Social Media Misconceptions, Pt. 3

The word myth tends to conjure up images of Greek and Roman gods, mighty stories of struggle for power or love. And that’s a little of the expectation when you see a Business Week article titled “Beware Social Media Marketing Myths.” When really, they’re more like misconceptions that you can clear up with just a little research.

As I mentioned previously, we’re going to take a look at these “myths” and see that while social media marketing isn’t for everyone, it’s relatively easy to clear up the misconceptions about this new wave of marketing. I’ll go through each point and tell you my take on Marks’ conclusions. You can find myths 1 and 2 here. We’ll conclude with myth numbers 3, 4 and 5.

3. You need to be on all the big sites.
I actually agree with Marks on this one. You don’t need to be on every social networking site. Choose a few – whatever is reasonable to maintain a regular presence. For most people, that’s probably only about two or three at the most. You want to be able to participate with the community, build some rapport, and gain some trust that you’re not just there to use people, but to really contribute to conversations.

4. Social networking sites are for marketing.
Now this one is a fine line. According to Marks, business owners have told him that social networking sites are for service, not marketing. You should use them to foster customer loyalty and respond to their needs. And I have seen companies like Zappos and Dell do just that.

Monitoring what people say about your company and jumping into help when there are problems should be part of your overall marketing program. It’s about protecting your brand’s perception the marketplace by being responsive to your customers on their turf. And that’s still a part of marketing. While social networking sites don’t exist just for you to market your business, a little bit of savvy networking doesn’t hurt.

5. Social networking is the future.
I’ll concede a bit here, too. Is social networking the be-all, end-all of marketing? No. It’s not the only future of online marketing. Personal interactions are still your best bet for making a positive impression. You definitely don’t want to put all of your efforts into social networking to the exclusion of other marketing segments.

But for the right company, with the right potential customer base, social media marketing can enhance your overall efforts. It’s your job to filter through the information and figure out if it’s right for your company.

image: sxc.hu