#1 Marketers treat social media like a short-term advertising campaign.

Social media is all about building a lifetime relationship with your audience. However, marketers are still to understand and acknowledge that. It requires more of unlearning vs new learning.

#2 Marketers measure ROI of social media like other digital marketing avenues.

Unlike SEO, PPC or even email marketing, social media is not just about driving traffic to a website and measure the contribution in a typical funnel approach as used in SEO or PPC advertising. Leveraging FB ads for lead generation will be an exception.

#3 Marketers underestimate the value of content and quality of conversations.

Unfortunately, even today a significant percentage of marketers are focusing on metrics such as number of fans on Facebook. While the number of fans is necessary, it’s not sufficient.

#4 Marketers don’t put required effort into defining objectives.

While social media requires constant experimentation, laying down the objectives lays down the framework to think, execute and measure appropriately.

#5 Marketers believe social media is about technology.

A large number of marketers still consider social media more of a technology and less of a marketing activity. Thus, they don’t put the right resources in at the right place.

#6 Marketers think that listening to their customers is optional.

In the fear of confronting negative conversations about their brand, marketers don’t realise that they don’t control what others are saying about them. Hence, listening to their customers on social media is not a choice.

#7 Marketers believe that they’ll jump in when it gets settled.

It’s been over seven years and the only thing which is constant about Facebook is change. By the time social media reaches a stage of stability, the opportunity will be proportionally low of newer players.

#8 Marketers still feel that social media is timepass.

Unfortunately, a large number of marketers still feel that platforms such as Facebook are only for socialising or passing the time. While Facebook started as a social network, today it has taken the shape of a hybrid (social + professional) network and there are global case studies of B2B companies, such as Intel, Dell and GE, which have been leveraging Facebook to fulfil various business objectives.

Pradeep Chopra is co-founder and CEO of Digital Vidya, and co-founder of dvBytes