This day and age most everybody knows about social media. More popular sites like Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube have become a part of our everyday life. It has become especially popular for businesses, big and small, to now market through these sites and have a larger overall presence on the web than they previously did. Lately though, there are been some misconceptions about the sites and how they can help you.
I’m sure you’ve heard it before. Advertisements that claim you can log on to Facebook or Twitter, create a free account, find a few friends, and you’re on the road to riches. In a perfect world that would be great, but in the real world it just doesn’t work like that. Today, I’m going to outline a few of the biggest myths about social media in business and give a little insight about the truth.
Myth #1 – It’s free to use it.
Although it is free to open an account and get started, you’re not going to get any results whatsoever by just stopping there. The truth is it takes a lot of dedicated time and work to successfully run one of these sites. A report by the Social Media Examiner showed that 56% of people marketing through social media spend six hours or more each week doing so and 30% spend 11 hours or more. To achieve this level of success you’re going to need to spend a little time and some money into the distribution of your content if you don’t have the 6 – 11 hours to spare. Abandoning the sites will have a negative impact on your business. It may come off as being lazy and people will think likewise about your business.
Myth #2 – You see results immediately.
If this was true, we would need no other forms of marketing. It’s not true though, and like everything else in life you have to work for your results. Just creating account and making money would be great, but it’s not that simple. You need to consistently connect with people, and build relationships while promoting your business. Getting your message out to everyone won’t work because not everyone is interested in your product or service. Connecting with the right people is what it’s all about. They don’t call it social media for nothing. Given you’ve been working consistently with your efforts; you may not see results for a few months out.
Myth #3 – It will do all the closing for you.
The fact is that social media will help you get the message out about your business, but it’s what you do from there that determines if a prospect will purchase your product or join your team. Social media is a communication device. It lets people become comfortable with you or your products before they decide to see what else you have to offer. You can get closer to closing through social media, but it won’t do it for you.
Myth #4 – You have to be tech savvy to use it.
Some people truly do still believe this. Little do they know that social media has been designed for people with little to no technical experience at all. It’s the reason social media being so successful in the first place. If you can perform the most basic task like turning on a computer and sending e-mail, you can most definitely use social media.
Myth #5 – It’s only for young people.
Now I don’t know about you, but my mother is turning 57 this year and uses Facebook almost every single day. Furthermore, research shows that the fastest-growing demographic using social media are people age 55 and over. The days of these sites being used by a younger generation are over. The good news is that you now have a broader number of prospects who may be interested in joining your team or buying your products.
Now that some of these myths have been cleared up, you can see the pros and cons to using social media as part of your marketing strategy. As long as you continually work hard and not give up you will get the results you’re looking for.