5 digital media myths exposed

If one thing’s for certain, it’s this: you can’t trust everything you read online. A quick Google search proves that misinformation, myths and confusing metrics run rampant in digital media. So how can you make informed digital marketing decisions when conflicting information arises at every corner?

Don’t be caught saying “I read it on Wikipedia, so it must be true.” Instead, check out our myth-busting list below.

5 misleading digital media myths:

Myth 1: Success can be measured solely by the size of your audience.

Reality: While every business would like to increase its followers, this deceiving metric isn’t worth getting hung up on. It’s more important that the followers you do have are of high quality. Instead of seeking out (or buying) mass followers, focus on engaging with those who are in you target audience and could actually help your business (via conversions, sharing your content, and the like).

When it comes to such vanity metrics, Kissmetrics, a web analytics platform, advises, “Not all data is helpful. Some of it is worse than worthless because it tricks us into believing we have answers when we don’t.”

Myth 2: All website visitors are good visitors.

Reality: While having a high number of site visitors is important, it’s the quality of the traffic that really matters. From spambots to off-target audiences, there’s plenty of ways bad traffic could hurt your bounce rate and prevent you from reaching your conversion goal.

As Kissmetrics warns, “Pageviews, visitors, fans and followers will only distract you from the real task at hand.” Don’t just sit back and rack up the pageviews – invest time in creating content that will attract the right audience to your site and make them want to stick around.

Myth 3: When it comes to social media posts, quantity beats quality (and conversation).

Reality: Again, this all comes down to knowing your target audience – who do you want to reach, and what topics are of interest to them? If you’re simply broadcasting any and all content at all hours of the day, you might get more “unfollows” than “likes”.

Instead, focus on creating conversation within your community – you need your followers to be engaged with and invested in your online presence. “If you want to stand out in a saturated space, you should focus on content that is genuinely adding value to your consumers’ lives,” says Buffer, a social media management application.

Myth 4: As long as you’re creating online content, it doesn’t matter where you post it.

Reality: Creating incredible online content can be challenging enough. Why put in the effort if all your hard work doesn’t help your conversion rate? The best kind of content is that which brings qualified traffic back to your site, increasing chances of conversion. Will sending your traffic off to social media libraries such as SoundCloud and YouTube (as opposed to your site) actually help your business achieve its objectives? Probably not.

Making content on social media sites is certainly worthwhile and can create conversation within your community. Just make sure to embed your work on your own website so that it’s consumed on a platform you own.

Myth 5: All you need is social media.

Reality: Social media channels aren’t permanent fixtures – their services could discontinue at any time (take Vine, for example). Your business’ digital strategy can’t be entirely dependent on these channels – if they fold, you’ll fold along with them. Social media is meant to help you gain exposure; however, your own website gives you control that social media sites simply can’t.

 

For more inbound marketing myths, check out Hubspot’s enlightening post.

Now that you’ve got the facts, do you need help building your digital strategy? We’ve got you covered.