We get it, you think social media doesn't work for your industry, your customers arent using it, your industry is different, special, social media just wont work.
You are not alone.
Thousands, maybe millions of business owners and marketers alike still dont believe there is value in adopting Social Media Marketing as a viable strategy for their companies. To them, social = Facebook and cat videos.
They are wrong.
Its time to put away the excuses and jump in both feet.
We outline 14 common misconceptions that people tell themselves about Social Media Marketing that need to be put to bed. Now is the time, ignore it at your peril.
My Customers are not on Social Media
Facebook has over 1 Billion active users. Instagram, Twitter, and Google+ each have upwards of 100 Million active users.
You certainly have customers using these networks.
More Networks = Better Marketing
Convinced that social media is great? Ready to join all of them?
Not so fast!
You'll find that trying to be active on every network is very difficult. Not only will you be stretched for time and content but you will find limited success with many of those platforms.
The best option is to remain consistently active on a handful of your most successful social media profiles.
Only Young People use Social Media
False.
40% of users on Facebook are over the age of 35. 52% of those aged 55-64 have joined a social network.
We Dont Have Not Enough Content
Some worry that they will not be able to produce enough content to remain active on social media.
This one is true.
Your job is running your business not starting a blog.
That's where the 80/20 rule comes in.
Shoot for only 20% of your content shared on social media to be your own. The other 80% is curated content.
Share interesting blog posts, pictures, news events, etc. Anything that is related to your business and your followers will find value in.
Social Media is Free Marketing
While it's free to sign up, it is certainly not free marketing.
You'll have to put in some work to see results.
Alternatively, products like Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, and Instagram promoted posts can allow you to reach thousands for a small fee.
Don't think of social media marketing as free. Think of it as an investment of your time and effort. An investment that can pay off in increased leads and social influence.
Social Media Marketing is too Much Work
It can be a lot of work if you do all your social media marketing by hand. If you manually go look for posts, upload photos, and compose posts every day, this is a lot of work.
Luckily, there are a plethora of tools that allow you to easily repost relevant articles and schedule posts for automatic posting. Now you can do all your social media planning for the entire week in an hour or two.
Social Media for Business Should Not Be Personal
People think that their social media profiles should be strictly business. They miss the point of social media. To be social.
Getting personal with your audience is a great way to establish a lasting bond and develop appreciation and empathy for your brand. Once your audience discovers that there are people behind your business, they will be more likely to spend their dollars with you than a faceless organization.
More Hashtags = Better
Hashtags help your posts get discovered.
However, too many hashtags leave less to discover.
The point of a post is to provide value and stimulate conversation. If you make every post with the aim to attract everyone you will attract no one. Add 3-4 relevant, detailed hashtags to your posts. This allows for discovery without flooding the post with distracting tags.
Social Media Marketing is not Linked to Results
A lot of people think that social media is only good for increasing customer engagement and "brand equity". They don't believe that social media has the power to drive real tangible results.
What they don't see is that customer engagement and brand equity are major factors that play into a customer's choice to purchase from your business.
I Need to Reply Immediately
While a timely reply to a social media message is desirable, you have a business to run and your customers understand that. While you should not stress yourself out over trying to reply to every message immediately, do aim for a response within 24 hours.
More Followers = More Success
Followers are great. But don't fall into the trap of using followers as a metric for success.
Followers can be bought. Followers are not always interested in your product or your brand.
Instead of trying to collect followers, collect a community and share content that is worth spreading to others.
It's Only About Discovery
While social media is great for opening up your business for discovery, that's not all its good for.
As we've discussed, your social media marketing campaigns will bring potential leads as well as foster a lively community that is excited about your product.
It Opens My Business to Criticism
Some people think that starting a social media profile for their business is just opening a forum for criticism.
The truth is that your customers may be already criticizing you elsewhere.
Now you can open a forum to address issues openly. Sometimes how you handle a bad situation means more than what you may have done to cause it.
Your followers are always watching your actions and providing a place to openly address complaints as well as accept constructive criticism will deem beneficial to your brand.
