The 6 Myths About Social Media Marketing

Social media has come a long way from the new and scattered information hub that it once was. Steadily over time, it’s evolved into a giant centralized network that made brands go from “nice to have” to “we should really be there.”

That being said, the myths have accumulated along with the success. Many marketers will agree that one of the biggest challenges with social media is misinformation. Here are 6 social media marketing myths that you’ve probably heard and why you need to leave these old ways of thinking behind.

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1. Social media marketing tactics don’t drive bottom-line results. Social media drives leads and customers, period. Let me throw some facts out there from our friends at HubSpot:

• 34% of consumers use social media to learn about brands and their products and services.
• 64% of buyers would rather send a brand a message on social media than call for customer services.
• 43% of Ben Z consumers have Mande a native purchase from a social media platform.
• 83% of people use Instagram to discover new products and services and 87% said they took a specific action after seeing product information
• 79% of people say that user-generated content on social media significantly impacts their purchasing decisions.

Through social media marketing and advertising strategies, social media is a viable opportunity to increase sales.

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2. Posting at a certain time helps. Not completely wrong, but not all the way accurate, either. This myth can be traced back to 10+ years ago when social media still used chronological feeds. With constant algorithm updates to display your timeline according to engagement and other factors, chronological timelines are no more. It also comes down to engagement. Posting when your audience is most active can help get the engagement you’re looking for in the first few hours after it’s live. Instead of focusing on what “time” to post, aim for the best timing. You can track when your audience is online on Facebook right in the Audience Insights tab of your business page.



3. Social media is a stand alone tool. You shouldn’t treat social media as a stand alone tool, but rather let it be part of an integrated marketing strategy. It performs best in alongside interrelated strategies like content marketing, SEO, and influencer marketing. If you don’t know where to start when it comes to your marketing strategy, our team can help! We’ll combine all of your digital assets like social profiles, websites, email campaigns and advertising campaigns to set you up for success.

4. You should ignore negative feedback. Social media is a spectator sport! Thousands of other customers and prospects can see if and how you respond to negative feedback. Answer every comment or review, positive or negative, and do it professionally and kindly.



5. Social media is real time with no planning. Many people assume that good social media marketing is always real-time to keep up with the current trends and never pre-planned. Of course, there are some great examples of real-time social media marketing, but the truth of the myth lies somewhere in the middle. All social media strategies should account for real-time reactions, but it should always have some planning to it to ensure you’re sending out the right message. After all, you never know if you’ll go viral these days!

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6. Content marketing and social media marketing are separate initiatives. If content is fire, the social media is gasoline. Use social to drive awareness of your content more so than awareness of your company. Content and social should be working very closely together to create results.

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Now that you’ve learned some myths behind social media and how to bust them, you’re ready to make your brand successful on social media. Contact us o get started!