Surging since the early 2000s, it comes as no surprise that today’s society knows a thing or two about social media. The truth is most people (young and old) know how to create their own personal page and interact with friends. That stuff is simple. However, “liking” and “commenting” on your friend’s photos doesn’t necessarily make you an expert in social media marketing, but that’s perfectly okay!
Your job is to be the expert about your business or industry. Sure, you might be aware that engagement on your posts is important, along with gaining followers, but vanity metrics sole purpose is for your business to be the “star football player” and hope that your competitors are the “introverted bookworm.”
Hyperboles aside, to be able to get to that point in your strategy, you must first understand the facts about social media marketing and start by debunking the myths.
MYTH: Social Media Is Free – Have a Presence On All Platforms
I’ve said this before, social media is free, so you should utilize it, but not all brands need to be on EVERY platform. Especially if your resources are spread thin or if you don’t have the budget.
FACT: Once again, you’re the expert on your brand, and as the expert, you know what age group is interacting with your product. If your demographic is men and women 45+ you don’t want to be spending resources on Instagram when your audience is mostly on Facebook.
If you have a photography business, you’ll be spending more time posting visuals on Instagram than Twitter.
Do your research before deciding where to invest your time and effort. The last thing you want is to have several “dead” pages on various platforms just because you thought you needed to be there.
MYTH: I Can Reach My Audience Organically – I Don’t Need To “Pay To Play”
Small businesses have small budgets, I get it. However, to think you can get the same results as your competitors using paid ads is asinine.
FACT: Even just a few years ago businesses could get away with not participating in advertisements on social media. However, today, with the constant update in algorithms, platforms such as Facebook and Instagram practically require you to “pay to play” if you want to reach more than your regular audience.
Yes, you might have 5,000 followers on Facebook, but I bet only a small percentage of those followers engage with you on a daily basis. The problem is that with algorithms if your “fans” don’t engage with your posts, they will never see your content unless they go directly to your page. If you’re posting great content or running a promotion, you almost have to pay to see an ROI.
Not to mention that Facebook has shareholders to appease every quarter; those sales come from somewhere. If it’s not you, it’s your competitor.
MYTH: It Doesn’t Matter How Much I Post Or At What Time
Believe it or not, marketing is not done on a whim. There is a strategy behind everything you see on the web.
FACT: If you post once a month your audience will likely forget you, but if you over post, your audience will find you annoying and unfollow you. Both are true statements, which is why it DOES matter how much you post. It’s also matters WHEN you post on each various platform.
For example, statistically on Facebook, posting at 1 p.m. or 3 p.m. will garner better results in both engagement and clicks. Yes, it’s a possibility your brand does better at a specific time, but that’s why you hire social media experts to analyze the data and see what’s working for your brand.
You might think you have a lot of great content and it’s important to post every day, but if you notice that month over month you’re losing followers, it’s time to consider a new posting strategy.
MYTH: The More Hashtags In A Post, The Better
If you’re a teenage girl…
FACT: Hashtags are an important tool for getting your content out to the masses. It’s an effective way to get more followers and engagement if you’re tagging relevant tags to your brand, but the keyword here is ‘relevant.’
Why? Because users on Instagram now have the power to hide your hashtagged content if it’s something they don’t find relevant. The other problem is that several hashtags in a post can make you seem spammy, thus not encouraging people to engage with you.
Here is my rule of thumb. If you’re a small brand, use 3-5 in your caption, but load more (relevant) hashtags into the comments if you’re trying to expand your reach. That way they remain hidden, avoid making you look like spam and keep your posts clean.
MYTH: Anyone Under 30 Can Manage My Social Media Pages
It’s true, millennials did grow up with social media, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is qualified to manage your online presence.
FACT: I get the logic, why pay someone to manage your social media, when you have “Office Manager, Becky,” who is 20-something and can post for you as part of her job, but without the knowledge and experience, you’re wasting both her time and yours.
Having an eye for imagery is important but so is being able to write content. If you’re allowing posts to be published that are off-brand, contain grammatical errors, or photos that you don’t have legal rights to, you’re creating more work and a headache rather than seeing positive results.
Trust me, leave this job to the professionals. The ones with the college degrees, the relevant professional experience and the ones who will take it seriously.
Did this blog post spark something inside of you to act and grow your social media strategy? If so, learn more about what I can do for your social media goals. Also, if you’re a social media junkie, or are just amused by my musings, join as a subscriber!
