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14 Common Social Media Marketing Myths

Photo by Tim Bennett on Unsplash

According to Mashable in 2017 there were just under 4 Billion users of social media. It is one of the easiest, effective and most accessible ways of marketing around. However, there are some huge misconceptions and myths that lead to inefficient uses of the social media as a marketing tool.

Check out some of the busted myths below.

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#1 Social Media won’t work for my target audience

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I can't count the number of times I've heard this refrain. Yes I understand B2B is a different animal than B2C. However, some social platforms, techniques and media types work extraordinarily well for B2B targeted social media campaigns. Every B2B client is still a 'consumer' of your products and/or services, a few tweaks can make all the difference in successfully marketing to them via social media.

Contributors: Brian Winum from MAXPlaces Marketing, LLC 

#2 It’s Easier Than Traditional Marketing

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 The common perception is that marketing on social media outlets is easier than the traditional channel interruption marketing used with other advertising avenues. This is most often not the case. While the actual procedures of marketing on social media can certainly be less expensive and may be easier to accomplish. Effectively marketing on a social platform is significantly more difficult than coming up with a catchy ad for radio, TV or paper. Social Media Marketing takes time, patience and continual tweaking to accomplish the goal of engagement with buyers. 

Contributors: Josh Toal from Oeveo

#3 Google+ doesn’t do a thing

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I bet you could probably count the number of people you know using G+ on one hand. And although it may not be the sexiest platform, there is a real tangible benefit of posting your content on Google+ that goes beyond impressions and engagement. There is real SEO value to posting to G+ as each piece of content is indexed in the SERPs. We all invest time, money and energy into optimizing our organic 'Google' strategy, so why not give your content an additional edge to be crawled? Don't be surprised to see your rankings and traffic boost after consistently distributing on Google+. And what's more? Google+ may be the best social networking site to bring context and people together, thus introducing your brand to consumers who are more likely to purchase vs. the big boys. 

Contributors: Clement Connor from CNG Digital Marketing 

#4 If you don’t build it, they will come

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The biggest myth in social media is the Field of Dreams theory that “if you build it, they will come.” Social is in the title. It’s social media.  While it is great for your marketing budget, it is a time sucker. You reap what you sow. If you consistently put out useful content, you gain respect and a community built around your brand. If you fill out a profile and wait for the calls to come in, you’ll be waiting forever!  

Calling something a marathon, not a sprint, maybe a bit cliché, but you really do have to put in the time and effort with social media. Also, follow the rules of each individual outlet. Fans of Facebook are looking for and speaking differently than users of Twitter. Be respectful of your audience and provide value, don’t just sell. Finally, in your posting, don’t be all business. To focus on the “social” aspect one more time, relationships are built by giving of your personality. Let a potential customer or client get to know you so that they feel good about working with you or trust to buy from you.

Contributors: Cat Smith from Get Social with Cat

#5 You have to post a lot, every day

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Not true. You have to have a strategy for social media. Then determine who your customers are and the best way to reach them. Quality is better than quantity. If you have something of value and can do that often, great. Three to four times per week is right on target. But if you just post to be posting, your audience will start to skip over your posts. Your posts will receive less readership and fewer retweets and likes. Soon you will start losing connections and your posts will have less impact.

Contributors: Steve Turner from Solomon Turner PR 

#6 You have to post everywhere on all social media channels

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Where you post should depend on who your customers are. If you are in a business to business type firm, LinkedIn is going to be your best bet to reach new prospects and generate leads. A general consumer type company, where everyone is a potential customer like a grocery chain, will do well on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Companies with limited budgets should seek out a social media channel that works best with their type of customer and maximize the impact on that outlet. 

Contributors: Steve Turner from Solomon Turner PR

#7 Social Media Marketing Is Free

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One big problem with some platforms on social media is they can't really track exactly where the lead source is coming from. I had clients tell me market me online for free and I will give you a percentage of the sale to you, however the industry doesn't work like that. I can't afford to invest my own time to a new client when I have paying clients that are demanding leads. In order to get proper leads they have to pay for them. Social Media is not free, it costs money to market on social media platforms. Social media won't guarantee you new customers or any exclusive leads. You can't really measure metrics like you can with a customized dashboard or software. Lastly not everyone knows how to properly market on Facebook Ads, Instagram, Twitter, and SnapChat. Most platforms are complicated to use and one can really lose money while setting up accounts the wrong way. One needs to know what kind of demographic to go after. If someone doesn't know their industry well enough they could be catering these services or products to the wrong crowd.

Contributors: Reuben Kats from GrabResults,LLC 

#8 Social Strategy

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Just doing social is not enough. Many business owners just think that creating social profiles and posting to them will help their business grow. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Social media can be a great tool for business growth, but it requires a strategic approach for both organic reach and paid exposure. 

Contributors: Emily Tanner from The MLE Agency

#9 Content Isn’t King – Distribution Is

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The biggest myth surrounding digital marketing is the idea that content is king. I say this because creating content has never been easier thanks to technology and the internet has never been noisier. The challenge is in getting that content in front of the right people on the right channels. That's why I'm a firm believer that distribution is the new king in town. The evidence in this reality can be found in the latest Instagram algorithm updates and challenges media companies are having with reaching their fans on Facebook. The best brands on social media are not only embracing the reality that content is important but they're investing time and energy in the actual process for distributing their content effectively. 

Contributors: Ross Simmonds from Foundation Marketing

#10 The algorithm is your enemy

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Too many marketers think they have to trick the algorithm because it doesn't want them to be successful. This is just NOT the case. The algorithm is simply a highly sophisticated matchmaker. It uses all of the available data to make a mutually beneficial connection between advertisers and end users. Marketers are better off learning how the algorithm works and why. If you work with the algorithm, you will have much more success. You can't go wrong with providing valuable compelling content your ideal customer is ready to devour. 

Contributors: Anthony DeLoatch from DreamLife Business Builders, LLC

#11 The More Followers You Have, The More Successful Your Business M

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Just because a business page has 5000 followers on Facebook does not necessarily correlate with success. Which is more valuable - A business page with 300 quality followers, prospects, customers or fellow vendors in their target market, or 5000 followers with soccer mom’s, your cousin’s brother in law’s dog groomer who likes all of your posts, and your best childhood friend who lives on the other side of the country? 

Contributors: Eric Hobbs from Technology Associates 

#12 Posting Anything, Consistently, Is Better Than Nothing

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Having a clear marketing direction and end goal in mind with your social media content makes or breaks the effectiveness of social media engagement. Some people think posting a slew of whatever crosses their mind for content every day, without strategy, accounts for successful social media marketing. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Are you providing value to prospects in your target demographic through what you share? Is your content in line with activity building your brand? Having an end goal in mind with the “why” behind your social media tactics is key in a successful social media strategy. 

Contributors: Eric Hobbs from Technology Associates 

#13 Don’t Put All Your Eggs in the Facebook Ad Basket

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Running ads on Facebook can truly do wonders for your company's online marketing, and has the potential to drive excellent results and make you money. However, it's a myth to think that it's the ONE thing you should spend your marketing budget on, and also that it's a sure thing. Facebook ads can produce incredible results, if you know what you're doing and are regularly testing/tracking their performance. Also, you want to ensure that your marketing budget is spread across several mediums/channels and that you're running Facebook ads in conjunction with with other marketing efforts to produce the best results. 

Contributors: Alycia Yerves from Alycia Yerves Creative

#14 Powerful lead generation engine for B2B companies

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One of the most common myths about social media marketing is that it is a powerful lead generation engine for B2B companies, where there are a lot of claims that social media marketing in the B2B space can generate positive ROI. The truth is that it is really hard to proof this claim, as for B2B companies, social media (especially organic engagement) is more about building brand awareness rather than an actual lead generation channel. Your prospects and customers only follow or check B2B social media accounts to get updates and news about what’s going on in the company or validate if it's still active and reputable. It’s very rare to get actual prospects from social media marketing in the B2B environment unless you are investing on paid social media ads/campaigns..

Contributors: Mike Khorev from Nine Peaks Media 

  1. I think for my tip, #4, I would have called it something more like: “you can build it, but they may not come.” If you don’t build it, there’s nothing for them to find. 😉

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Written by Zak Parker

Journalist, writer, musician, professional procrastinator. I'll add more here later.