Big Myths of Social Media Marketing

by Scott Bishop on February 2, 2010


Social Media Social Media Marketing Strategy marketing

magicman

Social Media is certainly the hottest thing in marketing since well, a few years ago when “Web 2.0” was.  But with all of this buzz, comes a tsunami of information.  So much information that not only is it hard to tell good from bad, but so much information that many untruths become the rules.

There are an awful lot of myths roaming about in the vast endless void of cyberspace.  Here’s a quick list of some of the biggest you should avoid.  If you or your company are going along with these myths as truths, it’s time to change your paradigm around how your company is seeing Social Media’s marketing ability.

It’s Fast

Given the real-time nature of social media, one would think that it’s fast.  But it’s not.  The way that news and information travels is now at light speed, but social media marketing is slow.  Social media, is obviously a social tool, but businesses and brands need to tread those waters lightly.  It takes a tremendous amount of time to build up the trust of your networks to become a valued member.  Make a commitment for the long haul.  Take the time and energy needed to develop trust with those in your networks. It takes time to create value.  That’s the most valuable thing a brand on social media can do.

It will Replace Marketing / Advertising

Despite what Internet marketers and even most social media marketers or “gurus” will advise, social media is not designed to take over your marketing or advertising.  Social media and marketing do not and cannot exist as separate business  pieces.  Social media is one piece of the bigger marketing picture.  It’s role is to complement what you are already doing in your business.  Use online channels to show the best of what you and your company does offline, online.

Social media may replace a section of your marketing that you have determined as low on ROI, like how Pepsi dropped their Super Bowl ads this year and replacing it with a  social media campaign.  But Pepsi is not dedicating their entire marketing to social media.  Complement and expand marketing efforts with social media, don’t replace them.

It Will Solve Our Sales Problems

Social Media is not a miracle worker.  It’s not the Mother Theresa for your sales.  If you sell a crappy low value product, no amount of YouTube videos or Twitter followers, or strategy will fix that.  Social media can get you in front of a larger audience and new targets, but the people behind all those profile pics are not robots…they’re still people and it still takes the same ole good product at a good value to sell to them.

It Will Expose Our Problems

I used to work for an extremely large company that is a dominant player in an “old” and low-tech industry.  Management was terrified of social media tools because in their view it would be used for nothing more than a sounding board for all of our unhappy customers and everyone that hated our products.

And they were right.

But if you have droves of customers who are angry and unhappy…I have news for you…Those people are talking anyway.  They’re talking to their friends and many are probably talking about it online on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and forums.  So staying out of social media doesn’t keep you safe from bad exposure, it prevents you from fixing it.  What better opportunity to monitor and seek out unhappy customers, and then solve their issues.  Not only are you helping a customer, you’re now broadcasting to anyone else that you address issues.

The broadcasting  of product or company problems on social media are going to happen with or without your involvement.  If you are not monitoring and staying out of the fight, you’ve left a tremendous opportunity for a competitor to take care of your customer’s issues for you.

It Works

Not everyone is a Gary V, or Zappos.  You can’t expect windfall profits and super amazing things to begin to rain from the sky…all from Social Media.  I will argue that almost every business can benefit from some level of social media activities, but you need to be realistic.

Set goals that apply to your business and your demographic.  I recently chatted with a business owner who was disappointed that 1,000 members haven’t flocked to a new network she created.  I asked where this 1,000 number came from?  How was this determined as the goal?  Was it based on local demographics, similar companies have seen those results, how was this goal selected?

Don’t expect great things from social media if your goals are set up so you’re guaranteed to fail.  You wouldn’t set first month sales forecasts to reach $1 million dollars if you’ve never seen those numbers before.  Treat social media with the same thought and strategy as other parts of your business.

Social Media marketing can produce some powerful stuff…but do your homework, build a strategy, execute, analyze.

Let me know how I can help.


This is DAY 2 of my “28 Day Blogging Challenge“

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Scott S. Bishop is editor for Real Time Marketer and a marketing strategist with a specialty in social media.  He is an avid blogger and active across the net.  He is @thescottbishop on Twitter

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Tagged as: Myths, Real Time Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Strategy

  • I would say that it does work for virtually anyone who engages in social media. I have worked with very small companies ad very big ones. Both as a consultant and as an employee with social media since 2006. As you say, social media alone won't do the trick, and the people advocating that it will are the true bullshitters of our industry.

    Not everyone will become Gary, but everyone can find a use for social media in their business.

    I also think that it is the rescue for a vast majority of companies that have old business models and sales systems. Social media is so much more than the social networking we do on Facebook and Twitter. Just take Facebook Marketplace as an example. It grows by a half million users every week or so. The endless possibilities for you as a retailer to expand your business to the social market are enormous. Not only because you can put your products into the discussion with some involvement, but you can also save costs, distribution etc. by using the available technology.

    I like the post. But I would have liked to see the "Social media will kill e-mail" myth in there as well :)

    g1.
  • jakedimare
    As a guy who makes his living helping global entertainment brands make decisions about online communications strategy you might be surprised to learn I couldn't agree more. Particularly with the idea Social Media will replace marketing...something I try to remind myself of every day is my work in the interactive space is just one of many equally important channels in a successful advertising/marketing campaign.
  • Cool. I enjoyed reading the post. I think Social Media Marketing works for all kinds of business.
  • sbishop
    Thanks for the comment Sera. Given the right well thought out strategy and approach, I agree with you. Social Media marketing can benefit just about every business. I don't think all tools will work for every company, but most businesses will benefit from at least some of the tools. Although I believe every business should be monitoring the conversations online.
  • I echo these frustrations. It seems we're almost in a catch 22. We know our clients/teams can understand "social media" but (at least to me) social media is lastly about media. What we should be concerned with is the fact that communication technologies (everything from Facebook to Foursquare) are changing consumer's expectations and increasing marketing opportunities. This evolution/social media/call it what you may requires us to do business differently.
  • I did a presentation this year on this very topic except it was called "flushing the social media bullshit." The points I made were very similar to yours but I would also add that one big myth is that its all about the number of friends or followers you bring in. If I had a nickel for every client that says they want more followers I would have a whole lotta nickels. The thing that people need to realize is that its not all about "Followers, Fans & Friends." It's about going out and executing on a strategy that will create a community.

    I was initially was taken back when I saw that "it Works" as a header for one of your myths. After reading further though; I agree. Social Media doesn't work for everyone because not everyone is willing to use it properly. I stumbled across a local business earlier today using twitter the same way they would use a commercial. No engagement, just push, push, push! Thats not what social media is for...Its about being social. Alright, this is the end of my rant...looking forward to the 28 days of blogging!
  • sbishop
    You def "get it" and I'm in agreement. I go back and forth about the number of followers because you need engagement 100% to create a real community. But the reality is, you do need numbers. I wish there was a "tipping point" but that sort of research is impossible because each situation and brand is different. I tend to write for the smaller business. The followers / friends / fans / whatever is really about "engaged followers" that matter. Do they need 10,000 followers, no. But they prob need more than a few hundred of targets followers to be successful.

    I see a TON of local biz make the mistake you're talking about. It's all push push push. That doesn't create any value what so ever and so many biz do that.

    Looking forward to your posts. Thanks for jumping in to The 28 Days.
  • I'm in limbo about the numbers too, Scott. As you said, you need to engage and have relevant followers that will actually interact with your product. But you also need a good number of those folks.

    While I'm not a big believer in numbers, I do recognize the fact that somebody with 3500 Twitter followers will get more responses to a questions than someone with 350 followers. I suppose the key is making sure that you curate a good part of that 3500 to be really engaged people.

    Hm...
  • sbishop
    I would love to have some sort of study that could identify a "Tipping Point" number for how big your community needs to be to achieve X. But there are so many variables that may be impossible. The best bet is to just go after specific and targeted folks for your community. Otherwise it doesn't really matter if it's 10,000.
  • Such a study would be pretty cool. Agreed, though, not sure if it would be possible realistically. Maybe measurement queen Rebecca Denison could take a stab!
  • sbishop
    Worth a shot!! Would be a smashing success to crack the tipping point code for social media success. How are awesome would that be! I think it's difficult to measure...but not impossible.
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