We once wrote a post titled “What Exactly Does it Mean to be a “Social Media Expert”?” where we looked at the claims and advice of so-called social media gurus. A big trap a lot of companies fall into is believing everything they hear on the Internet about how to conduct social media strategies for their businesses. If you do this you will end up like that girl on that State Farm commercial where she believes an ugly dude is a French model just because he said so on his Internet profile. If you don’t want to say goodbye to your social media presence, pay attention these five social media tips to avoid.
1. You Don’t Need a Website Anymore
This is the claim you hear from experts who say that social media will be the only interaction you need between you and your customers. While social media may be the preferred means of information and communicating for many consumers, it is the website that still ultimately helps you to close deals and provide more information about your products and services. Remember that most people that follow you on social media either do business with you already or are simply following you to get a freebie or discount. The website can seed out these people from new customers.
2. Be Active on Every Social Media Network
While it is true that there are many companies that find a lot of success on every platform that exists, it doesn’t mean that you need to follow the same path of the Walmart’s of the world. There is a lot of research out there that will provide you the information you need about where your ideal consumers are spending their time. One thing we talked about in a previous post was knowing where your customers can be reached and going after them there. If you are confused about where to start, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn continue to be attractive to large demographic groups in terms of people and industries.
3. Social Media will Replace Your SEO
Social media will not replace your SEO efforts. Facebook has implemented an internal search engine but even this does not peruse the web for information in the same way as Google or Bing (unless your query can’t be found within the confines of Facebook). In fact, social media has been shown to influence search rankings and social sharing can actually impact your ability to rank well in the search engines. Right now it still seems that SEO is easier to track than social media and many companies still treat social media as a communication tool instead of a sales tool. For these reasons don’t negate the power of search and a consumer’s ability to think outside their network of friends.
4. The More Fans You Have the Better
Now that you can purchase fans on Facebook for your business page it seems like many companies are jumping on this ship. While Facebook claims that they seek out only relevant people who have demonstrated an interest in your products or services it may surprise you to hear that these people may not care about utilizing your products or services. Again, most people only follow you because they have already done business with you or because they want a discount. Randomized fans may not improve your ability to convert fans into customers. Rather it is better to have 1,000 fans and 50 active consumers than it is to have 5,000 fans and 5 active consumers.
5. You Don’t Need to Be On Social Media
This was once a tough conversation to have with companies because they did not believe that social media could have such a great impact on their businesses. In reality, 69 percent of adults are now on social media proving that it’s not just for teens and college kids. Most of these adults are also following other businesses and expect to see you on social media giving more reason to your need to not only be on social media but to have a presence.
What are some of the worst tips you have gotten in terms of ‘do not’s’ for social media? Has any social media expert ever told you not to do any of the above?
