These days, social media is all the rage online. In this article, you will find the top three most common social media marketing myths debunked.

Myth #1: Every Business Needs Social Media

Firstly, not every single person is on social media and not every business needs social media marketing. When businesses tell us they want or need social media and we ask them why, the answer is often “I don’t know”. We understand it must appear that every business and every website is somehow connected to social media with all those Facebook icons and Twitter icons all over the Internet but that’s not the case.

This article isn’t meant to discourage anyone from using social media but instead it is meant to make you ask yourself questions like:

• Why do I want social media? (What am I trying to accomplish?)
• Is social media appropriate in helping me accomplish those goals?
• How do I intend to use social media?
• How will social media help my business? (e.g. More brand awareness, more sales, etc.)
• Can I invest the time/work or budget into social media or social media marketing?

Myth #2: The More Likes and the More Followers, the Better

Not quite. It may look nice to show a high number of Likes for your Facebook page or a high number of followers for your Twitter account. However, in the end it is quality that counts, not quantity. A Twitter account with 100 followers that gets 10 sales a month is much better than a Twitter account that has 1,000 followers that gets 1 sale a month (that’s a 10% conversion rate compared to a .001% conversion rate.)

Never (never) buy fake Facebook friends or Twitter followers (or similar equivalents for other social networks) because you are just wasting your money. Not only are you falling into the ever-popular quantity-trap but if users pay attention and dig deep enough they may be able to tell that your Facebook Friends or Twitter Followers are bogus. If this happens, it will look even worse than having a low number of Friends or Followers.

Myth #3: I Need to Be on All the Social Networks

There are so many social networks out there. Here is a list of the many of know social networks out there (this is not a “complete” list):

• 43 Things
• Academia.edu
• Advogato
• aNobii
• AsianAvenue
• aSmallWorld
• Athlinks
• Audimated.com
• Bebo
• BIGADDA
• Biip.no
• BlackPlanet
• Blauk
• Blogster
• Bolt.com
• Busuu
• Buzznet
• CafeMom
• Care2
• CaringBridge
• Classmates.com
• Cloob
• CouchSurfing
• CozyCot
• Cross.tv
• Crunchyroll
• Cyworld
• DailyBooth
• DailyStrength
• delicious
• deviantART
• Diaspora
• Disaboom
• Dol2day
• DontStayIn
• Draugiem.lv
• douban
• DXY.cn
• Elftown
• Elixio
• English, baby!
• Epernicus
• Eons.com
• eToro
• Experience Project
• Exploroo
• Facebook
• Faceparty
• Faces.com
• Fetlife
• FilmAffinity
• Filmow
• FledgeWing
• Flixster
• Flickr
• Focus.com
• Fotki
• Fotolog
• Foursquare
• Friendica
• Friends Reunited
• Friendster
• Frühstückstreff
• Fubar
• Fuelmyblog
• FullCircle
• Gaia Online
• GamerDNA
• Gapyear.com
• Gather.com
• Gays.com
• Geni.com
• GetGlue
• Gogoyoko
• Goodreads
• Goodwizz
• Google+
• GovLoop
• Grono.net
• Habbo
• hi5
• Hospitality Club
• Hotlist
• HR.com
• Hub Culture
• Hyves
• Ibibo
• Identi.ca
• Indaba Music
• IRC-Galleria
• italki.com
• Itsmy
• iWiW
• Jaiku
• Jiepang
• Kaixin001
• Kiwibox
• Lafango
• LaiBhaari
• Last.fm
• LibraryThing
• Lifeknot
• LinkedIn
• LinkExpats
• Listography
• LiveJournal
• Livemocha
• Makeoutclub
• MEETin
• Meetup
• Meettheboss
• MillatFacebook
• mixi
• MocoSpace
• MOG
• MouthShut.com
• Mubi
• MyHeritage
• MyLife
• My Opera
• Myspace
• Nasza-klasa.pl
• Netlog
• Nexopia
• NGO Post
• Ning
• Odnoklassniki
• Open Diary
• Orkut
• OUTeverywhere
• PatientsLikeMe
• Partyflock
• Pingsta
• Pinterest
• Plaxo
• Playfire
• Playlist.com
• Plurk
• Qapacity
• Quechup
• Qzone
• Raptr
• Ravelry
• Renren
• ReverbNation.com
• Ryze
• ScienceStage
• ShareTheMusic
• Shelfari
• Sina Weibo
• Skoob
• Skyrock
• SocialVibe
• Sonico.com
• SoundCloud
• Spaces
• Stickam
• StudiVZ
• Students Circle Network
• StumbleUpon
• Tagged
• Talkbiznow
• Taltopia
• Taringa!
• TeachStreet
• TermWiki
• The Sphere
• TravBuddy.com
• Travellerspoint
• tribe.net
• Trombi.com
• Tuenti
• Tumblr
• Touchtalent
• Twitter
• Tylted
• Vkontakte
• Vampirefreaks.com
• Viadeo
• Virb
• Vox
• Wattpad
• WAYN
• WeeWorld
• Wellwer
• WeOurFamily
• Wepolls.com
• Wer-kennt-wen
• weRead
• Wiser.org
• Wooxie
• WriteAPrisoner.com
• Xanga
• XING
• Xt3
• Yammer
• Yelp, Inc.
• Zoo.gr
• Zooppa

(List from Wikipedia.)

As you can see from the long list above, being on all the social networks or even just large number of them would be nearly impossible, there are just too many! You only need to be on the social networks that work best for you. That means:

• The social networks that are most popular for your ideal customer
• The social networks that provides the greatest result for your business

So ask yourself, where is the majority of your best customers? What social networks are they on? In an earlier article, we shared with you which social networks work best for what types of businesses. The information provided in that article may be a starting point for your research.

In summary, there are three things you should do if you are considering a social media marketing campaign:

1. Decide if social media is right for you
2. Focus on quality, not quantity
3. Stick with the social networks that works best for your business