4 Social Media Myths That Hold You Back

Popular social media myths are a dime a dozen.

Here are a few popular social media myths:

• Post on Facebook three times a day.

• Don’t post on Facebook every day.

• Posting was so last year –live streaming is where it’s at!

Everywhere you look, marketers are weighing in on the latest and greatest social media hacks that are supposed to turn your brand’s social media presence into a viral success. While it’s important to stay up to date on social media trends and updates, building a digital strategy on unfounded social media myths is never helpful.

Here are four popular social media myths that may hold you back:

Myth #1: It’s all about what you post. 

Social media was originally a publishing platform; however, social media offers so many more capabilities than just broadcasting organizations’ messages. Social media’s many features provide the opportunity for engaging conversation and cultivating relationships – two big keys for social media strategy success.  A meaningful conversation will go much farther in building your brand’s social rapport than another meme. An organization can connect with its follower community through comments, messages, and other interactive social media features. This type of two-way conversation is one-way brand loyalty is built with modern consumers.

Myth #2: You get out what you spend. 

Many social media newbies think that if they spend it (social media advertising), they’ll see a correlated growth in followers and sales, but social media community building is a little more complicated than that. Throwing $10,000 at Facebook ads will not necessarily result in 10,000 new followers or sales.  Sure, social media ads may help boost a brand’s reach, but it’s no longer enough for a guaranteed return on investment (ROI). Ensuring that you have experienced talent driving your social media spend is crucial for seeing results in today’s competitive social space.  We’re all competing for the same few seconds of a scrolling consumer’s time – make your marketing budget count.

Myth #3: If you build it, they will follow. 

Growing a following takes more than maintaining a brand’s social media presence through regular posting.  While consistent publishing is certainly one part of a successful social media strategy, it is far from enough to develop a digital following that will lead to optimal returns. Make sure your brand has a multi-pronged community development strategy for all social media platforms where they are present. Just being visible on an app is no longer enough. You must provide regular, engaging content that draws social media users in and prompts action through interactive opportunities. Contests, live video, and virtual events are just a few ways today’s organizations can cut through all the digital noise and grow their online following.

Myth #4: Going viral is the goal. 

Going viral can be exciting; however, it should rarely be the goal of an effective social media strategy. Outside of organizations whose budget (or ethical creed) allows for incredibly advanced analytics and expert consumer psychology consultation, most brands are unable to predict post virility with much accuracy.  So many factors influence what starts trending on any given day – current events, political climate, competing content, and yes, even the weather. While having a post go viral could be a positive thing (viral content often snowballs at an incredibly fast rate, resulting in an avalanche of unproductive and negative interaction), consistent engagement on an organization’s social media platforms may be much more fruitful in the long run.

Don’t let social media myths hold your organization back.

Social media myths can be very misleading. When developing your organization’s social media strategy, it’s important to consider the validity of information sources and make sure that your campaign is built on solid intel. Consistent engagement that adds value and builds brand loyalty is a much more strategic foundation than the latest social media gimmick. Social media platforms and user trends are constantly changing. It can be difficult to remain updated on evolving platform capabilities and effective measures. 

Are social media myths holding your organization back?

Contact Becker Digital to schedule a consultation to learn more about how an effective social media strategy can elevate your organization.