By Hector Cisneros
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| Courtesy of Pixabay |
For some, social media has been a godsend. It has been the
great equalizer for the masses, allowing the everyday person to stand up against
companies that provide poor products or services. For small businesses that are
consumer-oriented, it has been a blessing
because of the testimonials and high ratings they receive, allowing them to compete
with big business. But for some, social media has been a curse! Any business or
person who has ever been hacked, scammed, bullied or wrongfully vilified in any
way knows how dreadful and relentless social media can be. It is a two-edged sword that cuts both ways. Both the positive
and negative aspects of social media create myths. Sometimes, it’s because what
was once great about a particular platform is now gone. Other times it’s because
a one-time negative event began a bad memory that became a legend. In this episode
of Working the Web to Win, which is also the third installment of “36 Social Media
Myths”, we will continue with myths 25 through 36 to finish the countdown. I also
recommend reading Part 1 and Part 2 of this
series to get the big picture. We will include a few hidden tidbits along the way
as well. So, roll up your sleeves and get ready to write down the last 12 myths
as we explore the top “36 Myths in Social Media”.
Bonus Myth! It is a myth that cybercriminals hack into people
social media accounts. Cybercriminals don’t usually hack an account by guessing
your passwords or using software designed to get around a network security measure.
They get access from you directly. Usually what happens is they create a profile
of who you are, what you do, who your friends are and what you're connected to. They start a phishing campaign, which asks you to log into a fake
website about something you're interested in or connected to. Most users don’t use lots of different passwords,
so if you fall for this trap, they have your password and username. At this point, they begin to test your actual accounts until they breach one.
We have written many articles about cybersecurity. I recommend
you read a few of them. Always set your social media security and privacy settings
as high as possible. Make sure you also have active and up-to-date antimalware defenses
running at all times and change your password at least once a year. Make the new
password different and diverse, at least 12 characters long, using numbers, letters
and special characters. Social media security is no joke. It costs billions of dollars
in losses each year, and breaches often start
with social media profiling. Now let’s look at myth #25.
Myth #25 You Get the best Coverage by Posting
the Same Thing to all your Platforms. I
know that anyone can post the same curated content to multiple platforms simultaneously and you will generate good
traffic. However, you will not be optimizing your return for the different social
platforms. Each social platform has different rules, the number of characters you
can post, how images are used, etc. On top
of this, the subscribers of different social platforms have different usage times
and habits. They all have different peak usage times. To get the most traffic, you have to customize your post for each
platform and also make sure you are posting at the ideal time for that platform
for your subscribers.
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| Google+ is not Dead! |
Myth #27 Any time is the Best Time to Post.
This myth
is perpetuated by the need for convenience.
I hear people say when you find something interesting or useful, you should share
it right there and then. It's true this helps you stay active and engaging, but
it does not mean that you are posting at the
best time of day. As mentioned in Myth #25, subscribers for every social platform
have their own habits, and their usage differs by age, socioeconomics,
demographics and platform. You need to learn what these habits are, so you can schedule
your posting time to maximize the number of
people who see your post.
Myth #28 Schedule Posts are Not as Good as Live Posts. For the most part, people don’t know (or care) if a post was entered “Live” or “Scheduled”! What is important is that the post
be useful in some way to the audience. It is possible to figure out if a post was
scheduled, but few if any have time for that. Just make sure you're providing high
quality, useful, relevant, timely, or entertaining curated and authoritative posts,
and people will consume your content.
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| Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons |
Myth #29 It’s OK to Post Any Images you find
Online. This is a big problem on the internet. So many
images are easily accessible to anyone with a browser. However, most images are copyrighted. It's stealing
if you use a copyrighted image of any kind.
Make sure you either have permission to use an image, or its license is
listed as free to use commercially. Even if you use Google Advanced image tool, many of the images listed are
still copyrighted even though they say, “free to use.” I always select images from databases like “Pixabay”
that “says their images are free to use”!
Myth #30 Major Brands Should Only use one
Business or Corporate voice. This
myth has to do with how personal your social voice is. Many name brands only “speak
in a corporate tone.” They rarely pull off
their corporate mask and speak to people in everyday language on a personal level.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t be professional; this
is a must. However, it’s important to use
the same level of language, tone, and demeanor
in your prose that your audience uses. If you want to engage people, you need to
communicate on their level. Otherwise, it
will seem like a commercial.
Myth #31 You Have to Have a Huge Following
to be Successful. There is no doubt
that if you have a huge following, you’re
more likely to be successful than not. Having said
that, you don’t have to have a million followers, or even 100,000 to get a great return on your social
media. However, you do have to have a few thousand people paying attention to be
able to gauge any impact that your messages
have. If your number is too small (say 200 followers), your message may not register
any significant impact, even though it was
a good message. Take the time to grow your following. It doesn’t have to be huge,
but it still should be at least 1000 followers if you want to get a return on your
time and money.
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| Courtesy of Flickr |
Myth #33 Social Media Can Replace all other
Web Properties. Today, there
are a lot of small businesses that only have a Facebook page or are just using free
social network accounts. This is OK, but it
is far from ideal. In fact, I think this is
a mistake. In the 80’s you needed to be in the Yellow Pages. Today, you still need
to have a website of some kind that you have control over. Social networks are fickle
and can remove you for any reason they deem fit. This can’t happen with a website. If you own a URL and have paid for
your hosting, it can’t be removed easily.
In time, all web properties will become accepted as more or less equal, but today
a website has more credibility, and prestige than a social media page. The most
important factor is that a website will rank better and give the owner more control.
Myth #34 Any College Student Can Perform
your Social Media Marketing. There
is no doubt that younger people usually learn new technologies faster and are more
fearless when it comes to adopting new things. Internet marketing is no exception.
However, social media changes very often and quickly. On top of this issue, marketing
is a skill that takes time to learn. An experienced
social media marketer will usually outperform an inexperienced college student on
multiple platforms. An experienced professional’s
productivity may cost more per hour, but their return on investment is usually double
or triple the cheap labor you get from a college student.
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| Courtesy of Pixabay |
Myth #36 A Steller Business
Reputation Can’t be Harmed by Social Media. Here’s a news flash. If you’re not proactively
managing your reputation on social media, you're setting yourself up to make sure
that your reputation is predominantly negative. A person who feels they have been wronged is ten times more likely to complain
via social media than someone who is happy with your services. In fact, when a person is happy with your service,
they rarely post a recommendation (unless you ask them to). Make sure you are actively
asking happy customers to post testimonials,
positive recommendations and 5-star ratings for your company, products, and service. Failure to do so will eventually just leave the negative comments.
Social media myths come and go, and they exist because social
media exists. The public and advertising industry creates these myths. Some by accident,
some out of ignorance and some because marketing people exaggerate the results.
Remember it's important to be proactive with social media. Make sure you are proactive
with your social media security. Try to post useful content each day. If your business
is not actively managing social media, it will actively affect your business (usually
negatively). So, do yourself a favor and actively engage in social media marketing
and don’t believe hearsay or myths. Check references and choose a professional who
can provide some guarantees. Not doing your due diligence will cost you and leave
you living in your own social media myths!
That's my opinion; I look forward to reading yours.
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