7 Social Media Myths Debunked
When social media first came out many brands snubbed their noses at the whole idea. But now it seems like no one can live without it especially if you’re running a business. Right now it’s estimated that TikTok has 800 million users per month. Facebook has 2.45 billion active users, Instagram comes in strong at 26.9 million users, Snapchat 210 million users, Twitter 330 million monthly active users and that’s only the US-based social media platform numbers. So based on these statistics, there’s no denying why brands find social media a necessity.
The challenge we face is that there are so many tips and tricks on how to post, what to post, when to post and even where to post that has brands dizzily fumbling around to get the right strategy. At this point what separates fact from fiction?
Here’s the roundup of the 7 most common social media myths and how you can debunk them.
MYTH 1: You Have To Be On Every Social Media Platform
If you’re busy building your brand you need to find the most effective social media platform that works for you. Every brand has a different strategy so finding the right platform where you can reach your target audience is crucial.
Letting this myth go means that you will need to figure out your company’s function and role in the lives of your customers. From there decide which account(s) you’ll prioritize and how each social media platform will help your strategic engagement goals.
MYTH 2: Social Media Is A 24/7/365 Job
It might feel that way but today there are a plethora of tools out there that will help you navigate and save time when it comes to posting. Before you determine which tools will assist your social media efforts to keep in mind that 71% of visitors expect help in five minutes. 53% of users who tweet at a brand expect a response in 1 hour. People who range from 35-44 years old are late shoppers.
To let this myth go make sure you are scheduling content that lives outside of your traditional workday. Make sure you also have a system in place for customer service and post a mix of promotional and useful content.
MYTH 3: Publishing Content That People Will Engage In
Today it’s noisy on social media. There are so many posts, blogs, promotional items, tweets that it’s becoming harder to stand out. This means you need to be actively engaging with your audience and you have to get customers to take some sort of action.
Let go of this myth by considering how often you will post promotional content and how you will work to generate engagement, clicks, and retain attention.
MYTH 4: Post, Post, and Post Some More
This might work on a small portion but when you post the same content over and over again on your social media channels, it can annoy your customers. Research shows that social media content that performs better, attracts engagement and shares when it contains other forms of media.
Debunk this myth by considering adding GIFs to your content
MYTH 5: Social Media Opens Us Up for Negative Comments
Remember social media is social which means it’s going to be a two-way street. You can’t avoid those who will post negative comments. But when it comes to negative dialogue it’s already happening the only difference is that when it’s on social media it gives you an opportunity to respond to feedback, even if it’s negative.
There’s no debunking this one, but remember that negative comments equal feedback and it provides you with free insights without paying for market research. It’s a great way to improve your brand and offerings.
MYTH 6: The Bigger The Following The Better
As much as many of us believe this, the truth is that it may not be the case. It’s a popular practice in the lifestyle and fashion space that brands might buy followers. Today with algorithms it’s easy to spot those who are buying followers. Matter of fact when you do this it brings down your credibility and reputation. Right now there are programs in the marketplace whose sole function is to determine if followers are bots or real.
MYTH 7: Never Promote Competitor’s Content
Many social media marketers believe that if they promote a competitor’s content that it’ll damage their brand reputation. Actually quite the opposite, because this practice is considered sharing valuable content and the best part is that you never know if it’ll spark a future partnership.
