Social media has become a key aspect of marketing strategies for many companies to help businesses develop a wide audience, drive potential leads and generate return on investment. However, since the beginning of social media, there has been a lot of noise around the social networks and most of it hasn’t been very helpful. Check out these common social media myths to avoid.

The More Times a Day you Post, the More “Likes” You’ll Receive
A common Facebook myth is that businesses believe that if they post as much as possible within a day it will increase their “likes”. From personal experience, these companies get unliked as fast as they get liked for taking up people’s newsfeed by posting several times a day. Clients never want to feel as though you are shouting at them so, posting consistently but only once or twice a day is sufficient.

Facebook Ads Drive “Likes” but Not Leads
Sure, anyone can create a Facebook ad and throw a net around a broad audience and receive hundreds of likes for a company page within days. It is likely, in this instance, that from those Facebook ads you have only just created temporary “likes” and haven’t captured potential leads. As a part of your social media strategy, you should have each Facebook ad highly targeted so each “like” your company page receives has value and retains a return on investment for your business.

Receive Big Hits or it’s Not Worth the Effort
A common misconception when companies are putting together a social media strategy is they look for ways to become viral and receive big hits. Social media is a marathon, not a sprint. The results aren’t always instantaneous, but this doesn’t mean it isn’t worth putting in the effort. Social media is used to increase a company’s credibility, create transparency, but mainly to increase search engine optimization results and attain leads.

Only Celebrities and Big Brands Use Twitter
When thinking of Twitter, you may think of celebrities or big brands that have a large following. However, Twitter, like other social media platforms part of your social media strategy, depends on quality not quantity. By tagging keywords through hashtaging and providing useful and credible content for your target audience, Twitter is another channel where companies can increase their search engine optimization results and return on investment.

Social Media Is More Important than your Website
This is a social media myth that is commonly presumed by companies and assuming this can be harmful for your business. Social media networks are branches off of your company website and these networks are used to increase your company’s search engine optimization, credibility, and ultimately increase your return on investment. Websites are where potential leads turn into hot leads, so without a website you are eliminating opportunities to grow your business.

Five Key Takeaways:S.J.Hemley Marketing

  1. Posting several times a day will cause leads to unlike your page
  2. Facebook ads, when used correctly, can be valuable and key increasing your online presence
  3. Focus on projecting valuable content that is highly targeted rather than focusing on ways to become viral.
  4. Any size company can use Twitter effectively when using the tools Twitter has to offer
  5. Nothing will replace your website; social media profiles are there to guide potential leads to your website.

About S.J.Hemley Marketing
S.J.Hemley Marketing is a marketing and sales consulting firm focused on driving tangible results for professional services firms. Brand matters, but not without ROI. With over 20 years of sales and marketing experience within staffing and recruiting, we have helped to drive successful branding, sales training, lead generation activities as well as defining marketing strategy for top organizations.