Social media marketing is booming and there is no shortage of advice about the role social media marketing should play in a company’s marketing plan. Unfortunately, that advice can often be filled with inaccuracies.
A number of years has passed since businesses first began exploring social media and mixed messages have continued to dominate conversation, leaving business owners unsure over where to focus marketing resources. One end of the spectrum proclaims there is no return on investment for a business tapping into social media. The other extreme school of thought dictates your business has no future if it doesn’t have an engaging profile on every available social media network.
The result is that both over-inflating and underestimating social media’s potential impact on your company means that you are not as likely to make a solid investment of resources to gain a sensible return on your investment. Sorting through the social media marketing fact from fiction can be a large task for small business owners who are already over-tasked with leading their companies. If you are one of them, here are some of the most common myths about social media marketing.
Myth: Your customer demographic isn’t using social media.
This myth should be easy to bust, yet it persists. According to digital marketing resource Digital Marketing Ramblings, best statistical estimates as of November 2013 find Facebook with 1.19 billion active users, YouTube boasting its own 1 billion users, Twitter with 215 million active users, and Google+ garnering 300 million active users. Digital media research company eMarketer estimates that in total, social media reaches nearly one in four people around the globe.
Myth: Social media can take the place of your website.
Use of social media is a newer marketing tool than launching a website. Due to this, there is some residual confusion as to whether social media marketing can take the place of a company website. The brief answer is, no. The answer is, no. The longer answer is, social media may be comparatively new, but email still remains a very powerful tool in your arsenal. For optimal return, social media should be used as an additional resource for your website.
Myth: There is no way to measure a social media campaign’s return on investment (ROI).
This is perhaps the myth that seems to outlive and outlast all others. Part of the problem is that there are a lot of social media experts and consultants who may be extremely knowledgeable about social media networks but know very little about marketing or measuring return on investment for businesses. In reality, there are several ways to track social media’s impact on your business. The metrics for your social media program are not much different from the metrics of other marketing efforts.
Myth: I don’t have enough content to feed the outputs
In essence, social media outlets are fast-moving trains speeding on a never-ending track. Content gets posted, pushed down, and becomes irrelevant before you know it. Although this may seem like wasted effort, it can actually serve as an opportunity to re-purpose similar content in different ways to strengthen concepts and values that your brand represents. The key is to not be too repetitive with your content. People miss things, forget them, or don’t respond to how you express them. Just put a new spin on it when you re-post it a few weeks later.
Myth: Do NOT get personal
When you publish content in social media, you should alsways keep your target audience in mind. However, that does not mean that you can't also publish content that shows your brand's personality. There are people behind your company and you shouldn't be afraid to show that with your own special brand of humor, pictures of people that work at your company, and links to news contend that you find particularly interesting.
