Social media is not free! Some Myths About Social Media

I recently became part of a local non-profit's Marketing and PR Committee. We had our first meeting last month and our committee members were each talking about what skills and experience we will be sharing to help with this non-profit's needs. One comment that was thrown out by another member was that she 'liked Social Media because it's free'.
My eyes opened a lot wider and ears perked up more. Really? Free? Hardly! It takes a lot of dedicated time, planning, creativity and analysis to make sure that social media efforts are implemented correctly for a business and the opportunity costs that are involved as a result...doesn't sound like free marketing to me! 

That got me to thinking about some other myths about social media and social media marketing that I have seen or heard and felt compelled to write about a few of them here.

Myth: The more Likes or Fans a Facebook page has, the more successful it is.
Not true! Just because a business' page has a lot of fans doesn't mean that business OR it's Facebook page is a successful one! Remarkable content and engagement are a lot more important in building AND keeping your Facebook fans.

Myth: If we don't put our company on social media, people won't say anything bad about us!
Yeah right! People share opinions all the time about most everything...including businesses and their products and services AND how they treat their prospective and current (and former) customers. People share opinions face-to-face, on smartphones and through cyberspace and are far more likely to share opinions about a bad experience.Whether your company has a social media presence or no, they'll talk. 
Why would a company not want to hear those conversations and be able to quickly address them is beyond me.

Myth: People don't really care if a company has a social media page, so why bother?
Hmmm...
According to the Cone Company, who have conducted numerous surveys regarding companies and Social Media. They have found that more than 59% of Americans use Social Media Websites to interact with companies. In addition, 56% of Social Media users feel both a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they can interact with them in a Social Media environment.
Again, why would a business not want to have the ability to interact and feel a connection with customers is beyond me.

Myth: Social media is just something teens and younger adults use
Wrong again! Though it's true that over 80% of teens and younger adults use social, according to the Pew Research Internet Project, as of January 1st of this year, 65% of adults ages 50-64, and 49% of adults ages 65+ are using social networking sites. Those numbers are up from 24% and 13% from five years ago. 

There are many other myths about social media and social media marketing, but these are a few that I felt a need to write about here, as they are ones that I see or hear in conversation often. I would be interested to get your feedback on these or any other myths you have come across...just add a comment below.