10 dumbest social media questions

The following is a sort of frequently asked questions I get from clients or potential clients, usually CEOs or GMs, not junior marketing. Obviously I'm not very convincing since i get to hear the same questions again and again.


  1. Can we manage to sell the old stock before the end of the month? 
Most likely not. As you know, we’re not currently using social media as a selling platform, except when we have offers or promotions, but as a place to inform and engage our audience. Connecting with people and expanding our fan base will increase brand loyalty which, in the long term, will translate into revenue.
  1. Why our competitor has more fans? We need at least 100,000 fans!
They usually ask me this question a week after we started working together. It takes time to create a loyal fan base and we’re still in the set-up phase as drafted in the main strategy (remember?). At the end of the set-up phase we’ll evaluate the various platforms we’re using, their growth and engagement as well as doing a comparison with competitors. A month later I usually get to hear the same question from the same person again...
  1. Why don’t we buy fans, I heard they’re really cheap!?
Sure, you can buy fans, they’re very cheap. They will also have zero contribution to your page, they will NEVER EVER be your customers and they will lower your overall page engagement making your page nearly invisible. Plus, I won’t be working with you any longer.
  1. Why didn't you delete that negative comment and banned that fan?
We've created a policy (remember?) which states how and when we delete comments and ban fans. We’re not a dictatorship and fans are free to leave any feedback, whether positive or negative. Thanks to feedback we can improve our services, build customer loyalty and show our ‘human’ side.
  1. Why should I pay you to use Facebook, my assistant can easily do it as she’s already writing our news releases and our (outdated) website.
Of course your assistant can do it but to properly implement Facebook, for instance, she would require at least 40 hours a month, including evenings and weekends, and I’m sure she would love to get so much extra work. Your assistant though can definitely be a great addition to the team.
  1. Why do we publish so many photos?
Ever heard the saying ‘an image speaks for a thousand words’? Images are more eye-catchy, generate more interest, are more likely to appear in fans’ news feeds and also are likely to be shared.
  1. My assistant is very popular and on her personal profile she has more than 2000 friends, why don’t we change it into the corporate page?
NO! Facebook launched Pages for businesses and brands back in November 2007 with several advantages such as advertising options, analytics, apps and many other features. Plus, maintaining a personal account for anything other than an individual is a violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.
  1. Can you guarantee me our next promotion will go viral?
No, nobody can guarantee you that. It’s hard to say what people will/won't like and anyone that promises for your content to go viral is lying. This is a useful checklist for a highly effective online campaign.
  1. Can we link Facebook with Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram so we only need to post once?
Better not. Each platform is different with different audiences. We need to cater our messages and their tones to each specific audience if we want to be listened. Let’s not be robots.
  1. I heard social media I very cheap, if not free…
This is the biggest lie of all time! Social media is cost effective if compared to other activities such as TV advertising but it still does not come cheap if you want to plan and execute it the right way.

Hope nobody gets upset ;). Do you have any to share too?

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