The 5 fattest lies of Social Media
One of the great problems of working with or within social networks is having to stoically endure the barbarities that some people say and write. In this, we can clearly see the difference between those who work within the trench, and those who only preach about things they have never seen or directly tested.
However, beyond some specific issues, I think that almost always highlight the same five lies as the most scandalous.
Obviously I have your help to expand this list to infinity and make it reach all those entrepreneurs or business owners, with the intention of entering social networks with good footing.
More followers and fans is synonymous with reputation
So @LadyGaga deserves more the presidency of the United States than @BarackObama?
Obviating the simple fact that they can be purchased in a very simple way, having many followers can be synonymous with perseverance, controversy, being a Big Brother participant, or anything less than reputable.
One of the accounts with more followers, is only dedicated to copy famous quotes from various Internet sources. What merit does that have? Have proof and have been among the first to do so, but with a professional reputation; nothing absolutely.
Social media is free
It is the cruelest lie of all. Because it is the one that causes more frustrations and disappointments. Any activity you do in pursuit of your company will never be free. The platforms are free (or very cheap). But your time, your training and the resources destined to make sense of all your actions within the social networks, are not free either. They collect a salary.
If you do not allocate high doses of time or money (or both at the same time) to your online presence, I can guarantee that you will never succeed.
If you have profiles on social networks, you do not need web
This is the one that causes me the most laughter. So if Facebook suffers a terrorist attack in their data centers, you sit and wait to be fixed, right? If Twitter suspends your account because it has occurred to you that you fail to comply, I do not know what rule, you entrust yourself to God until it is solved?
Social networks are important within your online presence, but none of the spaces where you interact is yours. You can not control them, nor influence them in a decisive way.
You will still need to have “your home”. The one that you can modify at your whim depending on what your target audience demands of you. It can be a web, maybe it’s a blog or an online store. But please; Do not listen to those who tell you that with your profiles in the networks you reach and you have plenty. It would be like giving the key to your business to a man (or gentlemen) that you do not know anything about. And worst of all, you mean nothing to them.
You must move your entire budget to online and leave the offline
Social networks have not fallen from the sky by parachute. They are an evolution disguised as revolution of traditional means of communication. Before the community manager there was already the product manager or the brand manager. That, oh surprise, did exactly the same thing that today they assign to the poor community manager. Only that moved to the online world.
Online media gives you the possibility to control much better the performance of your actions, but you should not rule out (still) the benefits of having a good personal card, a good corporate brochure or a business folder that represents your company in a way correct
The good thing about social networks is that everything can be measured
Despite the efforts we make in trying to rationalize everything, there are many indices that escape us. While it is true that one of the strengths of all online activities, is that you can measure your results with accuracy, is much more true something that has always postulated, the master of web analytics; Avinash Kaushik “you must invest in the analytical tool 10% and in the person who interprets the data 90%”.
You will not be served by all the data and color graphics provided by any tool, if you do not have in your ranks, the brain that translates them and interprets them to you. And above all things, to determine the pertinent actions to be carried out, based on the conclusions drawn from these data.
Many people say there is a lot of smoke around social media. And I always say that if nobody bought the smoke; nobody would sell it.
As in almost all areas of life, it is much easier to believe in magic than to get to work in earnest. It is more comfortable to believe someone who tells you that in two months you will sell double through your profiles, than the honest consultant who tells you that you obsess in creating content of value, that you are transparent and constant, and that you get directly involved in the actions of your company in social networks. The choice of which of these two profiles you want to appear; it’s only yours
