It’s no secret that social media can play a key role in growing any business. But surprisingly, 1 in 5 small businesses doesn’t use social media, and roughly 50% of businesses use it incorrectly.
Here is our list of misconceptions about social media marketing for small businesses.
1 – It’s About Making As Much Noise As Possible
Social media marketing is about having a strategy, and adhering to that strategy—for the most part, at least. Yes, you’ll want to create posts around major events, holidays, and similar situations, but there’s no need to post about everything all the time.
Does anyone care that you’re posting on Twitter 20 times per day, or on Facebook 10 times per day? What does your engagement look like? Are people even seeing your content?
Check on your posts’ success, and evaluate from there. Maybe posting a lot is working for your business, but odds are, it’s not necessary. What’s more important is what you’re posting—which leads us to the second item.
2 – It’s About Promoting Your Business/Products
Imagine that you’re in a room full of chatting people, and a new person walks into the room. Suddenly, that new person begins shouting facts about himself/herself, trying to be heard and liked.
Would you suddenly care about that person?
And yet thousands of brands do this all the time on social media. These brands post about themselves without interacting with other users, and don’t provide anything valuable or interesting to anyone.
Social media is more than just posting about yourself—share something fun that relates to who you are. If you’re trying to sell sunglasses, post about the health benefits of owning sunglasses, or different styles of shades, or even just good old summertime fun.
You can still tie your business’s message into it, though. Just be the person in the group who offers a slice of cake to everyone, and then hand them a napkin with your name on it. Subtle but effective.
3 – Your Business Needs to be on Every Channel
This one’s probably the biggest reason why small businesses fail on social media. Yes, your roofing business should have a Facebook account. No, your roofing business doesn’t need a Pinterest account—especially if you’ve never used Pinterest before.
Having 10 social channels is a lot to maintain, and most will probably be abandoned after a week or two. So skip Ello and play to your strengths—keep a handful of channels that you’re familiar with. This will make it easier for you to manage.
4 – It’s All About Posting Content
When many people picture social media advertising, they picture a company posting about sales, products, or events related to that business. But really, this is only a small portion of the work.
The most effective way to post is to have a content calendar. Keeping track of when you should post certain content will make posting easy and timely. Some software, like HubSpot, even lets you schedule posting in advance.
That being said, you’ll need more than posting. You need to engage with other users—share and retweet their posts. Like their Pages and photos. Talk to them, not at them. Have a meaningful engagement with a single user, and that user may just think about you all day.
5 – Social Media Marketing Doesn’t Work
This is what it all boils down to: Does any of this have an impact on my business, or am I just dumping a bunch of resources into nothing?
The fact is, there are many businesses that have seen tangible growth from social media efforts.
Social media isn’t about an instant return on investment. It’s about brand awareness and communicating your key business messages in a timely way. And since social media is a two-way communication system, be prepared to respond and engage with other users.
Of course, not every business will see results from social media, but the only way to know for sure is to give it an honest effort.
If you would like to learn more about how social media marketing can help your business grow, or you have a question about social media marketing, contact us or comment below!
Source: Hello BLOG
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