Ten Myths about social marketing

Business owners around the world are using various social media platforms to promote their products and reach consumers. Many companies, thanks to their strong presence on the Internet, have succeeded. But there are some that have cost a lot of money but have not worked well. So before you start using social media platforms, it's important to get your social media skills in check. A better approach would be to understand the 10 most common pitfalls of social marketing and how to avoid making them.

Myth # 1: No clear social marketing strategy

Forbes magazine columnist Pamela Springer notes that many business owners cannot properly set their budgets. "Even though many social media apps are free, they still need time to invest, and time is money," she writes. "She advises companies to have a formal online marketing plan, with a clear goal for each step in the process."

Myth 2: Media incoherence

With a marketing plan, every post on Twitter and Facebook should be planned in advance to avoid inconsistencies. Terri Seymour of Site Pro News advises marketers to develop a social media schedule every week and then execute the plan. "Choose a few of the best sites and give them enough time and attention," she wrote. ”

Myth 3: No one monitors the site

Business Weekly columnist Mike Proulx said that if the management of the site's oversight, it is likely to lead to a public relations crisis. Any web site on the Internet is vulnerable to viral attacks and other illegal internet activities, so network engineers must constantly monitor all of the company's web sites to take a step ahead of their attackers.

Myth 4: The article is full of mistakes

"Grammar and spelling mistakes make the content of a Web page look bad," Seymour says. "All blogs, tweets, posts should look professional, even if social media sites are essentially informal," he said. When writing, authors should always look at what they have written and find a colleague to look at before uploading.

Myth 5: Missing brand Promotion opportunities

Springer points out that most social media sites have many places for business owners to personalize their own pages. But many people leave those places blank in vain. Springers said, "Your company introduction, logo, and any other links or smears are the sales tools that make your potential customers interested in your product/service." If your information on these sites is incomplete, you can only say how bad your company is. ”

Myth 6: There is no association between the different accounts

Some companies have several different websites. These companies should set up a mechanism to link the sites to each other-and, in the process, to connect different users. Seymour advises business owners to link social networking sites with widgets on their company's homepage. In addition, any updates to the home page should be automatically uploaded to all social networking sites at the same time, instead of one after the next.

Myth 7: Company Information has not been "claimed"

Springer reminds business owners that their sites are part of the public domain, whether they choose to participate in social media or not. Google Places and other services created corporate information for business owners who did not create corporate information online-a great opportunity to create a Web image. "All of these services give you the opportunity to control what information is displayed about your company and how to display it," she said. ”

Myth 8: Reply Not in time

Proulx warns that in the event of a PR crisis, waiting for a long time will make things worse. When companies are having problems, he says, it's a good choice to humbly admit mistakes on social media platforms right now. "Taking the time to draw up a perfect corporate statement and release it after a layer of management has been approved," he said, "will do more damage to your brand's social reputation." ”

Myth 9: No "like" or "attention" button

Seymour points out that these seemingly random words are highly correlated in the age of Facebook and Twitter, as they enable a significant increase in social activity on a company's website. Owners should add URLs to their e-mail signatures and their business cards, and provide links whenever possible. Many companies offer rewards for those who "like" and "focus" on their customers – and the company's Web site is also the most active.

Myth 10: Limited Vision

Proulx says social marketing should be sustainable because the fundamental goal of social networking is to reach new customers. In addition, new platforms appear every year. Netizens often put "outdated" brands aside to embrace popular trends. He wrote: "Although the tide of social marketing often rises and falls, you have to stay alert and forward-looking."

Today's business owners must recognize that social media are essential because they have become standard corporate behavior today. Brands that embrace social networking phenomena are more likely to attract new customers-and their money.

But a thorough understanding of how different social media platforms work, what their limitations are and how people use them, is the first step in the basics.

Source: Marketing Department