5 Social Media Marketing Myths Debunked
By Cori Sears
If you’re not already using social media in your marketing efforts, you should be.
2018 was a crazy year for social media marketing, with tons of new functional features being added across a variety of platforms, and more businesses than ever jumping on the social media train.
Nevertheless, a few common social media myths persist — and if any of these are causing you to be hesitant about social media marketing, we are here to debunk them for you.
- My customers aren’t on social media
- More followers = more success
- Social media is a standalone strategy
- You need to be active on every social media platform
- Social media doesn’t work for B2B
Let’s go through each one in detail.
#1 – My customers aren’t on social media
Are your customers people? Then they are most likely on some form of social media.
A survey by Sprout Social, which surveyed 1,000 Millennials, Gen-Xers, and Baby Boomers found that:
- 7 in 10 Gen Xer’s are likely to purchase something from a brand they follow on social media
- 30% of Millennials engage with a brand on social media at least once a month
- 60% of Baby Boomers are looking for promotions on social media
With such a wide variety of people active on social media, the question isn’t if your customers are on social media, it’s where they are on social media. The key to a good social media strategy is choosing the right platform(s) to connect with your target audience.
Source: The Q1 2017 Sprout Social Index
#2 – More Followers = More Success
Follower envy – we see it time and time again. It can be hard to compare your page to a competitor who may have two or three times as many likes or followers. While the number of likes or followers you have is great (it showcases how many people are interested in your business) it doesn’t guarantee that these people are actually reading everything you post, or that they’re even seeing it.
The truth of the matter is, the number of followers you have plays a secondary role in the success of your social media marketing efforts.
Even though a page has a lot of followers, it doesn’t mean that these followers are interested in what the page has to offer. Perhaps the page paid for these followers or perhaps the content that they post isn’t hitting home with the audience and people aren’t even seeing the posts anymore (i.e. the reach and engagement is low).
You may have noticed that Facebook and Instagram changed their algorithm from showing posts chronologically, to showing posts that it thinks you will be the most interested in. This means that even if a page has a lot of followers, it’s possible that a very small portion of these followers are actually seeing or engaging with the content.
Consider: What’s better? having a lot of disinterested followers, or having a smaller group of followers who are interested in what you have to say and are consistently engaging in discussions with you?
So what should you look for when trying to assess the success of your social media marketing efforts? At Intrigue, we are more concerned with the amount of engagement that social media posts get, as well as the reach to engagement ratio (how many people did the post reach, and how many of those people engaged with the content). This demonstrates two things:
- How relevant and interesting the content is to our audience
- How much our audience is ready to start discussions with us
Disclaimer note: while engagement is important, it is critical that you ensure you are engaging your audience in an authentic way. Facebook announced in December 2017 that they would be cracking down on posts that utilized ‘engagement bait’ tactics.
#3 – Social Media is a Stand-alone Strategy
The fact is that social media marketing performs best when combined with other digital marketing strategies such as SEO, content marketing, pay per click (PPC) advertising, and more.
Conversely, those strategies tend to also perform better when paired with an effective social media strategy!
#4 – You Need To Be Active on EVERY Social Media Platform
While it can seem like spreading your message far and wide is the most effective way to gain traction on social media, this isn’t always true.
Most brands will find their best success on only a few social platforms, and that’s ok. The key is to find where your target market is, figure out what works, and stick to that!
#5 – Social Media Doesn’t Work for B2B
The idea that social media is only for ‘trendy’ or ‘flashy’ brands and organizations is simply not true.
Social media is a way for you to connect with people, tell the story of your brand, and provide value to your customers. In that sense, there is an effective social media strategy out there for every brand, you just have to know how to find it.
Don’t believe us? Check out some of our favourite examples of B2B brands who are killing it on social: Adobe, Mailchimp, and Fedex.
Interested in taking your brand’s social media to the next level? Connect with us!
This is a great article! Thank you Cori! I especially appreciated point 3.
A lot of people in the market are skeptical about using digital marketing as a way to promote their brand. I am sure this article will convince a lot of people to start using it.