Some of The Worst Advice I’ve Ever Heard About Social Media Marketing

Let us look at some of the worst advice I have ever heard about social media marketing: Why?

Because these days, some people I meet online (especially on Twitter) claim to be social media experts, gurus or influencers.

Simply because they have bought a couple of thousand fake followers, or they are involved in one “follow back” scheme or another.

I’ve also come across a few business owners who also have their own opinion about it.

Find below an insight into some of the worst advice I’ve ever heard about social media marketing (in no particular order):

Don’t bother with Social media. It is a waste of time.

This advice often comes from business owners who either don’t have a social media presence or who’ve tasted the waters of social media in the past (with no real strategy), hoping to become overnight success stories. After spewing out a tonne of social media posts and tweets and spamming everyone they know (or don’t know) with their sales pitch and nothing happens. They eventually become disillusioned with their social media presence and conclude that it is a waste of time.

But it is not a waste of time. This article notes that according to MarketingSherpa, 95% of online adults ages 18 to 34 are likely to follow a brand on social media. These are your potential customers. According to Hootsuite, 60% of Instagram users say they discover new products on the platform. This article also notes that 52% of social media marketers believe social media positively influences their revenue and sales.

Neither is social media a tool you use with no clear cut social media strategy and then think you’ll automatically become an overnight success story. It is a marketing tool that requires a social media marketing strategy, and just like anything else, it takes time, effort and resources to yield positive results.

It’s important to remember that there are several ways to market your business, and social media is only one of them. Unless you work with a social media marketing professional to develop a strategy and invest in advertising to get your posts seen on social channels, you may not get the results you seek. But there are other ways to spend your time and money, e.g. email marketing.

However, poor management of your social media accounts on social media sites is more harmful than beneficial. Therefore, you need a strategy. Dedicate time each week or month to plan. If you set clear goals and work towards achieving them, social media will become a powerful tool for your company, and you’ll stop wasting time on it.

Some business owners and entrepreneurs have poured their precious time and money into email marketing and social networking and saw nothing in return. But this will not happen to you if you plan well before diving into social media without a strategy.

Not all businesses need social media.

These days, most businesses need it. But the strategy for each business is different because it is not a one size fits all affair. Each company needs to develop its unique plan for each social network based on its individual business goals. Also, your business doesn’t need to be on all the social media networks available. But some companies may need to have a presence on more social media channels than others, depending on their products or services.

Each business should look to identify the key performance indicators that matter most to their brands. Companies need to go beyond focusing on vain metrics like follower counts or the number of likes on their social media posts!

Think of the various types of content to create. Think about designing unique customer experiences for the human traffic that comes to your website from social channels. Have strategies for promoting honest 2-way communication with your target audiences on social networks.

Social media marketing helps build businesses. With over three billion people worldwide using Facebook, Instagram, or other social networks every month, the users and engagement on significant platforms keep increasing.

It would be best to define what you want to get out of social media to develop your brand’s social media strategy. Companies need to have the proper organisational structure to support social media before investing in it. Set up robust profiles that you frequently update with relevant content. It will build your brand’s authority and make sure you make a positive first impression through social media. You are portraying your business as trustworthy, knowledgeable, and approachable.

You don’t need a strategy. Start posting.

As mentioned already, effective social media marketing requires a plan. One business’s strategy will differ based on the industry, target market, brand positioning, etc.

Just because your competitor is on social media does not mean you should jump in without a strategy. Before you post content to any network, you need a plan. Even posting your photos or videos on Instagram requires a plan for it to benefit your business.

Gone are the days when businesses had power. Because of the internet and social media, power has shifted from organisations to their customers. For any marketing strategy to succeed, it must focus on the competition and the customers. Therefore, social media is critical to customer service in several industries.

Some of these social networks have advanced analytics tools you can use to learn about your audience. Besides social media analytics, most networks also have a native scheduling tool. Use your social media scheduler to schedule your posts to go out on the right day or time of your choosing.

It would help to map out your social media strategy, social media plan, and social media goals. It’s fascinating to note that a social media marketing strategy and a marketing plan have many crossovers. Without a social media strategy, there is no way to tell if your social media is “working.” It looks at what you want to accomplish (goals) and defines your steps to get there. It becomes easy to see what is working and what isn’t on each social platform with a solid strategy. When planning your social media activities, your social media content calendar also needs to account for your time interacting with your audience. But you need to allow for some spontaneous engagement, too.

Be active on all existing social media platforms.

Brands should claim their social media profile on as many social media sites as possible for branding purposes. If you have the time and resources to be active on all existing platforms and provide valuable social media content to your online communities, that’s great.

But for many small businesses, it is often not practical because of their limited resources. Running some social media campaigns can be an expensive venture. That is why you need a strategy to highlight the relevant social networks and social media activity you should focus on. I will also identify the platforms you will gain the most potential customers and yield the highest return on investments.

Just promote your brand only all day long.

It is wrong! It is a recipe for disaster. Social media is about building communities of individuals who share common values and beliefs. So real social media marketing is not about promoting your brand on Facebook all day long. Instead, it is about your brand engaging with members of the online communities to which it belongs on any social media channel.

Your social media communities do not belong to your brand. Your communities belong to the individuals and other stakeholders that make up these communities. So your brand should serve them and not the other way round. It would be best to pay attention to them, respect them, engage in meaningful conversations with them, and provide valuable content. It is not about your brand. It’s about your loyal customers and others interested in your brand. Therefore, you must communicate this through all your social media advertising efforts.

To survive and grow, your business needs customers. To get customers, you need to promote your business on social media. Don’t just promote your brand all day long. Exercise caution so as not to reap negative results from being overzealous in your efforts.

Focus on one network only.

As mentioned already, it might not be practicable for small businesses with limited resources to focus on all social networks. Not that they should focus on just one system, either. It does not make any practical sense to put all your eggs into one basket. Doing so is not a sound business marketing strategy.

The chances are that your social media audience may not be on one platform. So you need to study your target audience and pick 2 or 3 networks where they’re most active and focus on these networks with the bulk of your resources.

For best results, spread your social media following across one network. If you have the resources, it’s best to have a business profile on your industry’s critical social networks. Based on your social media metrics, drop any unbeneficial networks. Don’t forget to grow and maintain your email marketing list too!

Over to you!

These are some of the worst pieces of advice I’ve ever heard about social media marketing. What’s the worst advice on social media marketing you’ve ever heard?

Related Article(s)

• How to Avoid Being Scammed by So-called Social Media Influencers

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