Social Media is an emerging tool that generates conversations about a company and its products. It is not for everyone and every company, but if it could benefit your company why not take advantage of it? We debunk 6 common myths about Facebook and Twitter.
FACEBOOK:
Too much information is out there. Facebook has enhanced privacy settings that exclude people from seeing information such as pictures and profile information. Certain people can be blocked and they won’t ever know. They won’t have restricted access to your profile and will never see any updates saying you blocked them. Also, it is easy to set up separate accounts for business and personal. Business pages are a great way to share professional information and direct clients and colleagues for updates.
Little girls and boys use Facebook. It is true that kids use Facebook, but it is a very popular and successful business tool. We broke down the demographics of one of our fan pages and didn’t find many little girls. In fact two times more people 55 and older than 24 and under.
People that use Facebook aren’t interested in my products. There are people from all over the world using Facebook, more than 400 million people are active users. Over 20 million people become fans of company’s pages each day. We found more stats to throw at the skeptical people in the office.
Older business people don’t use Facebook. People aged 55-59 are the fastest growing group in the US. Facebook is great for businesses and allows users to organize people who are interested in your company in one convenient spot.
People give stupid updates about everything they do during the day. Some people do, but most don’t. Company fan pages are a great way to answer questions and give updates, company new, etc.
I would rather talk to people face to face. It is easy to keep in touch with old friends on Facebook without having an email address or phone number. It helps maintain relationships that would otherwise be too difficult. It works for B2B communication just as well.
TWITTER:
Twitter, and social media in general, takes too much time. Don’t read every tweet from everybody. Use Tweetdeck and others like it, these programs let you focus your searches, and save time.
I don’t know anyone on Twitter. This is actually a bonus. On sites like Facebook, you can reconnect with old high school buddies. Twitter allows you to form new relationships and gain exposure with people you would never have encountered before.
I don’t know how to use Twitter. There is no right or wrong way to use it. Say what’s on your mind and find people talking about what you are interested in. See what your competitors are doing and incorporate it into what you want to do.
You have to have thousands of followers to have influence. Not true. Followers do not equal impact and influence. Someone with a few followers who actively and effectively engages their audience has more impact than someone with thousands of followers who doesn’t offer good advice or provide meaningful information. Target people talking about what you’re interested in and focus on engaged and targeted followers who you interact with.
Twitter is a waste of time. As with any other form of marketing, social media marketing takes time to develop relationship. It is a waste of time if it is not followed through. A few tweets will not get the results you are looking for, it takes an effort to make it work.
Twitter is a fad and won’t be around much longer. Over 18 million people are registered users on Twitter alone. While social media will probably evolve in the future, it is not going away. More people are engaging in some form of social media each month.
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