The Fundamentals series continues the analysis phase with a mini-series on assessing the value and effectiveness of social business. This mini-series will cover the following aspects:

• Reasons to participate in social business (covered in parts A, B and C)
• Internal considerations (covered in parts A and B)
• Debunking myths
• Social business in B2B environments

I’ve divided social media myths into three categories:

1. Adoption and Diffusion related myths
2. Engagement-related myths
3. Business-related myths

Today, we’ll look at social media myths related to your business.

A great number of myths and misconceptions circulate around social media. Here’s my attempt at clearing the air to show where we truly stand:

• Small businesses need to be on social media Social media can provide value for small businesses but they need to realize where that value can be gained. Is it Twitter or Facebook? Or maybe Foursquare is a better option?
• Social media is only for “cool” brands Again, social media can provide value to any company as long as you focus on the right people, the right topics and the right platforms.
• Social media can be done by interns Your younger employees might be more versed in using social media but are they also able to react to crisis situations as adeptly as upper level staff? Are they also able to tie the use of social media to the company’s business/marketing objectives? In my opinion, top-down support throughout the organization is needed to be successful internally.
• Anyone can do social media While there are no high barriers to entering the social web, there are professionals that have experience in applying social media in businesses. Find these people and let them help you. It’s very similar to SEO and web design; you could do it all in-house, but there’s expert help out there. We’ll get more depth into what matters when you’re considering the services of social business consultants at a later stage.
• Social media is cheap While many social media platforms are free or low-cost, creating accounts will only get you so far. There are more resources (time, people and money) needed to successfully create and implement a social business program.
• Using social media causes you to lose control over your brand Whether you’re using social media or not, people are out there and in control. They can talk about you whether you’re involved or not. Be happy that people are talking about you and embrace the fact that you can monitor—and act on—these comments and conversations.
• Social media ROI cannot be measured This statement’s not true either. Social media efforts can be measured, but do realize that the metrics involved are different. We’ll talk more about how social media measurement when the time is right.

If you know any other myths related to business, I’d love to hear them in the comments! Next week, we’ll look at social media in B2B environments, see you then!

The Fundamentals series continues the analysis phase with a mini-series on assessing the value and effectiveness of social business. This mini-series will cover the following aspects:

• Reasons to participate in social business (covered in parts A, B and C)
• Internal considerations (covered in parts A and B)
• Debunking myths
• Social business in B2B environments

I’ve divided social media myths into three categories:

1. Adoption and Diffusion related myths
2. Engagement-related myths
3. Business-related myths

Today, we’ll look at social media myths related to communication and engagement.

A great number of myths and misconceptions circulate around social media. Here’s my attempt at clearing the air to show where we truly stand:

• Social media is for broadcasting messages If this was true, it wouldn’t be social. This doesn’t mean that you can’t broadcast if it’s relevant to your network.
• Social media is about conversations It can be about conversations, just like it can be about broadcasting. The “social” in social media relates more to the content than the method of transmission.
• Consumer engagement is always the right thing to do There’s difference between doing something that can’t hurt and something that’s right. It can’t hurt to engage with your consumers, but is it worth it? If they’re wondering where they can buy your product, do you reply by chit-chatting about the weather? Be conscious about what you’re using social media for and you’re not using social media for.
• Social media is informal Twitter might come across as glorified text messaging, but not all social media is informal. There are bulletin boards, professional networks (like LinkedIn), and blogs that require more formal behavior and communication. In addition, the tone with which you communicate in social media shouldn’t deviate too much from the tone with which you communicate in your current endeavors (e.g. website, brochures, emails).
• It’s impossible to build relationships online I’ll admit that social media has changed the definition of “friend” to a certain degree, I don’t think it’s impossible to build quality relationships. On the contrary, social media enables you to build relationships with people you wouldn’t otherwise get in touch with in the first place!
• Set it and forget it You can’t create a Twitter account and expect people to come to you immediately. It’s like moving into a new house, telling nobody the address and expecting people to drop by. Fact remains that you need to put your presence out there.
• Social media is about quick wins While it’s possible to make a big splash quickly, there are many more long-term benefits. Social media is more about rolling a snowball down a hill than about making a big splash in the pool.
• Content is king I love this one. How many great books do you not know about? Probably plenty, right? How do you know they’re great if no-one tells you? My point is that content isn’t everything, it’s just the start. Distribution is the bridge with your audience that will make your efforts successful. Put your efforts into both content and distribution.
• Viral marketing is king This is a fun one too. Here the focus is on distribution but it’s always hard to predict virality. How do you exactly create a viral video? You don’t; the community decides whether your content goes viral, not you. Yes, there are factors that give you a better chance at success—and we’ll discuss some of them later this year—but there’s no such thing as off-the-shelf viral content.

If you know any other myths related to communication and engagement, I’d love to hear them in the comments! Next week, we’ll look at business-related social media myths, see you then!

The Fundamentals series continues the analysis phase with a mini-series on assessing the value and effectiveness of social business. This mini-series will cover the following aspects:

• Reasons to participate in social business (covered in parts A, B and C)
• Internal considerations (covered in parts A and B)
• Debunking myths
• Social business in B2B environments

I’ve divided social media myths into three categories:

1. Adoption and Diffusion related myths
2. Engagement-related myths
3. Business-related myths

Today, we’ll look at social media myths related to adoption and diffusion.

A great number of myths and misconceptions circulate around social media. Here’s my attempt at clearing the air to show where we truly stand:

• Social media is still immature While the adoption of social media around the world is still growing, it is by no means a new phenomenon. Bulletin boards have been around for more than 20 years, blogging and instant messaging for more than 10 years, and social networking for more than five years. Social media has been around for a while, but its significance has taken flight in the last five years because of the scale of adoption; not because of the novelty.
• Social media is a fad The fact that social media has expanded across platforms and geographic boundaries up to a point where it plays an integral of many people’s lives today should be enough to debunk the myth that social media is a fad. Social media’s growing adoption and diffusion, and its profound effect on social business has meant that new business and operating models are under scrutiny and development to best deal with a changing environment.
• Social media is for the children Funny enough, children are not as active on social media as most people think. Television and mobile are the platforms of choice for that demographic and the average user ages for popular social media sites support this. The average age of Facebook and Twitter users is around 30, MySpace around 25, and LinkedIn around 40.
• Traditional media is dead Yes, print media has been in decline, but—as mentioned above—new business and operating models are being developed to cope with emerging technology. Nevertheless, it’s nonsense to proclaim that print, television and radio are dead. All media channels will be able to co-exist side-by-side with social media and strengthen one another in the process.
• Mass marketing is dead Related to the previous point of co-existence, mass marketing isn’t dead either. If anything, social media adds depth to the width that mass marketing accomplishes.
• Email is dead Another demise that is greatly exaggerated. Email isn’t dead. You’ve probably noticed that when checking your email this morning, or when you got an email notification of this new post. Email won’t die anytime soon either, it’s too common, too versatile and too standardized.

If you know any other myths related to adoption and diffusion, I’d love to hear them in the comments! Next week, we’ll look at engagement-related social media myths, see you then!