The Truth Behind Six Social Media Myths

It's no longer possible to resist social media, writes B.L. Ochman for BusinessWeek. However, it's important to recognize six social media myths before jumping in:

1. Social media is cheap, if not free. While many of the tools come at no cost, effectively incorporating them into a marketing program requires skill, time and money.
2. Anyone can do it. Many people claim to be "social media gurus," but hype doesn't compare to experience.
3. You can make a big splash in a short time. Social media can drive traffic if people care about your brand-otherwise, be patient.
4. Your can do it all in-house. To be successful, you need strategy, contacts, tools and experience - "a combination not generally found in in-house teams."
5. If you do something great, people will find it. Until you can drive traffic to your content, no one will know it's there.
6. You can't measure social media marketing results. There are several methods that measure the effectiveness of social media, including Google Trends, Twitter search, Google Analytics, BackType and Compete.

Reprint from pr blotter - PR Tactics, April 2009