What’s the Biggest Misconception About Social Media Marketing?

You’ve probably heard this one before. You may even have thought it.

“Anyone can do social media.”

Here’s the thing. Anyone can do social media in the same way that anyone can kick a soccer ball. But that doesn’t make them Sam Kerr.

If you’re a business owner who is considering incorporating social media into your marketing strategy, you may be wondering why it can’t be done by, say, the receptionist. After all, “he’s young and young people know about this stuff, don’t they?” Before you decide, ask yourself the following question:

What is your purpose for being on social media?

This isn’t a trick question. There is no wrong answer. But your response will determine whether it can be done by your in-house wunderkind or not.

If your reason for being on social media is simply being on social media — kicking the soccer ball for kicking’s sake — then, sure, let the receptionist loose.

In this situation the outcome will undoubtedly be a social media presence that lacks strategy. What does it look like when there is no social media strategy?

Here’s what we see most:

Inconsistency

Social media platforms do not favour sporadic posting, with long absences between frantic bursts of content. Consistency is key as it signals to the algorithm that you are engaged and providing value to your followers.

Irrelevant Content

You might think that hilarious cat meme is meowgnificant but what’s it got to do with your business? Save it for personal channels or risk sullying your rep.

Poor Quality Content

Unappealing images, out of focus, dark and pixelated images will not cast your business, or product, in a favourable light (pun intended!).

No Business-specific Video Content

And what about video? Video is the future of social media. Some outlets claim that social video generates 1200% more shares than text and image content combined. Do you have the capacity to produce high-quality video content that will get you noticed for the right reasons?

No Clear Calls to Action

While your social media shouldn’t be an unrelenting hard sell, you do need to provide your followers with clear calls to action. CTAs can be a request to engage or to take a specific action, like booking a discovery call or subscribing to a mailing list.

No Understanding of the Target Client

If your target client is, say, women over 50 who run their own business, your content needs to speak to their pain points, in a voice which aligns with their own, using visuals that appeal to them. It takes skill to achieve this and failing makes your brand appear clueless or irrelevant to your target client.

Trusting your social media to someone who is untrained in social media strategy not only fails to yield tangible results, it puts your business’ reputation in jeopardy.

If your social media presence is less about the kicking and more about the goals, working with social media marketing professionals is essential.

A clearly defined social media strategy enables you to identify your goals — be it Brand Awareness, Audience Engagement, Lead Generation, Website Traffic, Customer Support, Product Promotion, Community Building, Sales Conversions, or a combination of these — and to expertly execute it via the production, and posting, of targeted, valuable content your followers will readily engage with.

As with most things in life, if the solution seems simple, chances are you don’t understand the problem. In other words, you don’t know what you don’t know.

If you want to kick goals with your social media strategy, book a free, no-obligation 15-minute strategy session to find out how we can support your business growth.