social media marketing myths

When looking at marketing through social media there are several assumptions and myths that are taken as reality by many companies. These range from having to be constantly on social media to thinking that it is just a fad. Businesses are still learning the ins and outs of the different types of social media, as well as trying to keep up with the growing number of sites. When a business learns to correctly use the social media to target the correct market and to really grab the potential consumer’s attention that business learns how crucial it can be to have accounts.

One myth that I came across is that consumer do not really read the posts on social media. An article published on Marketing Land mentions that “reach on Facebook is determined by a number of factors, one of which is fan engagement with your content” (Olenski, 2014). This brings up the point that a customer can read a post without it counting towards the engagement on Facebook, but to gain more actually engagement from a post add something to make them click on the post. Companies could add anything from a link to a video or photo which will cause the readers to click and view or read the information. Also when companies gain followers or ‘likes’ they need to keep in mind that usually the person wants to see what they are posting to gain knowledge either about their product or the brand. Also one thing about companies thinking that consumers are not reading or engaging with what is being posted is that they may not be using more social media than just Facebook. Also many consumers follow profiles because they are interested in what is being posted, which creates a great market for the companies.

Another myth that plays off of that is the belief that companies need to be on every social media. When thinking about the reach of a post it is important to remember that there are more sites than just Facebook but yet at the same time a company should know where its market is. One post about myths of social media brings up that although potential consumer will be across multiple networks “the key to good marketing strategy is to know your target audience and focus your efforts” on the social media they will be on (Quin, 2014). A company does not want to be spending all of their time, money, and effort on one platform when the customers are not even there. Companies need to remember when choosing social media that just like they would not post a billboard outside of where the target market is that they should not spend time posting on a social media where the market is.

When using social media companies have seen that there is a lot of room for learning on how to use it more efficiently. A blog done by Flight Media reminds marketers that when using social media one needs to stay targeted, be consistent yet not aggressive, and to engage with the customers (Jaredic, 2014).  If a brand or company can learn to do all of this and do it properly, than they will see the ROI from all of their work. 

Jaredic, M. (2014, June 23). 4 Essentials for Rocking Social Media. Retrieved from Flight Media Blog: http://blog.flightmedia.co/4-essentials-for-rocking-social-media/

Olenski, S. (2014, May 12). 5 Myths About Social Media Marketing. Retrieved from Marketing Land: http://marketingland.com/5-myths-social-media-marketing-76429

Quin, R. (2014, July 3). 10 Social Media Myths That Need To Be Busted. Retrieved from SocialBro: http://www.socialbro.com/blog/10-social-media-myths-that-need-to-be-busted