Mediaboss Marketing

As social media marketers, we have a lot to learn and adapt to on a daily basis. With each new day, there are new trends and tactics for us to adopt or dismiss. How do we determine which way to go?

With each new trend or tactic, theres the chance it isnt all its hyped up to be. The potential is there, but is it worth your own time, efforts, and even your budget? Some social media marketing techniques work, but too many times I see people fall for the wrong ones.

I wrote this article to help you avoid the social media marketing myths and empower you with their alternative best practices. It is with this list that you can strengthen your social marketing without falling for the most common traps.

I see them everywhere: Post on Facebook at 1pm on Wednesdays! Tweet every day at 11am! Dont post on LinkedIn on weekends! All these recommendations for best times to publish on social media present a problem instead of the solution.

The problem is: now everyone is going to think that they need to publish content at those times. As Stephan Hovnanian wrote in his article on this subject:

Its like announcing at the amusement park which ride youre going on next, which influences everyone around you to go on the same ride, and then youre all stuck in line together.

With everyone posting on Facebook at 1pm on Wednesdays, theyre all going to see their posts get lost amongst the overwhelming supply of content. Now that Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram use algorithms to filter users feeds, its even more important that social marketers be strategic with their timing.

Do your own research to create a custom best times to publish document. Make one that fits with your own target audience and industry. A great idea is to add your research findings to your overall social media strategy and calendar.

If youre just getting started with a platform, you can use the standard recommendations in the beginning, but dont rely on them for long. Its important that you experiment with your own accounts to see what days and times work best for your brand.

Use platform analytics and third-party tools to get more insight into whats working and when. Youll need to determine whether it was the content or the timing that worked.

Once you have a good schedule set up, should you stick with it forever? No. As with everything, your audience, content, and the platform youre on will all change. Youll need to continuously adjust your schedule accordingly.

Too often I see brands hop onto the latest trending hashtag just to receive significant backlash. Yes, there are the standard daily trends: #MotivationMonday, for example. These arent the ones you have to be wary about. Its the ones that cover current events that have the highest risk.

Sometimes I see marketers recommend participating in viral trends. A few even recommend controversy. This isnt a good idea for most businesses. You have a brand reputation at stake at the very minimum. At the worst, you also run the risk of sales damage.

If you dont need to post about a viral trend, you shouldnt. If your target audience isnt interested in seeing your opinion on a viral trend, dont participate. If you know it holds no value for your business and its audience, you are better off focusing your efforts on other techniques.

Marketers often see backlash from participating in viral trends because they didnt research the topic properly. This is a big mistake. Even if you heavily research what the topic is about, you also need to consider:

Be careful which trends you participate in, when, and how:

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This just isnt practical for many businesses, especially SMBs. While social media support offerings are a must in todays social environment, its not a tactic SMBs can offer in real-time, full-time.

With Twitter customer service leading to increased revenue and customer satisfaction, more businesses are spreading their resources thin in an effort to earn those results. Its simply not something all businesses can offer.

If your business cannot afford a fully-human, real-time support offering, you have options. You want to be able to respond to your audience quickly and effectively, but you dont have the manpower to do this. What can you do?

Facebook introduced Messenger bots last April during the F8 Conference. Their primary purpose is to give brands a way to automate their customer service through private messaging. The most important part about bots you need to keep in mind is: they are not a 100% automation solution. You still need to monitor questions during the times when your business is open. Bots cant answer all customer messages, so make sure youre checking in on whats been happening while you were away.

You also have another option for being there when it counts. Use a tool that will collect and organize your interactions in one place. You want to find a tool that will make responding faster and easier. The more efficient you are, the less resources you invest. Respond by Buffer is just one example of such a tool. You can also try Hootsuite or Mention.

A while back, a popular blog site I follow quit Facebook. They stated the lack of organic reach and engagement to be their reasons for the departure. They couldnt see a return on their investment without being forced to pay for promoted posts and ads.

Are these reasons valid enough to give up on Facebook? The honest answer is: it depends.

Not every business will see the same issues the example above had. Organic reach still has potential despite the Facebook algorithm. Some businesses may even find Facebook to be their best platform for audience engagement. Its about offering quality content. It doesnt always have to be about ads and boosted posts.

Does this mean the blog site I mentioned was wrong in their decision? Absolutely not.

Facebook isnt right for everyone. If youre not seeing engagement if your reach is below 2% if youre being forced to pay to be seen Facebook may not be the right platform for you, and thats okay. It may mean your target audience is more active elsewhere, so its better you focus your resources to that platform anyway.

Facebooks algorithm makes your page presence much more limited than it used to be. Thankfully, you dont always have to invest financially to get your posts seen. With the following Facebook strategies, you can improve your organic reach to improve both exposure and engagement:

Now, the question is: are you able to commit the necessary resources to create and share the right content for your Facebook audience? If they want to see live video, can you consistently create them? Images are key on Facebook. Can you create and post them on a daily basis?

If youre having trouble seeing your business invest in all that effort, you might have better luck looking for your target audience on other platforms. However, if your audience is most active on Facebook, you should definitely consider making the necessary changes to your strategy to make your business capable.

Not long ago, I came across an article that listed the top social media platforms for marketers. In the article, the author gives you convincing data and reasons for why each platform is important. Its a handy article if youre looking for that information.

The problem is: why is the focus on marketers benefits? I appreciate the information I see, but its missing a key component: why is each platform important to the user? Or, better yet, how are users engaging with businesses on each platform? The author gives you examples, but where is the information about how and why each is effective?

You may also see articles like that one, which convince you to hop onboard the latest, most popular social network. Unfortunately though, this isnt always the right approach. Your focus shouldnt be on joining the top platforms. Sometimes, when you dont research and measure properly first, you can make the mistake of joining a platform that wont benefit your business.

When youre deciding whether to join a platform, your primary focus shouldnt be on its overall user statistics or general activity capabilities. These are secondary compared to whats most important.

Your first priority should be on researching whether your own target audience is not only on the platform but also active there. Thats right. They cant simply have a silent account there. If you want to see a high reach and engagement, you need to be on the platform(s) where that will happen.

Only once you know your audience is both there and active should you start considering the following:

The platform may be popular, but you need to check whether your audience wants to see you there. Even if they actively use the platform, they may be using it for other reasons. They may not want to engage with your business there.

Its important that you research before making the leap. Once youre there, make sure youre monitoring its effectiveness regularly. If its not producing results after 6 months, re-evaluate your strategy. Maybe you just need to tweak a few things, but maybe you need to abandon ship instead.

You may want to stay with the times and on the right track with your social media marketing, and thats important. However, whats most important is that you know what will work best for your business and your target audience. You dont have to join every new trend or technique. Instead, focus your efforts where they would be most beneficial.

These 5 social media myths are just the beginning of a long line of marketing mistakes. Would you add any others to this list? Leave a comment with your input!

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5 Social Media Marketing Myths and Their Realities - Business 2 Community