We understand that social media can seem time-consuming and tricky to businesses without enough knowledge on how to use it as part of a digital marketing strategy. There are even some social media myths floating around that some people believe over proven facts. Read on to have the most popular myths debunked and have your mind changed.
My customers aren’t on social media
This is highly unlikely. With Facebook reported to currently have a billion active users on the platform, and more than 100 million people using Instagram each month, there is certain to be a number of your potential customers online. Don’t think that it is only young people who are online either, as ‘over 80% of 30 to 49-year-olds, and nearly 70% of 50 to 64-year-olds are on social media’.
I must be on every social media platform possible
This is a great myth to debunk as many businesses believe they need to have a presence on every single social media platform. But this could mean you’re stretching yourself too thin and investing precious time into creating content for a platform your target audience isn’t even active on. Research your competitors and see which platforms they are on. Observe which of their profiles receives the most engagement, and then think strategically about where your company should be.
For example, if you own a skin and beauty clinic, you will need to post a lot of pictures, and videos and have a place for customers to leave reviews. I’d suggest starting with Facebook and Instagram, and leaving a more professional and corporate platform like LinkedIn for your own personal profile.
I should post anything and everything, whenever and wherever I want
It may feel like you should post anything and everything that is happening within your business and behind the scenes, but think about your feeds from a marketing point of view. You will want to create content that hits a chord with individuals in your demographic and for the platforms you are posting on. This means you need to keep your industry knowledge and professional expertise posts for LinkedIn, creative graphics and behind the scenes imagery for Instagram, and your mix of services, blogs and engaging posts for Twitter/Facebook.
And when it comes to posting whenever you want, we would not recommend it. If you research the best times to post online, you will find information which takes each social media platform into account. You could also look at your insights tool on your social media platforms which will give you data on when your audience engages with your content the most.
It’s all about having the biggest following
Having a high number of followers can be great, don’t get me wrong, but it is ultimately important to build a genuine audience of people who want to engage with your brand. As long as your content reflects your business ethos and personality, this will draw people in who will want to support you and hopefully invest in you.
Plus, if you create engaging content that your audience will want to like and share, your SEO will improve as well!
I should only show positive reviews and delete any negative ones
This is a big social no no! Receiving positive reviews is the aim, but sometimes you may find a customer will want to air their not so positive experience on your social media profile. Your first instinct could be to delete it and pretend it never happened, but you should always use it as an opportunity.
Use a negative comment as a way to display excellent customer service, and respond to the review calmly and efficiently to understand what the root of the problem is. Keeping a mix of positive and negative reviews will give your potential customers a real life look at your business, and see that you are as human as the rest of us. If you’re doing things right, the positive reviews will be far greater than the negative ones.
If I don’t have the in-house resources and don’t have the time to do it myself, I shouldn’t worry about having a social media presence
Some business owners can feel like this when they are time poor and don’t have the resources within their company to maintain a consistent presence on social media. But look at the statistics on converting customers. Did you know that ‘52% of companies using Facebook for marketing have acquired a customer from it’?
This is where an outsourced social media marketing team can help. Our social media marketing team can set up your accounts, build your following and find your target audience. We’ll work with you to create content that resonates with your brand, and keep you updated with your progress by supplying you with monthly reports so you will always know how well your campaigns are working. It really is that easy!
