The thing that is holding us back from being super successful is often those things you tell yourself. Call it fear. Call it procrastination. Call it what you want. I get it. We all have the voices inside stopping us from achieving what we really want sometimes.
When it comes to utilizing social media to help you grow your business, it’s just an excuse. And I’m here to help you get past it and on to creating a killer social media strategy that’s designed to help you expand like wildfires.
Here are 17 social media myths debunked.
1. You Shouldn’t Follow Too Many People
Nope, I don’t buy it. Especially in the beginning of growing your following, the number one best way to do it is by following other relevant and similar people. While you are growing you have to get in front of as many people as possible and this often means following a ton of people. There will come a time when you grow that your following outnumbers the amount of people you follow. But that’s a natural expectation only found by growing (or paying for followers). Don’t worry about your follower to following ration just yet.
2. Social Media Is Only For Sexy Businesses
Negative. It’s for people who want to communicate with their audience online. It’s for plumbers, it’s for electricians, and it is for CPAs. Literally any business can use social media to achieve specific business goals. Ok, so maybe you can’t sell something directly through social media, you can stay top-of-mind. Or you can use it as a customer service tool. See anyone can use it.
3. Social Media Is A Full-Time Job
It can be. But it doesn’t have to be. By using tools and time management tactics you can do an effective job efficiently. Of course if social media is killing it for you, then yes, it’s time for someone to take on that role exclusively.
4. Blogging Is Not Worth It
No way, no how. If you know me or Jason, read our blogs or attend our webinars, you’ll absolutely know that blogging and social go hand-in-hand. Blogging is a social media channel in itself. Plus, without blogging you don’t have anything to share that drives people back to your own site and you don’t have something for others to share that drives traffic back to your site. Blogging is a social media traffic driver. It’s worth it.
5. It’s Too Hard To Measure ROI
Tricky, yes. Too hard, no. My advice is to measure leads first and sales second. And use my CLEAT method for a full-on, all inclusive way of measuring social media.
6. If I Ignore Negative Feedback, It Will Go Away
Not only is this a bad idea, it’s also not true. Ignoring negative feedback can cause a backlash because people usually post negative things so they can get a response. If you don’t respond, that same person might just keep on posting negative things until it’s too hard to change. It may even trigger others to share their terrible experiences. By responding you have the opportunity to change the perception of the reviewer and also people who see the post. It’s a good idea, believe me. Here’s more on that.
7. My Baby Boomer Audience Isn’t On Social Media
Wrong. Baby boomers are the fastest growing social media demographic. Take a look at Facebook, teens are fleeing it because their parents and grandparents are active there.
8. Facebook Is Dead
Yes organic reach is down, but people are still very active on Facebook. You have to find new ways to get your content found. My advice is to think about Influencers and video. Plus, if this is a reason that you don’t want to use social media, then it sounds to me like you need to change your mindset that Facebook is the only network out there.
9. People Don’t See My Posts
Just because people aren’t engaging with your content, doesn’t mean that they don’t see it. I look at my news feeds all the time, but only rarely click like or comment in some way. I’m an inactive consumer most of the time, but I am definitely paying attention.
10. Social Media Marketing Is Free
Come on now. Is your time not worth anything? I didn’t think so. Social media marketing isn’t free. It’s can be affordable though.
11. G+ Is A Waste Of Time
If you think this, then you clearly haven’t found the right people on G+. The communities are active and poppin’ with excitement. You just have to go out and find it. Plus, there is a lot of talk about G+ and social sharing being connected to search engine rankings.
12. If I Post Too Often, People Will Get Annoyed
This could be true if you only have 1 fan or follower. But the odds of that are very low. The more you post, the more people see your content. Why? Because you are reaching people at different times. You can’t expect everyone to be online at the same time. By sharing content at high trafficked times you’ll reach a few here and a few there. Add them up. It’s more than just one post.
13. Pinterest Is Only For Women
Ok, there are a lot of females on the site. But take a look at the categories. There is one for Men’s Fashion. Plus, a good way to reach men is through their significant other. Need some other reasons. Here you go.
14. You Need To Use Hashtags ALWAYS
On Instagram hashtags are your best friend. They are really the only way to get found. But on other networks, it isn’t as crucial. Community building, branding and real-time events are 3 great reasons to use hashtags. But if you use them too often in a single post, you risk getting looked over.
15. I Don’t Have A Social Media Content Production Budget
Social media is about being accessible, so sometime real and authentic trump professional. Don’t be afraid to use your mobile phones to create photos and videos for social media sharing. It gives that peer-to-peer, I’m just texting you feeling and that’s a good thing.
16. I’m Too Old To Be Good At Social Media
This one is just not going to fly. No matter what age you are, you can be good at social media. It’s about being authentic and it’s about being real. Take what you do offline and bring it online and that’s a great place to start.
17. Follower Count Is Everything
Followers are good but they aren’t everything. Here’s why. You can buy followers. 🙂 That’s not authentic. So real organic followers that are highly targeted are much better than a ton of followers who don’t give a darn. You feel me? Thanks to (Bhavani Esapathi for sending this myth my way.)
Want me to debunk more myths? Send them my way. I’m feeling frisky!
