05 Nov Marketing Myths, Debunked
In the world of marketing, there are so many tips and tricks out there that can seem appealing and convincing for you to try. But, it’s important to be able to identify a marketing assumption that is really just a myth. We’re here to seize some of the most common marketing myths and debunk them once in for all!
Myth: It’s a good idea to buy fake followers & likes.
Of course we all want a million followers, but it’s in your best interest to wait your turn and gain followers the “old fashioned” way! A HUGE marketing myth is that you need to buy followers in order to make your page seem more popular. Buying followers or likes does not allow you to accurately see how well your campaign is performing because the numbers are going to be false. The fake followers that are generated to your account are most likely spam accounts that are not going to engage with your content because it’s likely that a human being is not actively looking at your page.
Using artificial followers and likes will produce inaccurate date for your accounts which will give you a false perception of how your content is performing. It’s best to stick to an honest, consistent marketing strategy. You will naturally gain those followers and engagement.
Myth: Targeting more people will bring in more customers.
When creating a marketing plan, one of the first things to identify is your target audience. Narrowing down an audience allows you to generate content that is specifically designed to appeal to potential customers. Your product or service will not appeal to everyone. You don’t want to waste your resources and time trying to sell to any and every one. Curating your target audience to fit your ideal customer will produce better results.
We recommend asking yourself these questions when developing your target audience:
- How old are they?
- Where do they live?
- What problem can you solve for them?
Myth: Marketing and advertising are the same.
Though marketing and advertising are terms that are often intertwined, marketing reaches far beyond advertising a product or service. Marketing is the entire plan that encompasses creating exposure for your business, branding, deciding where to sell, and how to persuade people to buy which should be ever-changing and fluid as your business grows. Advertising is only one aspect of a marketing plan that focuses on how to deploy those messages.
Think of advertising as the tv commercials, billboards, or magazine pages you see and think of marketing as the process it took to produce these things.
Myth: “If it works for them, it works for us.”
In marketing, it’s easy to compare other campaigns to yours… but what’s successful for another business often times isn’t exactly what’s right for yours. Of course, marketing is a game of trial and error so testing new ideas is always okay! But, it’s important to remember that everyone’s audience, goals, and budgets are different so keep yours in mind when developing your marketing strategy.
We recommend looking at other marketing campaigns and using them for inspiration rather than imitation. If you see a strategy that jumps out you, try to adjust it to fit the needs of your business and audience.
Myth: You need to be on all marketing platforms.
It may seem like a new social media platform is introduced to the world every single day now. But, all of these platforms might not be strategically necessary for your business.
For example, if you’re marketing to a professional audience, LinkedIn or Facebook would be the platforms to focus on and tailor content to fit these. If you’re marketing to a younger, more informal audience, Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok are going to be your primary platforms. Most of these different platforms use different sizing metrics for graphics, so attempting to use one image just to have a presence on all platforms will not display correctly across each of them. These different platforms also have different general audiences and offer different social media “climates”, meaning the content you create for Instagram, probably won’t be received the same on LinkedIn.
Spend some time doing a little research of the differences between all of the social media platforms and figure out what features will work best for you and your audience.
Myth: “I don’t need social media in my industry.”
It’s easy to assume that your target audience is not present on social media… but this is a myth! It’s always beneficial to create a presence
for your business on social media as your competitors likely have one. Social media is becoming a leading tool in marketing and is likely to keep moving on this upward trend. Not being on social media is not going to do your business any justice.
We suggest thinking of marketing on social media as another way for your potential customers to see you. Business websites are great, and certainly aren’t going out of style but social media offers a quick, fun way for customers to learn about your business right from their phones! When marketing on social media, it’s good to include calls to action that direct people to your site, or you can even include your URL directly in some posts.
You don’t need to do it all, but it’s important to share quality content on at least some of the main social platforms to give your business maximum exposure.
It’s easy to get caught up in these myths and believe false information. Need help marketing your business on social media and avoiding these myths? Shoot us an email at info@germono.com anytime, with questions!