benefits for both the brand and its consumers. First of all, among the disadvantages for the company, there is the consumption of time. Running various consistent social media programs and keeping people interested can be difficult. Furthermore, by dedicating a lot of productive time to it, marketers take risks, since there is no single tool capable of measuring its effectiveness (Sharma, 2013). However, this argument is not sufficiently conclusive. Although it requires a lot of time and effort, social media marketing has a huge advantage: a low cost of entry, which is especially a benefit for small businesses. Dave Evans' book, titled "Social Media Marketing: The Next Generation of Business Engagement," has been praised as a "practical approach for leaders who want to harness the power of social media to reduce costs... halfway paper ...or brand criticism. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from: http://www.brafton.com/news/survey-social-media-marketers-unprepared-for-brand-criticism Dyer, P. (May 20, 2013 ). 7 Facebook Marketing Case Study. Retrieved October 21, 2013, from: http://socialmediatoday.com/pamdyer/1478771/7-facebook-marketing-case-studies Evans, D. (2008). the next generation of corporate engagement. New Jersey, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.Foats, J. (2009). Social Media Success!: Practical Tips and Real-World Examples of Social Media Engagement Using Social Networking Tools Like Linkedin, Twitter , Blog. California, CA: Happy About.Kern, S.A. (2012). Facebook for Smart People. Park City, UT: Face It Social Media Marketing. Sharma, P. (2013, May 21). Disadvantages of Social Media Marketing. Retrieved from: http://www.wisitech.com/blog/social-media-marketing-tool/