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14 Common Misconceptions About Social Media From a Business Marketing Perspective

Published: June 18, 2015

For most companies, marketing over social networks is a fairly new concept. It’s not that they are late to the party, it’s usually just a matter of many business owners remaining cautious until they can gain a better understanding of how marketing on social media sites works and what type of financial benefits they can derive should they shift a portion of their marketing focus into this medium. For more information about how to get your boss up to speed, check out our earlier article: Important Digital Marketing Facts Your Boss Wants to know.

14 Common Misconceptions About Social Media From a Business Marketing Perspective

It should come as no surprise that there are many misconceptions about marketing on social media floating around the business world. Most of these misconceptions can be written off as ignorance due to a lack of experience or expertise in using social media as part of their internet marketing strategy. There is also a small group of marketers who simply misuse the medium, causing them to see it differently than it really is. To clear up as much confusion as possible, there are 14 common misconceptions about social media from a business marketing perspective that need to be addressed.

1. Social Media Users Demand Immediate Responses. – Unless the user is trying to reach a support unit for a e-commerce concern, the reality is most social media users are quite used to receiving replies at a later time, within reason of course. They realize you are running a business and may have many messages to handle.

2. Social Media is Conversation Format – There is no denying the main thrust of social media is social interaction. However, recent trends show that social media is fast becoming a place where people go to absorb news and information.

3. My Customers Aren’t on Social Media – This is simply not possible since there are over 1 billion users on Facebook and hundreds of millions users on other sites like Twitter. No matter the industry, everyone has customers using some form of social media.

4. Any Social Media Site Will Do – Any consideration you have of implementing a marketing program on a social media site should start with Facebook because of the number of users involved. Beyond that, you need to carefully consider whether or not certain sites would support your company’s demographics. Many won’t and you don’t want to waste time and money working on those sites.

5. Only Potential Customers Should Be Targeted – While your companies normal demographics will most likely be responsive to your marketing efforts, a wider audience always opens the door for more sales.

6. Most Interaction Occurs M-F During Business Hours – While business people might confine social media use to standard business hours, non-business users prefer evenings and weekends. It most cases, they are a vital part of the buying population as well.

7. Lead Generation From Social Media is Minimal – In the past, social media was fine for brand identification, but contributed little to generating leads. In the last couple of years, trends show more social media users are open to buying items found on social media sites.

8. Keep It Professional – To a certain extent, you want to keep your marketing efforts professional. However, social media is a great place to let your hair down and show the crowd your company has its own personality and flair.

9. Activity Monitoring Is Time Consuming – That may have been true in the past, but most social media sites now provide analytical tools that allow your to monitor activity on an as needed basis without going crazy.

10. Younger Personnel Interact Better With Social Media – Poppycock! Older individuals have become very adept at using social media, if only out of necessity. The fact they also have years of marketing experience tends to make them a bit more valuable.

11. Younger Users Dominate Social Media – The truth is you will be ignoring 40% of social media users if you target your marketing efforts exclusively towards people under the age of 35.

12. Social Media is Too Big For My Content – When using social media, content evaporates quickly. Instead of trying to develop extra content, you can re-purpose old content that has been missed in the flow.

13. Social Media Provides a Format To Attack the Company – People have lots of ways to attack your company. You can flip the script and use social media to controvert negative information.

14. Social Media is a Source of Free Marketing – While it might not cost anything to place an ad, you still need resources to develop the content and manage your social media accounts.

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