Even though social media has existed for quite some time now, it’s still a relatively new concept in the grand scheme of things. We’ve never had such an easy way to connect with so many people so quickly.
Like any technology that is still evolving, there is a lot of misinformation about social media that gets passed around as if it were fact. People have a tendency to hear something from one person, accept it as being true, and then send it along to someone else without verifying anything. Many misconceptions stem from ideas that were formed early on and never updated as things changed.
Don’t make the mistake of believing these social media myths. If you think any of the information below holds true, you’re holding yourself back and not taking full advantage of what could be one of your strongest marketing channels.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising Isn’t Worth It
This could be true if you’re talking about PPC in general, especially thinking about platforms like Adwords. Pay-per-click through social media, however, is one of the most targeted and valuable forms of advertising you can get.
With all of the information that’s available to platforms like Facebook and Twitter, they can help you to laser target your ads to the exact audience you’re looking for. It may be a little bit more time consuming to plan everything out and get the campaign going, but once you do, the results can be astounding.
You Can Set It And Forget It
Many people seem to believe that they can just leave their social media accounts on autopilot and things will take care of themselves. Some think just having an account on one platform or another is enough, and the fans will entertain themselves. Others believe in full-on automation. They appear active, but schedule everything they post and never really take the time to read and interact with followers.
Social media is about being, well, social. If you’re not actually interacting with the people that are following you, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. You might as well just be advertising in a magazine. You’ve got the chance to talk to your clients and potential customers, listen to them, learn what they want, and you will be rewarded.
You Should Be On Every Social Network
Some people will say that working with social media is about getting your message in front of as many people as possible. While this is true, to a certain extent, it doesn’t mean that you should set up an account on every network you can find and start broadcasting.
You’ll get much better results by keeping two things in mind. First, your target audience will most likely have a distinct preference. You might find they prefer Twitter or Facebook rather than LinkedIn or Snapchat, for example. Second, you’ll do much better by concentrating on one or two platforms and doing it well, instead of trying to stay active everywhere and spreading yourself too thin.
You Can’t Find Customers On Social Media
One of the most popular myths that still circulates somehow is that social media is only for customer support, it’s not a place to find new customers and leads.
Recent estimates put the global number of social media users at about 2.2 billion. If you don’t think you can find any new customers among 2.2 billion people, you’re not just missing out on a piece of the pie, you’re starving yourself.
If you put out content that people like, they will share it and do the advertising for you. It’s like word of mouth advertising on steroids. Social media can give you the opportunity to get your message in front of more prospects than is possible with any other method.
How are you doing on social media? Do you need help planning campaigns or managing your presence? We can help! Get in touch today and we’ll be happy to show you how to get the most out of any or all of the most popular social media platforms.
