By Gerard Murnaghan, General Manager & Vice President of Sprout Social

From goldfish having a three-second memory span to the first US President George Washington being fitted with wooden teeth, we are constantly surrounded by myths and misconceptions.

Although they exist almost everywhere, they’re especially common in and among topics that people feel familiar with. Take the world of social media as an example. The more people use social platforms, the more they think they understand the inner workings of social media marketing.

Some myths are harmless, but others can be hugely damaging – interpret a misconception as gospel, and the implications could seriously impact performance.

Social media professionals need to equip themselves with the right information. That means identifying what common myths and misconceptions are out there and ensuring they don’t fall for them.

Here, I will highlight five misconceptions that social media professionals should consider this year, a year that will be defined by a complex matrix of trends.

Myth 1: Going viral should be the overall goal of your social strategy

All too often marketers fall into the trap of doing whatever they can to make their social media content go viral.

It is easy to understand why – in such a crowded space, brands want their share of the spotlight and believe that creating memorable content to go viral is the most important element of becoming a best-in-class social operation.

However, going viral is not the best objective for most brands. Consumers have different priorities and think differently. Offering strong customer service or engagement is likely to be more effective to connect with your audience.

Think about how you can speed up your response time, create an escalation management strategy and integrate your social media management platform across your martech stack. This will all help to create a superior experience.

Myth 2: How many followers you have is a vanity metric and doesn’t affect your bottom line

A decade ago, follower counts on social media took a reputational beating following the rise of brands buying followers in bulk.

For a relatively small cost, companies can still boost their followings, leading others to devalue follower-count as an empty and meaningless metric.

After all, accounts largely made up of paid-for followers, almost inevitably, carry graveyard-like levels of activity, despite the appearance of a lofty follower count. If engagement is low, why does the number of followers on a brand’s profile matter?

Organic and engaged followers directly affect a businesses’ bottom line, and they add genuine vibrancy to social accounts. Consumers are far more likely to buy from a brand they follow on social media – our Index data shows that 90% of consumers will buy from brands they follow on social media, and 86% will choose that brand over a competitor.

There is also a common misconception about ‘lurkers’, those which observe social media content but do not create or interact with it. These people should not be devalued or taken for granted, as one in three consumers use social media simply to learn about or discover new brands – many of them leaving no digital footprint in the form of a like, comment or share.

In short, this means that having more followers translates into more sales, but not all followers are equal. Rather than discount follower counts, social media managers should be thinking of ways to build up genuine followings of customers and potential customers.

Myth 3: Gen Z can be won over with influencer marketing

Born as social media gained worldwide popularity, Gen Z is the generation most synonymous with social.

Gen Zers are difficult to reach through traditional channels but are comfortable with influencers who they can identify with. This audience also cares about the social context of their products, something which influencers can demonstrate effectively.

A common assumption, therefore, is that this generation can be easily engaged via influencer marketing. However, as consumers are increasingly bombarded with paid advertising, the Gen Z audience has become more sceptical of influencer marketing than other groups.

Our data shows that 37% of Gen Z are unlikely to buy from a brand after seeing content from a brand influencer – that figure is just 18% among Millennial audiences.

To make a real impact with Gen Z, marketers should prioritise genuine and every-day influencers. 84% of Gen Z consumers are likely to make a purchase if someone they trust recommends the product or service.

Furthermore, 82% read reviews from other customers on social media. This is an area to concentrate on – be creative in the way you use customer reviews to create content that is entertaining.

Myth 4: Social data is a marketing-only resource

Who is my audience? How do they prefer to be contacted? What time of day do people interact most with our brand? Of course, data is an invaluable resource that fuels many marketing strategies.

With that said, social data can and should be used across the business. According to our research, almost half (47%) of organisations view social data as a multi-team strategy resource, meaning its remit stretches well beyond the assumed marketing silo.

Social data has a multitude of uses and value to a business. It can help product teams produce new ideas or adaptations, crisis and comms teams to craft appropriate responses for their audience, and it can be used by the C-suite to make informed decisions and to set strategy.

Myth 5: Leave video to the YouTube and TikTok stars

Despite the hype around video, which sees 54% of marketers cite it as the most valuable type of content for social media, it is currently being somewhat underutilised.

Less than 15% of content published by brands on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter contains videos, with social media teams tending to favour posts containing links and still images instead.

Despite the ease and affordability of remote video production tools making the production of social videos more accessible, there is still a sense among social media professionals that video creation is simply too much to take on.

Proactively expanding your team to include a video specialist and making the most of new tools, will alleviate these issues and allow your brand to realise the hype – all without overburdening other colleagues.

By being aware of these common myths and misconceptions, social media managers can plan and execute their strategies knowing that the facts are truly behind them.