Seven social media myths laid bare

Because we all consume it, we mostly have some opinion about how social media should be used.

Social media has 'grown up' since its birth to what we understand today (and is going through more changes as I write). And as it evolves, there are a few misconceptions that we really need to let go.

Here are just seven off the top of my (social media consulting) head:

Myth 1: The follower count is most important

More often known as a ‘vanity metric’, your follower count is not your go-to to measure success. A more valuable number to know is the percentage of your followers that engage with your content.

Myth 2: My brand must use all social media channels

Simply...no, you don’t – nor should you! Quality over quantity generates valuable engagement. Trying to create content across too many channels could mean that you stretch yourself too thinly and this will detrimentally impact the consistency of your messaging and/or its quality.

Myth 3: I need to post ten times per day on every social media channel

Emphatically, no! Once again, quality over quantity is essential when planning the consistency of your messaging. Posting too frequently can overwhelm your community and have the opposite effect of engagement. Like, they'll disengage and get bored!

Myth 4: You can’t measure return-on-investment for social media

Erm…yes you can. Firstly, within any overarching digital strategy you’ve planned, you’ll have agreed some KPIs. Maybe it’s engagement, or impressions or website traffic. Between you and your (skilled) social media practitioner, you’ll have the right tools to measure your KPIs and thereafter you can assess any resulting data on an agreed periodical basis. You then use the data to adjust your messaging.

Myth 5: I can get everything done with AI

Whilst skilfully using AI can tailor or streamline your efforts and workflow, there’re still (currently) aspects of social media which requires authentic human interaction. If you want to build trust and loyalty in your communities, you have to implement a community management plan. Last I looked, Instagram have started highlighted posts which have been created by AI and LinkedIn now has an option where people can feedback about where messages they’ve seen, are AI generated. People are turning off images and copy which have been AI generated and social channels are flagging them. So, if you are, be careful where you’re using AI for your social media.

Myth 6: I have to ‘go viral’ at least once per week – make it happen!

Honestly? ‘Going viral’ is the last thing you want. Yes, getting that level of visibility can be thrilling and bring a significant amount of traffic to your brand, but if you don’t have a strategy for managing ‘going viral’, you can actually tarnish your brand. Remember you want to consistently bring value to your communities at all times and this will take long-term strategy implementation.

Myth 7: Social media marketing is only for B2C business

Social media channels are connected to consumer brands, no doubt. However, a lot of decision-makers are using social media for research and to get insights into industry trends. Think about this on your channel’s storytelling.

Look out for the next blog post in the series about social media myths.