There has been plenty of buzz about Social Media Networking, Social Media Tools, and Social Media Marketing and Web 2.0 over the past couple of years.
There have also been several misconceptions that have sprung up, like weeds. Some of these misconceptions persist, preventing some from taking full advantage of Social Media.
Here are what I think are the top three misconceptions. You may have others.
- Social Media networking is only for the young.
People are probably thinking of Faceook and MySpace, two of the better known Social Networking sites. However, not only are these not the only social networking sites, they also (especially Facebook) now reach a large and fairly mainstream audience. Facebook’s fastest growing demographic is 25 and over. Users are trending up when it comes to age of users. But that doesn’t mean you can ignore the younger demographics, who are the buyers of tomorrow.
Savvy businesses realise this and are getting involved. Businesses that delay are likely to be considered irrelevant.
2. Social Media Networking is just for fun not business
Wrong again. There is a growing number of businesses, organizations and even political groups (think of the ongoing US election campaigns) who are participating and profiting from Social Media networks. Whether this is on Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn been able to widen their networks, engage with potential clients, build word of mouth, promote their expertise, business and services, recruit ideal resources, find jobs and even build new products. The list is endless. How are you profiting?
3. You have to be tech-savvy to use Social Media
You don’t. The most important element in your social media effort is a strategy and plan for what you want to achieve.
You can set up a Wordpress blog in minutes (yes, unabashed plug for Wordpress) or pick from the many talented resources who live and breathe it and can take the entire set-up off your hands, leaving you to focus on telling the world your story and engaging with customers.
It’s even easier to set up a Facebook or MySpace page. And then there’s microblogging via Twitter.
The point is, if you’re a marketer, business person, author, artist, employer, employee or independent consultant – anyone in fact – you can benefit from Social Media networking.
It has changed the way we connect, network and communicate.
Marketers, take note.
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