After a list of 20 Great Social Media Monitoring Tools, SmarterSocialMedia, the leading provider of social media marketing services online today, once again releases its list of the Top 7 Small Business Social Media Myths! This company is under the elite supervision of CEO and Co-Founder Bryce Maddock, whose been building and branding businesses using social media since 2004.
I Have to Use Social Media! – Social media is all the rage right now. As a result it seems that everyone feels they need to jump on the bandwagon. At Smarter Social Media we cringe when we see Logistics Companies setting up Facebook Fan Pages or Accountants using Twitter for solicitation. Simply put if it won’t convert to sales then there is no reason to do it. Social media marketing is not right for every business. In general social media is most effective for B2C products and services, that have engaging, human qualities. Examples: Bledtec, Zappos and American Apparel. There are some compelling B2B examples as well: Sun Microsystems, GoDaddy and IBM. But in general these are rarer.
Social Media Marketing is Free – Like much of the hard work done by small business owners, there is an assumption that if you don’t have to write a check for it, it’s free. In reality social media marketing is never free. Whether you are paying an employee or agency to manage your social media presence or taking time out of your day to do it yourself – social media is costing your money. The cost comes in the form of salary paid or in the form of dollars sacrificed to opportunity cost.
Social Media Will Sell My Product/Service – No amount of marketing savvy can sell useless products and services. An exciting social media campaign will generate interest, but ultimately your product or service has to stand on its own merit. So the first step in any successful marketing campaign whether it be radio, newspaper or web based, is to create a really compelling value proposition and then build the marketing vehicle around this.
Social Media Will Yield Quick Sales – If you are looking for quick conversion try Search Enging Marketing. Use Google AdWords to purchase advertisements based on keyword searches. This will generate immediate traffic and, with a well structured website, immediate sales. Social media is a long term investment it is a marathon not a sprint. You could spend months up keeping a Twitter account and company blog without a single trackable sale. Building a community of evangelists takes time. But once you have built a community, you have an opted-in group to market to and to rely on to sing your praises and defend your brand. This is incredibly valuable for anyone looking to be in business for the long run.
Social Media Takes Too Much Time – Okay so social media often seems like a black hole for productivity. The hours spent simply trying to figure out Twitter and Facebook, zap time that could have been spent making money or relaxing with family friends. However, once you have your social media presence established, marketing through this medium need not take you more than half an hour a day. The first step is to create a social media planner, in which you commit to one simple social media activity a day. Monday I’ll schedule my Tweets for the week. Tuesday I’ll write a blog post. Wednesday I post an interesting video to my Facebook Fan Page. Thursday I’ll field @ replies and direct messages on Twitter. Friday I‘ll read and comment on other blogs in my industry. Here are some cool tools that we use at Smarter Social Media to make the process a little easier: Twuffer for Tweet Scheduling, Google Alerts and Google Reader for keeping track of subjects related to your industry that are being talked about in blogosphere and Ping.FM to post updates, photos and videos to all of your social media accounts at once.
I’ll Hire An Agency/Consultant So I Don’t Have to Do Anything – Simply put social media agencies cannot do everything. To give your social media presence engaging, human qualities, there must be an engaging human behind the social media accounts. You are that person, so get ready to write your own blogs and tweets, take your own photos for Flickr and record your own video’s for YouTube.
Social Media is a Great Way to Advertise – Advertising is a word we HATE at Smarter Social Media. Advertising is the process of yelling at your prospects from billboards, commercials, newspaper and magazines. Social media is exciting and fresh because instead of yelling you get to have a conversation. Post information, thoughts and feelings and expect to hear back from your customers and prospects. Be ready to listen, learn and respond appropriately. Not everything you hear will be pleasant. But here is a secret – the most negative feedback you get is often the best. Not only does it give you opportunity for improvement, but your most vehement critics can sometimes be turned into your biggest fans if you are willing to politely engage them. We’ve seen this happen countless times.
