WSI Stream - Don’t Believe These 5 Social Media Myths

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Don’t Believe These 5 Social Media Myths There is a lot of information floating online that raves just about everything from how great social media is to how much of a waste of time it is. I have put together a list of common misconceptions around this topic that I often encounter when educating businesses about social media.

“Sites Like Twitter And Facebook Are For Kids”

Fear: Businesses have a difficult time grasping the concept that the same network their children use to gossip to their friends about the party they went to over the weekend is the same channel that is going to connect businesses with their customers.

Fact: Yes, it is true that there are a lot of teenagers and college students that are on social networking sites. However the fastest growing demographics on Facebook are those 35 years and older (Facebook). On Twitter, 45 to 54 year olds make up the highest indexing age group (eMetrics) and Internet users between the ages of 35-54 now account for 40.6% of MySpace visitors (comScore). So, social media is not just for kids, but a way for organizations to reach out and connect with the right people to grow their business.

“Building Online Relationships Is A Waste of Time”

Fear: There is no point of networking with people you are never going to meet. It is simply a waste of time as it will not drive me any more business.

Fact: This is far from true - social media has opened the doors where it is possible to network with your customers, clients, prospects at ease. Not all of them are going to turn into customers, but that does not mean you cannot collect valuable feedback on your product or service. In addition, building your online fan base is another way for you to promote your products and services and help keep people informed about what is happening in your organization. There is no such thing as time being wasted when it comes to networking with your target audience.

“You Cannot Measure Social Media”

Fear: It is not possible to measure an ROI on social media.

Fact: The very fact that social media is Internet based means it can be measured. When it comes to measuring social, there are typically different Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) businesses look at when determining ROI. For example, the goal of your website may be to measure the number of completed downloads, the number of items added to the shopping cart, or the number of newsletter sign-ups you receive. However, on your social media campaign, you might look at the number of fans that increased over time, the number of comments posted on your channel, the number of discussion threads on your forum, or the number of ratings your video received. All these Key Performance Indicators can be measured and analyzed to determine if the campaign was indeed successful.

There are several tools available that allow you to measure the traffic you receive from social sites and analytic software such as Google Analytics can be used to determine which social sites brought the most conversions for your product / service. So yes, considering all this, social media can be measured.

“Social Media Is Free”

Fear: I can create my own YouTube channel, or LinkedIn page, or Twitter account. There is no cost for me to set up my network on those portals, so why am I being told it is going to cost me money to implement a social media campaign?

Fact: A lot of the technology is free, but simply creating an account on Facebook or registering your product name on Twitter is not a social media campaign. You need to ask yourself:

How do I increase the number of fans I have on my Facebook page?

How do I get users to subscribe to my YouTube channel?

How do I get people to retweet my message to their followers on Twitter?

How do I get users to subscribe to my blog?

You still need the campaign, the creative, and the drive to get your social media plan working for yo

“This Is Something I Can Probably Do In-House”

Fear: We have employees that use social networking sites on a regular basis, and they are familiar with the technology, so why not use them to grow our business online?

Fact: In most cases, employees are using social media for personal reasons, and use it to connect with their friends, share photos, and find out what’s happening and where. But when it comes to leveraging and monetizing social media for business purposes, it is a completely different ball game. This is where creativity, campaign ideas, and of course experience is key, and organizations need to turn to the experts in this field to help them put that plan in place. There is no pre-defined process for social media. Depending on your target audience and your product or service, the networks you participate in, the message you decide to deliver and the way you deliver it are crucial to the success of the overall campaign.