Social Media Marketing Tag

10 Myths About Social Media Marketing For Online Business

If you are new to social media, it can seem quite daunting and a constant battle to win over followers, however few business online find real success without implementing some type of social media marketing to reach potential customers and leads.

With social media present in every part of life, a lot of myths and rumors are floating around. How do you know what is true and what isn’t? Here are the top 10 myths that you may come across.

1. Everyone Is On Social Media

Despite the appearance that every person in the world is on social media, in fact many people are not. Current statistics show that out of the 3 billion active Internet users worldwide, 2.1 billion people have social media accounts, but do not assume that everyone is able to see and comment on your posts. Some only use social media to share pictures of their grandkids with family, and others are only interested in interacting with friends.

2. Social Media Will Take Hours And Hours Of Your Time

Some companies give the appearance that they spend all day on social media perfecting their posts and sharing other people’s content. However, this may be the case for some, but it won’t be for all. Most social media sites have automated features that enable you to decide what you want automated, such as following those who start to follow you. This can increase your social media presence without taking up any time on your part.

Most social media marketing experts strongly advise a strict schedule with marketing implementation and a lot of campaign planning in order to prevent spending hours and hours on social media. Organization is key!

3. You Only Need Social Media

Social media is an addition to your current marketing strategy, not a replacement. You still need a website to promote your business, email marketing still offers the highest ROI (return on investments), and content marketing such as a blog are all crucial aspects of a multi-faceted marketing campaign. Remember not everyone is on social media so some people will rely solely on your website and it’s never a good idea to put all your marketing eggs in one basket.

4. Social Media Leads To Instant Sales

It doesn’t for the simple reason that an online presence on social media takes time to build up. Social media is a road and not a destination. IT takes time to build up a following, and it never really ends, as getting more followers and more shares is an ongoing and long-term effort. Social media marketing success will never happen overnight.

5. Social Media Is Only For Young People

People of all ages are now on social media sites and capable of making purchases solely through them. When designing your social media strategy remember whom you are trying to sell to. Assessing and understanding your target audience is critical to not only choosing your social platforms, but also in designing an effective marketing plan.

6. The More Posts The Better

Social media is all about quality and not quantity. It is better to have several well thought through posts about key topics than hundreds of mindless updates put out there for the sake of numbers. The Internet audience has short attention spans, and when they are drowning in hundreds of updates, the key messages will get lost.

7. You Need Technical Skills To Work Social Media

The most commonly used social media sites are fairly easy to use, even for those new to the world of social media. Start by following some basic tutorials, and the skills will come in time.

8. You Must Be On Every Social Media Site To See Success

This simply isn’t true, and may be a huge waste of your time. It is better to do your research and pinpoint which ones will be most influential for your business model. Spend your time on this and only when you are ready should you move onto another one. It is better to have one really good site than several poorly managed ones.

9. Social Media Is Too Expensive For A Small Online Business

Social media can be as cheap or expensive as you wish to make it. You can set up profiles for free. Time and education are your main investments.

10. The More Followers The Better

This is also much more about quality over quantity; there is no point in having 10,000 followers if not one of them completes your required call to action. It is better to have 100 followers on social media that are highly targeted, loyal, dedicated, and likely to do what you want them to as far as your business is concerned that to have 10,000 who never convert.

Is Your Brand Social Media Marketing Ready?

Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ have become the new destinations where consumers gather to “hang out.” While they are visiting these sites and using them with staggering frequency for social purposes, they’re also in a prime position to make purchasing decisions, seek out reviews and recommendations, and ultimately purchase and consume.

In fact, Facebook recommendations have become a prime source of buying decisions by consumers. Even if it’s largely subconscious, they’re ready to absorb without much objection when they’re in their relaxed, social space.

To fully exist online, your brand must have an online presence and appear frequently on social media in a unique and interesting way that will encourage people to share and recommend your services or products.  But your brand has to be ready to stand up to social scrutiny, and become a recognized and trusted part of your target customers’ lives.

Before you bring your brand fully to fruition on social media, make sure you’ve completed all the steps below to make sure your launch is a successful one for your business. Social media marketing is a strategy, it takes thoughtful planning, testing and implementation to reach your and connect with your target audience. It is a delicate balance between promotion and building relationships, with the latter being the key in improving your bottom line.

Do Your Research

Prior to picking a brand name and logo and putting it out into the social media channels, you need to do your research. Begin by understanding what people are already saying about your brand online, and also see what’s being said about your competitors as well.

You should also immerse yourself in social media, and see what kinds of content, information, reviews, products, or services your target audience is talking about, sharing, and recommending. If you align your posts, messaging, and promos with what people are sharing and posting about most in your field or industry, then you’ll make a bigger splash with your brand by immediately delivering things your social customers want and crave.

Validate Your Name And Logo

Having consistent and recognizable marketing messaging on all fronts begins with a brand name and corresponding logo that people will be drawn to, and remember. If you already have a name, logo, and existing customer base who are familiar with both, it’s a great move to ask what they think through a survey. Often times, you’ll be prone to get stuck in an idea or logo that just isn’t working, and one of the best ways to understand if you’re being remembered by the people you’re seeking to interest, is to ask them.

Make A Plan

Wandering into the land of social media with no plan or direction will likely cause you to get lost in the masses of information already abundantly infusing the online social scene. However, if you go in prepared with a solid plan identifying all the objectives you want to achieve, and how you’re aiming to accomplish them, you’ll avoid being swallowed up.

Writing your goals down is a great, and often underutilized tactic for making a social marketing plan, so give it a try, and see if it helps manifest your success more quickly.

Additionally, testing conversions and results from all channels that you plan to use is important to avoid wasting time on venues that are not meeting pre-set goals. Not all social media sites will be effective in all industries and business models and testing allows you to weed out the winners.

Collaborate…And Listen

As you’re brainstorming ideas, and making plans for a thriving brand on social media, remember that collaboration is essential. You should work within your team, or bounce ideas off a trusted and knowledgeable colleague to make sure you’ve covered all the vital aspects of your market research, and leverage the power of sharing ideas and solutions toward a common goal.

And don’t just throw your ideas out and hope they stick. Really listen to all the feedback, ideas, and objections you receive so you can make your brand and your message even stronger.

Test, Review, Improve, Repeat

If you’re unsure on a new logo design, or a marketing idea, sleep on it. But don’t take too much time tinkering or picking at unimportant details either. Social media evolves rapidly, and testing out your ideas, and improving and changing along with it will keep your brand fresh.