Social media marketing has become one of the pillars of a successful digital marketing strategy, and one that every business needs in order to maximize online visibility. It is understandable that not everyone is social media savvy right out the box, and for most, a lot of learning and training is necessary in order to successfully DIY their business’ social media efforts.
The good news is that should you need a bit of a crash course in social media, you can team up with a social media consultant to help you learn the ropes. There are also hundreds of informative articles and how-tos online that you can use as references. No matter which route you go however, it’s always important to know and understand what social media can and cannot do for your business so that you can manage your expectations and establish achievable objectives.
The social media myths that we’ll be discussing today are actually quite common. There are lots of people who believe that these illusions are achievable and they expect their digital marketing agency to deliver these ridiculous goals. Let’s get these out of the way.
1. Myth One: Just build it and the money will follow
Simply creating social media accounts is not enough to fulfill meaningful marketing objectives. Facebook pages and Twitter accounts don’t just gain followers and fans simply by existing. You need to put in the work to promote your social media accounts and publish content that will retain and gain the right audience.
2. Myth Two: It’s all about the numbers
It’s a common misconception that the more people following your social media accounts the better your yields will be. The reality is that even if you have millions of followers on every social media platform, if none of them become loyal, paying customers, then what’s the use of having them there? Quality over quantity should be your mantra.
3. Myth Three: Social media management is a day job
Do your fans and followers follow a 9 to 5 schedule when browsing their social media accounts? Nope. A follower may leave super damaging feedback on your page at 6 in the evening and if you wait until the following morning to address their concern, it may be too late. Timely interaction and engagement with your followers will help in creating a meaningful environment for your audience to linger in. Using scheduling tools and alerts will help you manage your social media accounts efficiently. Here are five tools that we highly recommend.
4. Myth Four: You need to be on every social media platform there is
A lot of social media DIY-ers make this mistake. They believe that they need to be visible on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, SnapChat, and 10 other platforms because that’s what successful social media is all about. Wrong. You don’t have to be on every platform, just on platforms that your target audience uses most frequently. You need to be smart and efficient about your time and resources and doing social media marketing on platforms that won’t yield prime results will just be a waste of effort.
5. Myth Five: Publish the same type of content to get more views.
If you use effective analytics tools like Cyfe and Buffer, you’ll be able to get an insight on the type of content that gets the most engagement and activity. A lot of people mistakenly think that they should publish the same type of content over and over again to replicate these results. Big no-no. Instead of sharing the same article and links day in and day out, add some variety to your content strategy. Give your followers a good reason to check your pages everyday.
6. Myth Six: When it comes to content, quantity over quality always.
Let me start off by saying no. It may be tempting to share scores of articles, links, photos and videos per day but there is a fine line between sharing content and spamming.
Cleverly space out your publishing schedule and don’t over do it. Take the time to sift through your content and select the best and most relevant ones to share on your pages.
7. Myth Seven: Delete negative feedback as soon as they are posted.
While it is understandable why business owners would want to delete negative feedback about their products or services, doing so can open a can of worms and ruin your reputation more than the original feedback can. Instead, use these as an opportunity to provide excellent customer service by providing a clear plan of action on how their complaints will be fixed and addressed. Engage with your customers and others will see that you’ll be taking care of their needs should they decide to patronize you.
8. Myth Eight: You’ll get instant results with social media.
Actually, if you look at almost all types of digital marketing solutions, you won’t find any type that will get you instant results. That’s just the nature of digital marketing and it’s the same for social media. It takes time for you to gain the visibility that would pave the way for your goals to be achieved (e.g. getting x number of likes, an article being shared x number of times). As long as you’re hitting your desired metrics within a reasonable period of time, you should stay your course and continue in executing your social media strategy.
9. Myth Nine: Social media is for hard promotion.
While it’s true that social media provides a great promotional avenue for your business, keep in mind that it may not be what your audience wants to see. You need to strike a balance between engaging your audience with relevant content and fun interactions and getting your name out there.
10. Myth Ten: Social media performance can’t be measured.
There are plenty of tools out there – both free and premium – that can help you track your social media performance. As long as you first establish your social media objectives, it will be easy for you to determine whether you are hitting your marks. Some tools even give you insights on how to improve your social media strategy. Choosing the best tools for the job can give you invaluable information.