Social media marketing has become very common these days. Many businesses use social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), etc., to promote their brands.
But before you start spending time and resources on social media marketing campaigns, you should know some basic facts about them.
When discussing social media marketing with potential clients, I often have to address some misconceptions about social media marketing.
There are many misconceptions about social media marketing. Some of them include the following 35 common social media marketing misconceptions. This article is updated and provides bonus common myths not mentioned before.
Table of Contents
1. All Social Media Platforms Are the Same
Each social media platform has unique characteristics and a specific audience they serve.
It would help to find out which social platform most of your audience hangs out on and be active there.
You need not be on every social media platform under the sun to make an impact Click To Tweet2. You Need to Be on Every Social Media Platform to Make an Impact
Use data from your Google Analytics to see which social network(s) is driving the most traffic to your website. Be active on those.
3. Social Media Is for Teenagers
Nope! Social media is not exclusive to teenagers — social media cuts across various demographics. No matter how niche your business is, you’ll find an engaged audience on social media.
4. Social Media Is Not Relevant to Your Industry
Some business owners in the construction industry told me that social media is irrelevant to their industry.
Not true! No matter your industry’s niche, you’ll find a population of interested persons.
5. Social Media Is Free!
Nope! Ask Facebook page admins about how Facebook is bombarding them to boost their social media posts for their fans to see.
Check out this article on what might be the future of your Facebook page.
Other platforms are promoting their various advertising solutions too.
6. You Can’t Measure the ROI of Social Media
If you don’t know how to measure your ROI on social media, that doesn’t mean you can’t. You need to contact a professional social media marketing agency to help you use your social media profile to achieve your business goal. However, it would be best to have realistic expectations because social media, email marketing, search engine optimization or even traditional marketing tactics like direct mail are not silver bullets. So, whether you are a B2B or B2C company, you still need to work to get the result.
7. The More Hashtags, the Better
Not always. Your hashtags are not welcome on some social media networks and can even hinder your post from getting any engagement.
8. Social Media Is Time-consuming
Social media is time-consuming if you don’t have the right tools, a content calendar, and a digital marketing strategy for using social media marketing in your integrated marketing communications (IMC) plan.
9. Negative Comments Are Not Good for Your Business
All comments are welcome! The thing with negative comments is to answer them fast. Steer their remarks to an offline marketing channel for resolution. But acknowledge the resolution in an online social media channel.
10. You’ll Never Beat Your Competitors at Social
Social media marketing offers fair competition for all participants regardless of the social channel.
You must be very creative. And be creative. Creativity will make you leave your competitors in the dust regarding social media marketing.
11. Quantity over Quality with Content
Nope! Always go for quality over quantity every time! These days social networks are encouraging their active users to post excellent content.
Content is king on social media. Remember that!
12. Social Media Marketing Is a Fad
Social media marketing is not a fad. It’s here to stay. You need to wake up to reality and stop procrastinating.
Get a social media marketing plan as part of your integrated marketing communications.
13. No Need to Integrate Social Media Marketing into Your IMC Strategy
As mentioned above, do not place social media in a silo. It needs to be integrated into your organisation’s IMC strategy for the best results.
14. Social Media Is Only Useful for Marketing
Social media is helpful for marketing; it is beneficial for customer service. It’s useful for research and development. And in emergencies, too!
15. You Don’t Need Social Media If You Do Your SEO Right.
If done right, SEO (search engine optimisation) is mighty in growing your business online and making you more successful. But the truth is that social media is vital in achieving good SEO. There is no way you can be a social media success without it impacting your other marketing efforts, such as your content marketing, engagement rate and social proof.
16. Post the Same Content to All Your Social Networks
This is one of the biggest myths out there. Posting the same content to all your social networks might look like the easy/lazy way to go about social media marketing (more so when you are starting). But for best results, you must do the opposite, as discussed in this post.
A few months ago, I wrote an article on this topic.
17. Social Media Is a Regular 9-to-5 Gig
Social media marketing is not for you if you’re looking for a regular 9-to-5 job.
Social media never sleeps! You never know when someone might post something about your brand that demands your immediate attention.
You must always be ready 24/7 to discuss anything related to your brand. Then you will not find your brand trending for all the wrong reasons.
18. More Followers, the Better
This belief is not correct. It’s the more quality followers, the better.
The key is to gather quality followers interested in your industry, brand, or topic of discussion.
The more quality followers and influencers you have in your community, the better.
19. The Shorter the Post, the Better
It is granted that most people’s attention spans have dwindled because of all the hustle and bustle of life.
So, people have little time to spare for reading lengthy articles online on small mobile devices.
But this doesn’t translate to the shorter the post, the better.
It all depends on the topic you’re covering. If the issue is technical and demands a lot of data and research, you must do a long, in-depth post.
But if it’s not, you can get away with something short and scannable.
20. Anyone at a Company Can Manage a Brand on Social Media
This is a false assumption. Social media marketing is getting more complex by the day. Do not hand your social media marketing over to an inexperienced marketer or marketing team. Ensure that the person or group handling it has the capabilities and talent to develop, design, produce and execute the volume of content you need. Outsource your social media marketing if you don’t have the qualified talent in-house.
21. Don’t Share Other People’s Content
If you’re new to social media, share only content around your brand. How fantastic your brand is. Blah, blah, blah.
But if you are advancing in your social media marketing effort, you’ll realise that sharing other people’s content shows you as an authority in your field.
22. Social Media Marketing Is a Hobby, not a Proper Career
I don’t understand why some people still think social media marketing is a hobby. These days, it’s a recognised full-time career.
Social media marketing is a serious business, and big brands worldwide spend vast sums of money on social media each year.
23. You’ll Not Have Content to Share
There is a tonne of content all around you. It would help if you used your analytics to determine your audience’s content and give it to them. Examples include videos, infographics, podcasts, blog posts, and live videos.
24. You Only Need a Facebook Page for Social Media.
Facebook is a social media behemoth, no doubt. But there are loads of other social media platforms available that people use.
You don’t need a Facebook page for social media. It would help if you had much more.
25. Your Target Audience Is Not on Social Media
Humans, by nature, are social. And your customers are humans, and social media is about humans. Do you get the point?
You will find your target audience or potential customers on social media. You need to know where to look for them and how. If you need help, hire a social media marketing agency.
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26. It’s a Waste of Time
If you’re not doing it right, it’s a waste of time. But if done right and as part of an integrated marketing strategy, it will not be a waste of time.
27. Nobody Pays Attention
This lack of attention partly boils down to your followers in your social media community. If you have targeted the right followers, they will pay attention to your content.
28. Cross-posting Content Is Complex
If done manually, it isn’t easy. But with the powerful tool, then cross-posting content will be a breeze.
29. You Don’t Need a Social Media Strategy or Content Calendar.
It is essential to have a robust social media marketing strategy and a well-laid content calendar. These things separate the professionals from the mediocre in social media marketing. Getting a good ROI on social media efforts requires planning and an effective strategy. You can’t always post and pray. You need a documented social media strategy.
30. Regardless of Whatever You Share, People Will Always Follow and Engage
People value their time, so if you’re posting crappy content, they will not engage, and they will unfollow you.
31. Social Media Is Only Suitable for Personal and B2C Brands
Some platforms, like Facebook, seem to favour B2C brands better than others. But this doesn’t mean that social media is suitable for personal and B2C brands.
Platforms like LinkedIn and Xing are suitable for B2B brands too.
32. Any Social Media Site Will Do. Pick One
Picking the right social media site is where being strategic comes in. You don’t choose any social network and hope for the best.
You need to research and know which social networks your target customers favour above others. Then be active on those specific social networks.
33. It’s Exclusive to Weekends (or Weekdays)
As mentioned above, social media never sleeps! So, you must be available every day.
Use the data from your network’s analytics (where available) to see which days your community are more active on the social network. Then be ready to engage your audience in productive discussions on those days.
34. B2B Brands Are Boring on Social
That you’re a B2B brand doesn’t mean your content always has to be a techie and boring piece.
You can lighten things up from time to time and show your brand’s human or funny side. Be true to your brand’s DNA.
35. Doing Social Media In-house Is Best
Don’t deceive yourself if you don’t have the time and resources in-house to invest in social media marketing. Then you are better off outsourcing to a social media agency.
Doing it in-house is ideal, especially if you have the right marketing tools and resources. But in this life, you don’t always get what you want.
Bonus: Social Media Marketing is Cheap
Have you considered the damage an unqualified social media marketer can do to your brand? The saying that you get what you pay for comes to mind. It’s cheaper to hire a professional to do things right than to fix the damage caused by a quack.
Over to You
These are the 35 common social media myths I encounter when discussing with existing and potential clients. Is there any other social media marketing myth to add to the above? Are you a social media user who needs to speak with a social media expert on how to boost your social media presence?
Please share your thoughts on any of our social media accounts.
Related Article(s)
- Frequently Asked Questions on Social Media Marketing
- 7 Signs That You Should Invest in Social Media Marketing
- Influence of Social Media on SEO
- Why You Should follow Competitors on Social Media
- The Importance of Social Media in Emergency Management
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