The Biggest Social Media Myths Entrepreneurs STILL Believe!

Myths are like any other kind of story we tell to add a little spice to things we can’t quite explain or sometimes simply want to be more interesting. For centuries people have created these myths that revolve around some of the strangest things.

Now, in the 21st century; people are STILL creating myths, however adapting them much more to technology and the things we face in our modern day to day lives. In this article we will address some of the most popularly believed myths about social media that are circulating the internet today.

social media myths

Make sure you understand what is fact and what is myth in social media.

Have a read below at the top 9 myths entrepreneurs still believe:

Myth #1: You Can’t Estimate Return on Social Media Investments

return on social media investment

You can see a return on investment through social media.

Far too many social media “experts” know how to utilise social media and optimise it for the use of its social intent, but most do not know that you can turn social media into cash flow.

This causes the myth to be perpetuated when they post blogs and messages on forums, or other forms of social media, stating that it is not possible to cash in on social media when, in truth, social media is one of the most marketable forms of media on the internet.

A quick search on Google will easily debunk this myth for anyone looking to invest in social media and on top of this, there are multiple forums advising on how to do it effectively with a step-by-step formula that successfully shows results.

Myth #2: Your Social Media Posts Are Pointless Unless They Go Viral

social media viral

99 times out of 100 your social media post will not go viral.

This is simply incorrect, yet too many people believe this. The myth that your post needs to reach EVERYONE is wrong. In fact, you want your post not to reach everyone, but rather your target demographic.

By consistently posting on blogs, tweeting and working together with your SEO management, you will find results at a gradual and lasting pace. Put it this way, would you rather 1,000,000 people visit your website all at once, or would you rather a steady flow of 1000 people per day, every day for 10 years?

If you are smart about it, you will have a steady, consistent flow of traffic through your site and all you need is intelligent social media marketing. Reaching out to a set group of people is far better for your business than trying to please the masses all at once. Food for thought.

Myth #3: You Can’t Gain the Interest of an Older Demographic on Social Media

targeting demographics on social media

Social media isn’t just filled with young people!

Perhaps this myth stems from the general consensus that “old” people can’t be in any way expected to keep up with new trends. While this may have been true in the younger days of social media, it is not the case anymore, as there has been a very quickly increasing number of people over the age of 30 right through to people in their late 60’s using social media.

In fact, a recent study shows that many people aged 30-49 use social media, and more than half of those over 30 are aged 50-64 (making up 52% of active social media users).

Believing that you cannot connect with a more mature audience on social media is simply a huge oversight.

In order to optimise your connection to this demographic, you need to focus on a couple of things:

  • The exact age range of your users
  • What they do when visiting your website (i.e. purchasing products and/or what they view/click on)

Utilising this information is important to get a better understanding of what they are interested in and how you can use this to your advantage. Of course, this can be difficult, which is why it is highly recommended that you use an expert on SEO and social media.

Myth #4: Posting Constantly on Facebook will bring in more traffic (More Posts = More Attention)

posting on soical media

Posting everyday doesn’t guarantee more attention.

Anyone who has ever even attempted posting about their business on Facebook knows that this is not the case. Posting about your business or product on Facebook is not the same as a teenager posting selfies in order to gain attention.

In fact, Facebook often will penalise over posting and reduce the chances of your future posts even being seen. On this topic, less is definitely more. Besides. Put yourself in the shoes of the average Facebook user. Do you think that 10 posts from the same business everyday makes them interested or annoyed?

If you answered the latter, you are definitely on the right path. If you picked the former, you may need to do more research. To optimise your trafficking through Facebook, try posting more selectively.

Remember to always do your research so that you can target the audience you need.

Myth #5: You Can’t Let Your Personal Branding Get Involved in Your Business

personal branding

Don’t be afraid to get personal on social media.

It is an excusable misconception that you cannot let your personal image become involved in the image of your business, however depending on the type of business you run (most businesses), it can actually benefit you greatly. Why? People like to get to know you.

Your customers want to connect with the face behind the brand more often than not so they can understand you as a living, breathing HUMAN. Not some product they are purchasing. Think about it.

Would you be more inclined to take a “$2 hug” from a friend or a random stranger in a business suit when all you know about him is that he spent $$$ on the sign advertising his product? This form of marketing is not for everyone, of course.

It can be difficult to pull off and limiting in terms of your demographic depending on the business you run, however there are a multitude of blogs, tutorials and videos online that will easily inform you on EXACTLY how to relate to the demographic you are aiming for. Once again, food for thought.

Myth #6: Video Marketing on Social Media is Either Too Time-Consuming or Costly

video marketing

Video marketing is a fairly new trend that you should certainly get behind.

If you believe this is the case, perhaps you’d better do a quick Google search of ad revenue brought in by websites such as YouTube and Facebook and the effectiveness of a video that displays your product or service.

Video marketing is by far one of the best methods you can use to connect with potential new customers and spread your message. Within a 30 second advert, you can get more through to a viewer than in a full page of written word.

The only thing you need to worry about with this method is the entertainment value of your video. It must be somewhat eye-catching in order to be effective. More often than not, a bad video marketing campaign may give your business a bad reputation with online viewers if your video annoys or bores them.

The cost of video marketing is no big deal if you are smart about the ways you spend your money.

Think about what you want to show your potential customers and attach a gimmick to it. Get creative with the script and you will find this method to be one of the fastest, easiest, cheapest methods you could use.

Myth #7: You Don’t Have Time to Keep Up With Social Media Posting

social media time

Social media will not take up too much of your time.

With all the tools and research available out there, somehow this myth is still highly circulated by those who have not taken the time to once again do a quick search on Google.

Though this is a little excusable, as you often must know what you are looking for when it comes to help with this kind of thing, however the information is widely available all over the web. First off; it is a common misconception (or rather excuse) that posting on social media will take up too much time and won’t be worth it in the long run anyway.

It is incredibly simple to do. All that is needed is for you to post a couple of times over a couple of days and try to keep up with the posts and reactions they generate. You will soon find that social media interaction is no different to offline conversation; you can still talk and do other things at the same time.

STILL not easy enough? Well once again- it gets easier. Tools are available that will enable you to post updates to multiple social media sites all at once, and set times for when updates will occur.

These tools are openly available and very cheap to use. Such tools as Hootsuite and TweetDeck are easy to use and will make your job simpler than ever before. Head over to their websites and check them out if you don’t believe us! You’ll be posting up a storm in no time.

Myth #8: You Always Get the Most Clicks in the Morning

social media in morning

Do your research before deciding on what time to post.

This is somehow believed by most businesses that use social media as a marketing tool. While this is excusable by the fact that social media IS popular in the morning, this does not mean people are actively using it and will engage with your marketing posts.

Most users wake up, quickly check their notifications, have a scroll through their newsfeed and get stuck into the day. This means that many businesses are missing prime opportunities in the rest of the day that will help them flourish on social media.

While many people do like to catch up in the mornings with their social media accounts, social media is a 24/7 presence in everyone’s lives. Most people in their teens alone will use their social media up to 9 hours a day, with that number constantly increasing.

While most businesses are focusing on just the first half hour of that timeframe, you can get on top of the game with just a little research and some strategic planning. A good place to start your research may be SocialMediaToday.

This is a website that records statistics of social media use across multiple demographics and will enable you to judge for yourself what time and how many times per day you will post. The biggest, yet simplest point on this fact is: do not restrict yourself to simply posting in the mornings!

Myth #9: No Engagement with your Social Media Posts Means Nobody is Interested

social engagement

Don’t be disheartened if not many people are engaging with your posts.

This is a very easy trap to fall into when beginning to post on social media.

Though it may be difficult to believe, try to remember that most people do not engage with social media posts. However; they will very likely click the link provided. How do we know? You’re about to find out!

First of all, how to get people to click on your link. You want to make sure you have an eye-catching title for the page you are linking to so that the potential customer will be more likely to be curious about the contents of your page.

Secondly, you want to have an interesting short description just explaining in brief what the page is about. This will engage the potential customer further, encouraging them to find out more.

Now for the part you really want to read. How do you find out if your potential customers are in-fact clicking your link? There are multiple tools available for use online that enable you to keep track of who has clicked what link, on what page and how many people clicked it.

There are even some paid services that will analyse the age, interests and more of each person who clicks your links. This means you will be able to optimise your content in order to move more constant traffic flow from certain demographics to your website.

In general, most people will not ‘like’ or ‘share’ your post. Whether this is because they have already checked your link out and forgot to do anything about your post or otherwise, this is simple fact and there is not much you can do to change it aside from the simple use of a ‘call to action’, for example “Share our post to show your support!” etc.

In Summary

Social media is still a fairly new concept and businesses are still trying to get their footing. Make sure you stay on the right track by understanding what is fact and what is myth. It is hoped that this blog has helped to shed some light on some of the biggest myths still plaguing social media today.

Did you find these facts helpful? We sure did! Let us know what you thought about our list and leave us some feedback! Hopefully this was enough food for thought to keep you busy digesting for a while. Thanks for reading!

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