Common Social Media Marketing Myths—Debunked

It’s no secret that social media has become an incredibly valuable tool in the world of marketing—especially now with so many social media platforms out there (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok…). And it is truly a great way to connect with audiences, a cost-effective medium for advertising, a place to buzz about news and upcoming events, and plenty of other things. However, there are a lot of myths out there about social media marketing, too. Here, we tell you what’s true and what’s not—and how you can best use social media to your advantage.

Myth: You Need a Social Media Presence on All Platforms

Many businesses believe this to be true, but it’s absolutely not! There’s no need for you to be on every single social media platform—just the ones that you know are reaching your target audience and that you can commit to doing well. It especially looks bad if you make a profile and only post one time. Stick with social media platforms that you know, and the ones you connect the most with your audience on, whether that’s Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and/or LinkedIn, etc.

Myth: Facebook Is Dead

There have been rumblings for years now that Facebook is dead and no one uses it anymore, but we’ve found that to be untrue. Sure, many Gen Z’ers aren’t checking Facebook every day—or don’t even have a profile—but we continue to find that Facebook continues to reach a very large and broad audience where we can target key demographic profiles that match our clients’ buyer personas. Even in 2022, it remains a great tool for creating events, sharing news, and connecting with potential customers.

Facebook

Myth: Hashtag the Heck Out of Every Post

We love a good hashtag or two, but tons of hashtags on your posts appear amateurish and spammy—not to mention annoying. While Instagram allows for up to 30 hashtags per post, they say 20 hashtags is the magic number. At least, at the time that article was written. 😉 So use them to your advantage (they’re great for allowing users to filter through posts), but don’t go overboard.

Myth: I Don’t Need to Boost Posts

This could not be more wrong! Boosting posts on social media helps get tons of traction across multiple audiences, including people who wouldn’t otherwise see your posts (i.e. non-followers). We especially love Facebook’s boosting tool as it allows you to customize your reach based on age, location, and other parameters.

Boosted Social Post

Myth: You Should Ignore Negative Feedback

It’s inevitable that in the social media world we live in someone is going to post something negative about your business on social. And while most of the time your gut reaction may be deleting the negative comment and crawling into a hole, reaching out to the person may be in your best interest. Reply to them and ask what it was you did wrong—and what you could do better—and attempt to make it up to them with, say, a gift card or a refund.

Myth: If You’re on Social, You Don’t Need to Do Anything Else

Like we said before, social media is great, but it’s only one out of many marketing tools that you should be using to connect with audiences. As a matter of fact, if you want to ensure you’re reaching your audience with important updates, we find that email marketing has the real power to get the message you want to share in your reader’s field of view. As does text or SMS marketing. And obviously, you should have a responsive website too, but we will save those conversations for another day. 😉

If you need help managing your business’s social media platforms, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at 919-229-9725 or Hello@RaleighwoodMedia.com. Social media is kind of our thing, so we’d be happy to assist you!