Five myths about social media management

With social media being a constant, yet ever-changing part of our daily lives, it can be challenging for brands to keep abreast of the right ways to stay on top. Here are 5 myths debunked to help you stay informed and in control.


Myth one. 

I only need to invest a couple of hours a week into my social platforms.

The incremental rise of content creators on every topic from lifestyle to beauty gives the impression that with a few posts here and there documenting the latest must-have product or ‘here’s what’s happened this week’ updates, that’s sufficient to run an ever-growing profile.

In reality, social media management requires a lot of hours, creative thinking, research and ultimately, strategy. Engagement is also key for growth, and this takes manual time – there’s no shortcut here! 


Myth two. 

If I can make my brand go viral, I’ve got it made.

This is feasible and has been known to happen, of course. Think ice bucket challenge, #DressGate and Pokémon Go. But while it may look easy, in many cases the viral aspect of a marketing campaign comes unexpected and mostly it’s just pure luck – right content, right place, right time! It’s important to be prepared – you need to be able to manage the impact of a viral hit, whether good or bad, so have a social media and PR strategy in place to cope with the chaos. And manage expectations – if a particular piece of content exposes you to millions of likes and shares, don’t presume that will happen every time, future content has still got to resonate with your target audience. Social media managers can be very effective at negotiating the huge proliferation of routes by which you can draw your audience’s attention. Still, when it comes to going viral, sometimes it’s just good timing!


Myth three. 

We don’t have enough new content as a brand to maintain a successful social presence.

Yes, it’s great to have a constant stream of fresh content, but that doesn’t mean something that’s appeared before can’t be reposted or reshared. With feeds continually being refreshed, content can easily be missed, or quickly forgotten about if it has been viewed. There’s nothing wrong with some re-promotion after a few days or weeks have passed.

Myth four. 

Anyone can do social media marketing.

To be a social media manager is an extremely high pressured position in which a brand’s reputation, sometimes an extensive marketing budget and a considerable weight of expectation. Developing a strategy which needs to be ever-evolving as it plays out on platforms with regulations and updates, is a constant challenge. It takes a lot more work than simply throwing content out there and hoping it sticks. In a lot of cases, social media managers are also at the forefront of online customer services and know-how to interpret key audience insights. Somewhere, up in the cloud, is a vast and growing bank of information about who your audience is, where they are, their preferences and interests. To sell your goods or services requires ‘targeting’ that audience with some precision. Which brings us neatly to;


Myth five. 

If you dangle goods and services under the right people’s noses, online, they will buy them.

Not necessarily. Being able to target people who have the right age, gender, socio-economic group, purchasing patterns, preferences and location as your established customers is a great start and achievable through social media management. You’ll have them in your sights, but the trick is to entice them with engaging content. To convert them into a sales statistic, your needs to flag them down and draw them in with eye-catching sound, words and images, all within a couple of seconds.

A big part of social media management is monitoring the success of your content, analysing:

  • how long you’ve held their attention 
  • how the audience has engaged with the content, if at all
  • what kept them watching
  • what turned them off and cost you a sale

You’ll soon discover which parts of your content are working for you – and which are not. In short, getting your potential customers’ momentary, fleeting attention can be done more accurately than ever before. Thankfully, we are here to help you navigate this ever-changing online world. You can talk to our social media team via 0161 927 3131, or leave us a message via our contact form.

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