1. The more content you post, the better your results.

FALSE.  Last night before I went to bed I checked Facebook and, sure enough, my friend “Veronica” had posted at least a dozen articles and links.  Then, this morning, I was doing my morning Facebook routine and there she was again…and again…and again.

Chances are we’ve all had that Facebook friend that jams up your newsfeed.  I have been so inundated with her posts that I’ve stopped paying attention to them.  And the fact is, if “Veronica” was a business I would have un-liked her page.

So what’s the best practice here?  1-2 times a day and then sit on your hands. You don’t want to be a “Veronica”.

2. Social media is a great platform for selling your goods and services

Actually, this is TRUE but if you treat it like your other channels you’re not going to be successful.

Social media is all about attraction and is a great platform for establishing your bona fides to customers and prospects, and for developing trust and influence. This is where you sow the seeds for future business by being informative, expert, helpful, entertaining and, oh yes, just occasionally showcasing your business.

3. To be successful on social media you need to use all of the available channels.

Unless you have unlimited people, time and energy resources this is FALSE.  Focus on “fishing where the fish are” and chances are you’ll discover that Facebook is your biggest “ocean” with over 1.5 billion monthly users.

Layer in Instagram’s 300 million monthly users, which is now making advertising available using the same API as Facebook, and you’ve pretty well covered most, if not all, of your social sphere.

4. Facebook is for teens and young adults.

Not so any more. That may have been true a decade ago but actually adults 55+ are the fastest growing demographic on Facebook.  While teen users declined by over 25% over the past 3 years, the 55+ sector’s growth has been an explosive 80.4% over the past 3 years.