Everyone claims to be a social media “expert” – if there is such a thing. They like to dish out advice based on unproven theories, limited experiences, and sometimes pure hunches. Not only that these advices get you nowhere, they also make you look like a fool in everyone’s eyes.
An easier task would be to debunk those tips that really don’t have any bearing on one’s social media marketing efforts. Easier, because the burden of proof is on the shoulders of these wanna-be experts, and the absence thereof means they have to be dumped in the trash bin.
So if you have these notions in your social media belief system, perhaps it’s time to take out the garbage:
Bad tip #1: You need to be omnipresent – If your audience isn’t there, what’s the point? Imagine how much energy you can save if you choose which social networking sites you need to be on, instead of being active in all of them. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are a given. If you want to expand, study the ROI.
Bad tip #2: It’s okay to automate all your posts – For blog articles, it’s fine. But for updates, comments, and conversations? It’s a no-no to let a robot determine the timing of your posts. Genuine interactions require a living person to initiate or respond.
Bad tip #3: You don’t need email – Email is like Elvis. It remains, to this day, the single most successful act in music history. And despite the mania caused by the arrival of The Beatles (social media), Elvis (email) never flinched. That is why for most people, Elvis (email) is still the best.
Bad tip #4: B2B prospects are not on Facebook – If this were true, vendors would not have reported that Facebook, and any other social networking sites for that matter, were the source of majority of their online-acquired leads in the last 3 years. Business prospects like to socialize online, too.
Bad tip #5: You should ignore negative comments – The operative word is “ignore”, which makes all the difference. You can defend your brand’s name in the most good-natured way possible, but to ignore comments altogether is a different story. Don’t let people think you don’t care enough about what people say.
Bad tip #6:Don’t bother measuring social media marketing – Contrary to popular belief, it can be measured. But because of its being dynamic, there’s no industry standard for measuring ROI. That means – you guessed it – you can measure it in your own rational terms.
Bad tip #7: You should post X number of updates today – What is the basis of assigning a fixed frequency of posts? Response rates? Visibility? If you have a logical basis for the number, then use it. Otherwise, don’t pressure yourself.
Bad tip #8: Social media needs no strategy – Just because social media is unpredictable doesn’t mean a strategy is not practical. There are other aspects of social media marketing that don’t live by spontaneity.
