5 Myths About Social Media Marketing

Jennifer Doyle

Still hesitant about social media marketing? Are you falling prey to the inaccurate myths that plague social media marketing all over the Internet? Most of what you think you know is wrong. It’s 2015, time to dispel those myths and get your brand on social! Here are 5 of the biggest social media marketing myths, debunked!

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Myth #1: Social Media Marketing Is Free

Yes, creating profiles and pages on social media is free. Social media marketing, on the other hand, is not. I’m not just talking about the costs in terms of the time you need to invest into planning out your strategy, creating content, and monitoring and engaging with your fans. I’m talking about the increasing importance of paid campaigns.

With Facebook’s organic reach hovering around 2%, and their recent efforts to cut back on displaying posts deemed ‘promotional’, businesses need to ensure they are backing their posts and content with Facebook ads if they want to reach their targeted audiences.

Not seeing a lot of traffic being driven to your site from Twitter? Chances are your tweets are getting lost in users’ constantly updating timelines. Make sure your tweets are seen by investing in promoted tweets.

Paid campaigns may not be essential on every social media network yet, but it’s sure headed in that direction!

Myth #2: Social Media Is Just A Broadcast Channel

Social media networks are so much more than places to simply blast out messages about your brand and industry. One of the greatest benefits of social media is that it’s a platform for 2-way communication. More and more people are flocking to social media to leave reviews or ask questions. Make sure you’re staying on top of your customer service initiatives online by responding to any and all comments – whether they’re positive or not!

Never forget that with social media your fans and audience are right at your fingertips! Take advantage of this by asking questions, conducting polls, or rewarding fans with exclusive deals. The knowledge you can gain about the interests of your fans is invaluable!

Myth #3: You Need To Be On Every Social Media Network

Get your hands out of that cookie jar! Despite what many seem to believe, social media networks are not delicious cookies that you need to get your hands all over! Instead, focus on the cookies (social media networks) that are really going to help your campaign. This means taking the time to figure out your buyer personas. What’s your target demo? What are your customers’ interests? What are you selling? Take the time to research all of the social media networks to see if they’re a good fit for your brand and what you’re selling. Are you a law firm or an accountant? Guess what, you probably don’t need to be on Pinterest or Instagram. Don’t waste your time putting effort into social media networks that your targeted audience isn’t interacting with.

Myth #4: Hashtags Are Crucial

#Do #your #friends #like #to #hashtag #every #word #on #social? Do you ever think to yourself how silly that looks? I hope so, because not only does it look silly, it’s also completely useless and possibly detrimental to your posts.

Fun fact! The more hashtags you use on Facebook, the less engagement your posts will receive. In a study conducted by Statista, Facebook posts with 1-2 hashtags received 593 interactions, while posts with 6-10 hashtags received only 307 interactions.

It’s important to limit your hashtag usage on Twitter as well. Take the time to research the hashtags you want to use and make sure they’re actually active on Twitter.

Myth #5: It’s Fine To Ignore Or Delete Negative Comments Or Feedback

Put yourself in their shoes. If you spent the time to write out a post detailing your negative experience with a company, only to find it get deleted, you’d be mad. More mad than you were in the first place. Take the time to articulate an appropriate response, addressing the users problem head-on with a solution in place. Never underestimate how important your online reputation is. Did you know that 90% of customers’ buying decisions are influenced by online reviews? Make sure you’re taking the time to perfect your online customer service practices – your future sales may depend on it!

With that said, if you receive a comment that is particularly vulgar or inappropriate, there are some rare cases when it may be acceptable to delete the comment and even ban the user from your page in order to prevent the situation from escalating or happening again.

Have any more questions about social media marketing? Give us a shout!

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Jennifer Doyle

Jennifer is Spark’s resident Communications Manager, assisting in the creation of social strategies and marketing campaigns for all of those in need of a helping social hand.

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