Ecommerce companies are investing very heavily in social media these days.
Unfortunately, many social media marketers are spinning their wheels because they have a lot of incorrect ideas about social media marketing.
The reality is that promoting e-commerce sites on social media is difficult. It’s well worth the investment when you finally find something that works. However, you will never develop a successful conversion funnel if you keep living by the following myths.
Myth 1: Social Shares Are the Secret to Profitable Ecommerce Campaigns
Too many e-commerce companies are over-focused on generating followers and social shares. While these metrics are important, they shouldn’t be your priority.
Your goal is to increase sales effectively. Likes, retweets, and other social metrics may play a role, but they shouldn’t be your end goal.
There are other, less tangible metrics you should also be monitoring and measuring. For example, brand awareness is one important metric to pay attention to, even though it is not easy to measure. The consistent growth of brand name mentions signals an effective social media strategy.
Myth 2: You Should Join Every Social Network. It May Be the Next Facebook!
Do you remember MySpace? It turned into a ghost town after Facebook hit the market.
Ever since marketers may think every new social network could be the next big one. They invest a lot of time and energy into creating profiles every time a new network is launched. Here are a few reasons this is a mistake:
- Many social networks never gain traction. Have you ever heard of Diaspora or Eons? They are examples of failed social networks. Many sites may sound hip and trendy at the time, but they can’t compete.
- Facebook is still popular, but people seek more specialized social networks. It’s important to understand the demographic of a social network before investing time and money in advertising it. For example, Pinterest primarily caters to female users. It isn’t a great platform for companies selling bodybuilding supplements.
- Managing accounts across many social networks is very time-consuming. You’ll be spreading yourself too thin if you try to market on all of them.
Try to be strategic with your approach. Choose a few relevant social networks instead of looking for the one that seems the trendiest.
Myth 3: Social Media is Classified Advertising on Steroids!
People use social media to interact with friends and view interesting content. They hate it when their feed is filled with obnoxious ads.
You need to engage with your followers to earn their trust. Subtly coax them into visiting your website. Don’t bombard them with annoying ads, because they’ll ignore them.
Myth 4: I don’t need a conversion funnel! I just need to talk about my business and I’ll get sales.
Generating e-commerce sales is difficult. You need to carefully nurture your leads before monetizing them.
Successful e-commerce marketers have a sophisticated conversion funnel for their social media campaigns. Their funnel may focus on:
- Building an email subscriber list.
- Growing their following on social media.
- Getting customers to download a white paper that encourages them to make future purchases.
- Create and sell digital products using a platform like Kajabi
- Selling low-ticket items and getting customers to upgrade later.
All of these conversion funnels focus on building long-term relationships with leads. It can take a few weeks to six months to convert them into paying customers, so ensure you have a workable conversion funnel first.
Make sure your social media tactics align with your SEO strategy. Use this online keyword research tool to create relevant content for your site and social media channels.
Myth 5: I Don’t Need to Update My Campaigns!
The world is always changing. Fads come and go. New events become old events. Banner ads are seen hundreds of times and then burn out.
You need to be actively updating your campaigns to keep them profitable. Try to have plenty of ideas and follow new trends to keep things going.
Myth 6: I Just Have to Ask My Friends to Share My Posts. They Will Make Them Viral!
Too many brands think social media marketing is a grassroots effort. They think they need some good content and help from their friends to take their posts viral.
There are a few reasons this is a flawed assumption. First, your friends probably don’t have as much reach as you think they do. Unless Kim Kardashian or Barrack Obama is following and sharing your posts, the likelihood they will go viral is pretty low.
More importantly, your friends may not even be in your target demographic. You need to get the word out to people interested in your product.
How many of these mistakes have YOU made?