Common Misconceptions
We’ve seen too many organisations trying to use these new media only to create a white elephant without any viewers or users. So what went wrong?
Top misconceptions about social media and viral marketing.
- Social media and viral marketing is cheap and easy.
- It isn’t the marketing silver bullet. If you don’t have a message worth talking about, it will probably not work on these media as well. Only a well crafted campaign created specially to be spread by word of mouth will generate results.
- It isn’t the marketing silver bullet. If you don’t have a message worth talking about, it will probably not work on these media as well. Only a well crafted campaign created specially to be spread by word of mouth will generate results.
- If I create a Facebook home page, everyone will flock to my page.
- Nobody cares what company xx is doing unless it directly impacts them. The single biggest mistake most organisations do is to create a corporate social media page or put their TVC on YouTube only to watch it grow cobwebs.
- You can create a viral marketing campaign that will magically spread on its own.
- You can’t! There are no guarantees just calculated and smart guesses.
- Social media and viral marketing isn’t a “real” media.
- When planned and executed strategically, it can receive a loyal following and create word of mouth advertising reaching thousands if not millions of people.
- Buying Ads on social media like Facebook etc is all that can be done on these sites.
- Ads is one way to get people to know your brand and product but what we are advocating is to leverage the social mechanisms of these sites and build brand equity.
- Results will be instant and there will be a flood of activity.
- Social media is a word of mouth mechanism and it takes time for it to gain traction. The single biggest mistake organisations make is to judge the effectiveness of a media when it wasn’t started correctly with the social landscape in view and not being given enough time to succeed.
