Social Media is one of the best things to happen to the field of Marketing, and mostly every other industry or trend. It has opened up lanes to advertise, promote new products, discover new demographics (target markets), and generally connect with consumers. These platforms have granted businesses multiple tools to ensure they are reaching their audience and allowed them to track how good of a job they are doing. This being said, there are tons of misconceptions of social media, in terms of serving as an outlet for companies. Here are a few that are believed to be true by many.
Social Media is Free
Social media is far from costless. It requires many hours to control, especially for larger companies, and may take extra costs in order to separate from competitors. Advertisements on social platforms can be very expensive due to placement or predicted traffic. Many businesses pay good money for social media managers to control their pages, interact with customers, handle issues, or promote the business in various methods.
Good Social Media Must Go “Viral”
It is not a guaranteed success if something on social media goes “viral”. A lot of local establishments see great returns on promotions that didn’t necessarily go “viral”, but spread throughout the small communities. On the other hand, some huge corporations have had popular marketing but have yet tosee the numbers to reflect. Social media does not have to reach a million people for it to be considered a success or failure. Anything that shows a good benefit to costs can be considered good for the company.
Social Media Will Replace Traditional Media
Although you see social media apps like Twitter and Facebook implement news tabs that give the user an opportunity to read stories on mainstream topics, these platforms don’t always have the most reliable information sources. Some of these stories or newsletters are false and just ways for spam sites to send you advertisements. Ad spamming, like with ad links, is a huge issue with most platforms.
Your cover photo intrigued me to read this blog! I really liked it because it reiterated me what we learned from class. Prior to this lecture, I believed these myths, but your blog clarified what they actually are myths. Well done & said!
Matthew,
Interesting concept for a blog post. As a Mythbusters fan, I was quickly drawn by your featured image. Thank you for debunking these myths!
could be spaced out more