If you’re avoiding social media like the plague for your business, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to take your marketing to the next level. However, there are several misconceptions that a lot of business owners have when it comes to using social media, which causes their marketing efforts to fail when they do attempt to use the digital platform. Here are the top five social media myths that you need to avoid believing:
1. You have to be on EVERY SINGLE social media platform.
Many people think they have to be on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Periscope, etc., etc., in order to see any type of ROI on their social media efforts. This is absolutely not true! When you try to be active on every social media platform, you end up spreading your efforts too thin, you struggle to build a following on any of the platforms, and your posts get very little visibility.
Instead, focus your efforts on two or three social media platforms where your target audience is active. Take the time to create a strong profile, share valuable content, engage with other users, and build your following on those platforms. Then, branch out to other social networks once you’ve established a strong presence on those initial two or three platforms.
2. Getting thousands of followers on social media is the most important goal you should achieve with your social media marketing efforts.
When you try to concentrate on simply increasing your followers with as many people as possible, you’re not focusing on your own target audience members — the people who you can actually help with your offerings, and who will potentially buy from you.
Instead, focus on gaining these quality, or relevant, followers that are members of your target audience. It’s better to have a handful of engaged followers — those who are commenting on, sharing and liking your posts — than thousands of followers who aren’t evening reading anything you post on social media.
3. Selling products and services directly on social media works well.
It’s difficult to sell directly on social media — especially when you’re first starting out. This is because people don’t know you very well, so why should you expect them to buy something from you? You first have to build trust with your followers.
Instead of posting blatant marketing messages on social media trying to sell your products or services, concentrate on providing a ton of free, valuable content. When your target audience sees you’re posting great content that’s helping them eliminate or reduce their pain points, they’re definitely more likely to buy from you. They may even inquire about your products or services without you having to promote them at all.
4. Avoid connecting with people who you don’t know on social media.
I get asked this question, especially related to LinkedIn, all the time: Should I avoid connecting with people I don’t know? Here’s my answer: No, you absolutely shouldn’t!
You really want to focus on expanding your connections, and if you’re only connecting with people you know, you’re not going to be able to do that very well since you only know a certain number of people. Don’t be afraid to accept a connection request on LinkedIn from someone you’ve never seen or a friend request on Facebook from a person you’ve never heard of.
Don’t accept every request, but take a look at the profile of the person who has asked you to connect. Is this person in a similar industry as you? Could they be a potential client or business partner on a project? Is their profile complete and do they keep it up to date?
It’s not that difficult to spot the spammers — those who don’t have very much information posted on their profiles, are lacking a profile picture, and only have a couple of followers. Avoid connecting with those people on social media.
5. Social media is fast and real time, so there’s no need to proofread your posts.
Social media is a very real-time medium with people posting information every second. However, in order to protect your business’s reputation and brand, proofread your social media posts for spelling errors and grammar mistakes before they go out to the world. Although you can delete your post in most cases if there’s a mistake, it’s still already been out there and someone may have already seen it.
Jaclyn Baldovin is a digital content strategist and owner of the coaching and consulting company, The Digital Content Handbook. She teaches female entrepreneurs how to leverage digital tools, like social media and video, to grow their businesses online. If you’re interested in learning how you can work with Baldovin, visit her website at www.DigitalContentHandbook.com, join her Digital Divas Facebook group or follow her on Twitter at @JaclynBaldovin.
