“It’s not serious”
“It’s just for marketing to worry about”
“It doesn’t really matter”
You name it, we’ve heard it. The world’s full of misconceptions about social media, and it’s time to bust those myths wide open.
So here goes: the six social media misconceptions we hear the most:
1: It’s a waste of money
There’s no denying that doing social properly means investing a chunk of cash. But there’s a clear ROI for most companies doing it well, too.
Moving your customer service to social media makes it more accessible to customers and easier to monitor – if you have the right tech in place.
Then there’s the chance to talk in a more personalised way to your target audience, and show your values and brand personality regularly through your content. Something marketers could only dream of before social arrived.
The bottom line? If your business makes the most of social media with the right tools, it’s very likely to be money well spent.
2: It’ll damage your reputation
When your brand’s on social, it’s true that more people see the bad stuff as well as the good. But that also means you can show how you deal with those problems, in public. When you turn a complaint into a positive outcome on a public forum, people everywhere can see that you tackled a difficult situation head-on and gave great service. That’ll improve your reputation, not damage it.
And remember, without social media you’ll have no reputation at all, and that’s a lot worse.
3: There’s a security risk
You might be worried about keeping track of all those login details and who can access your social accounts. And what about hackers getting hold of passwords.
Password control and security aren’t subjects to be taken lightly. But with the right management tech in place (like ours), fewer individuals need account logins, and you can track and control who has access. We’re ISO accredited for security, and run regular penetration tests to keep our defences tight against hackers. In fact, using the right software gives you a social media environment that’s far more secure than when your team log into individual platforms on their own. Find out more about security in our Guide to Social Media Security.
4: I’ll lose control of my messaging
If your business doesn’t have an official social media presence, you can bet your bottom dollar that an initiative taking employee will set up their own. Maybe that’s a retail branch creating its own Facebook page, or a local bobby keeping residents informed through Twitter.
These keen team-players usually have the best of intentions; they want to engage with the people they serve and they know social’s the best place to do it. But good intentions don’t always equal good social media skills or strategy.
So head office needs to take the lead. Failing to engage with social at a company-wide, strategic level means that someone else controls your brand image – and that could mean silly memes and cat videos. Take control of social and project the message YOU want to put out.
5: It’s just for marketing
Yes, social media’s an important promo and comms tool. But that’s not the only thing it’s good for. It’s also a key weapon in your customer service armoury.
Social media is the place to show your values and how you do business, so it should be front and centre of your customer service ops. It’s a great arena in which to deal with queries and complaints, because you’re actively showing you care about your customers; you’re taking action to get their problems nipped in the bud.
6: Our customers aren’t on social media
Sorry but they are. There are now 206 million users on Twitter, 2.89 billion on Facebook, 1.386 billion on Instagram and 660 million on LinkedIn. And your customers are most definitely among them. So you need to be there, too.
We’ve helped our clients take strategic control of their social media to grow it into a vital and valuable part of their business. Check out our customer stories to find out how.
