Myth # 1: Your business is not social: We heard many people saying that their business is too professional for social media.
Truth: According to a Pew research, 72% online adults are social media savvy. No matter if you deal with legal issues or building construction materials, there is no chance that you won’t find your customers on social media. You just need to find out where they spend their online social time and create content that would attract them.
Myth # 2: Social media is intangible: Social media is often blamed to be immeasurable.
Truth: Social media is definitely measurable. But you must remember that there is no magic button for “Social Media Measurement”. You need to set the right goals and metrics for your business. However, irrespective of your goal, you need to make sure that your consumers take the desired action, be it submitting email ids, filling up the online forms or sharing your content with others.
Myth # 3: Social media is free: Social media channels do not ask for sign-up charges, so social media should cost you nothing.
Truth: It’s true that social media comes free of cost. But you are not paying just for signing-up. Are you? There are loads of tasks involved, starting from creating a proper plan to execute them perfectly. After that, there is tracking and measurement processes to see how the strategy worked for you and how it could have been better. Moreover, you need to spend to build a community, otherwise the reach will remain confined within your family and friends.
Myth # 4: Have something to broadcast? Hashtag it: People think that since hashtags are popular on almost all networks, they should use them more often.
Truth: Hashtags are perhaps the most misused tool on social media. A few marketers use them in images as well. But the fact is, search engines can't read any text, embedded in an image. Watch this Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake video, you would understand how we use them going over the top. We reckon that it would make our content stand out but ultimately they lose their charm by the overplay.
Myth # 5: Social media replaced email: Social media has replaced email marketing.
Truth: That’s totally impractical. How can social media replace emails, when you need to sign-up on a network with your email id? A customer’s email id is the most valuable asset, a business can have. Instead, social media should be considered an effective channel to boost your email lists.
Myth # 6: Engagement is more important: When we spend time on social media marketing, we must get engagement in return, because that matters most.
Truth: Engagement isn't the only social media objective for businesses. Brand awareness, website clicks, downloads, email subscription matter.
Myth # 7: Content marketing and social media are same: There is no difference between content marketing and social media marketing, as they both deal with your content.
Truth: Content marketing is an umbrella term for content creation and content promotion. Owned media platforms like website, blog, our social media profiles are the content hub. After we create content, we need to promote it, so it reaches the right audience. Yes, social media plays a big part in both.
Myth # 8: B2C and B2B are structurally different: B2C businesses work differently than B2B and the latter is not meant for social media.
Truth: The basic structure for B2B is definitely different than that of B2C, but both want to connect with their audience on social media, offer help, provide information, listen to their customers and talk to them. Moreover, whenever you are reaching out to a business, you are talking to a person. Right?
Myth # 9: Social media marketing means being present on all networks: If you’re on social media, you must be present and active on all social networking sites, else you’ can't succeed.
Truth: Social media does not require you to sign up on each and every network. Focus on your business and sign up for channels that would matter to you and your target audience.
Myth #10: Listening on social media means auto-replying to each & every customer grievance
Truth: Social media listening doesn't mean sending auto-replies to each and every customer grievance. It means listening with an intent to understand( and not an intent to reply) what the customer wants to say. Check how these brands failed to listen.
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