The Social Media Marketer

Top 5 Social Media Myths

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Can you believe that with all of the talk about social media, there are still some people out there who won't use it because of the many social media myths surrounding the issue?

They have many reasons for this, but the main reasons are fear and misunderstanding. After all, if you don't know how something works, you probably can't see how it will help you.

And that, my friend, is a sad state. If you're not using social media to further your business or website goals, you're missing out on a valuable tool that can make your business so successful.

What are you so afraid of? Are you still living back in the old days of the Internet, where only “geeks and kids” use that? Or are you worried about being that silly person who doesn't know what he's doing?

There are so many myths about using social media, when really, we should be thinking of it as a great way to contact potential customers. After all, don't you talk to people about your business now and then?

Using social media sites are just another way to spread the word about your business. There's no real mystery about it, really, despite the social media myths you've heard. Think of it like this. If there were hundreds of people milling about on Main Street in front of your business, and you put out a flashing neon sign saying “great deals here,” wouldn't expect at least some of those people to wander into your store?

But instead of putting that sign out, what if you closed the shutters and turned off the lights. Those customers would just pass you by and head over to visit the business that is open, accessible and ready to go.

It's the same way with social media. If you don't put yourself out there, then you risk losing people who would find you there and ready to conduct business. Do you really make so much money that you can afford to turn potential customers away?

Me neither.

What social media myths are stopping you? Could it be what you're hearing from the other unenlightened people, who spread social media myths? What have you heard? Is it:

1. It's too hard. Yes, social media sites can be a little hard at first. You have to set up profiles, pages, and decide what you're going to say. Plus, you have to figure out how to get the word out about your pages, and you have to work on maintaining them. If it's something you don't have the time to do, however, consider hiring a professional to maintain your page. You may just find that the business dividends you receive will more than pay for that service.
2. It takes too much time. Yes, it will take some time, particularly if you're doing it right. However, once you have the initial set ups taken care of, your sites will start to attract followers and will be somewhat self-sufficient, except for the time you take to post new entries. Also, you can try using a automatic program, such as tweetdeck, which will put up your posts to all the sites you use automatically. 
3. People will say bad things. Yes, they just might. But just remember, you can't please everybody all the time, and sometimes those comments just build up your traffic with others who are wanting to see what the fuss is all about. Take, for example, the makers of Bounty paper towels last week had a giveaway, with the first so many to say they “liked” the Facebook page to get a coupon for free paper towels. Well, there were only so many coupons, and once those were gone, there were some people who were not happy. However, did they click on that page? Yes. Are they still going to use your paper towels. Of course. And will they stick around for another contest? You know they will.
4. Nobody but kids are using those sites. Oh, come on, now. Of course others are using the site. Facebook alone has more than 500 million users. You know at least a fraction of those are customers just like the ones you'd like to have.
5. You can't tell if it is working anyway. There are plenty of social media matrices and analytics programs that show you how your social media efforts are paying off, through business and website visits.