17 Social Media Marketing Myths to Leave Behind in 2020

Over the past decade, the social media industry has accumulated enough data to debunk a long list of ideas that once sounded plausible but simply are not true. And yet, even as the evidence piles up, many marketers continue to operate on these outdated assumptions — either because adapting to the ever-shifting social media landscape feels daunting, or because old habits die hard.

The social media landscape shifts dramatically every single day — Your Marketing Should Be a “Flywheel,” Not a “Funnel” (Part 1). As a marketer, the key to building an effective social media strategy is grounding your decisions in reality rather than outdated assumptions. To help you separate fact from fiction, Knight shares hard-won lessons on social media marketing — so you can avoid the most common pitfalls.

1. My customers aren’t on social media

In 2019, more than 2.39 billion people were active on social media worldwide. Today, virtually every person and business has a touchpoint on at least one social platform — whether that’s WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, LinkedIn, or Zhihu. The chances are high that at least one of these platforms hosts an audience that aligns with your brand. Not sure which one fits best? Explore the latest social media trends to find out.

2. You should join every social media network

There are countless social media channels out there, but the right ones for your business are the only ones that matter. Knowing the name of every platform does not mean you need to maintain a presence on all of them. By all means, experiment — but if a platform is not delivering value, do not hesitate to delete your profile and move on. Keep your time and resources focused exclusively on the platforms that best match your audience and your marketing objectives.

The best marketers rely on data to determine which activities are generating the strongest results. Always let the numbers guide you.

3. You should only pursue followers who might become customers

This is especially common in B2B marketing, where teams often concentrate solely on followers who are decision-makers or can directly influence revenue. While follower quality absolutely matters, you should not be too quick to dismiss those who do not fit your ideal customer profile. Non-buyers can still generate meaningful indirect impact. Keep these points in mind:

More followers means greater exposure to their own networks
If a follower is influential in your industry or community, their credibility can reflect positively on your brand
When they share your content, your SEO improves
They may directly refer your business to others

4. You only need to post on weekdays

While you should not require your social media team to work through the weekend, you should schedule content and ads to run on weekends in advance. The real insight here is about competitive advantage: social media activity is highest mid-week, but many platforms also see significant engagement on weekends and evenings. Publishing when others are not creates less noise and more opportunity for your content to stand out.

5. Getting likes from family and friends means your social strategy is working

You cannot rely on close friends and family to engage with every post you publish on WeChat or Weibo. Even if those likes feel encouraging, every social media platform operates on its own algorithm. To earn algorithmic favor and expand your reach, you need diverse audiences engaging with your content — not just your inner circle. Instead of asking friends and family to like your posts, focus on encouraging your real followers to like, comment, and share. That is what drives genuine visibility.

6. You need to monitor social media in real time and respond to every comment immediately

Are you glued to your screen, switching between monitoring dashboards, refreshing feeds obsessively, and scrambling to respond to every notification the moment it appears? A rapid-response mindset is admirable, but it is neither sustainable nor always necessary. There is a lot happening at any given moment across social platforms. Delegate ongoing monitoring to social listening tools that surface important signals in a structured, data-driven format. Checking in every one to two hours is more than sufficient — after all, you are not a machine.

7. Social media exists only to facilitate conversations, not to deliver content value (What is Content Marketing?)

Conversation and engagement are valuable, yes — they can spark dialogue, build relationships, and even drive conversions. But they are far from the only purpose of social media marketing. Beyond engagement, social media serves as a lead nurturing engine, a traffic driver, and a distribution platform for your marketing content. A piece of valuable content may not generate direct inquiries every time it is posted, but it can consistently guide people toward your website and products — which is an essential step in the conversion journey.

8. Social media marketing is all input with no measurable output

In reality, social media can deliver far more than just “engagement” and “brand equity.” It actively accelerates lead generation and customer conversion cycles.

Here are some figures worth knowing:

Companies that use Weibo generate twice as many sales leads on average as those that do not
Companies with more than 1,000 Weibo followers receive six times more traffic than others
45% of marketers report that social media delivers a below-average cost per lead compared to other channels
52% of companies that market on LinkedIn have acquired customers through it
79% of companies that market on WeChat have acquired customers through it
44% of companies that market on Weibo have acquired customers through Weibo

9. Being promotional on social media looks cheap for a business

Yes, your content should always be informed by your target audience — but that does not mean you have to suppress your brand’s personality, or even your marketing team’s individual voice. Do not be afraid to share your company’s sense of humor, photos of your team, or links to stories you find genuinely interesting, even if they are not directly tied to your industry. Showing the human side of your brand builds connection and trust.

10. Hashtags are essential for every post

Hashtags work by tying related topics together — and they are genuinely useful for campaigns like webinars or trade shows. But if a hashtag is not already trending or does not naturally fit your content, there is no need to force one in. Hashtags will not reliably pull in your target customers on their own. Think of them as a user-friendly navigation tool, not a magic lever for revenue growth.

11. Social media managers should either be digitally native young people or seasoned marketing veterans

This is a misconception that deserves to be dropped entirely. Skill in social media marketing has nothing to do with age. People at any stage of their career can learn the tools and strategies — and can make mistakes at any age too. Rather than filtering candidates by age, look for qualities that actually matter: creativity and a data-driven analytical mindset.

12. Only young people use social media

Do not assume social media is the exclusive domain of Gen Z and Millennials. As of 2019, 90% of 18-to-25-year-olds used social media — but according to Statista, more than 80% of 30-to-49-year-olds and nearly 70% of 50-to-64-year-olds were active on social platforms as well.

13. New platforms like Snapchat and TikTok are not worth paying attention to

Both Snapchat and TikTok are mobile-first social apps that have built strong followings among Millennials and Gen Z through distinctive features. Snapchat is built around ephemeral content, AR filters, and Bitmoji; TikTok centers on short-form videos — typically 10 to 60 seconds — that are humorous, entertaining, or music-driven. While these platforms thrive on user-generated, off-beat content, that does not mean brands cannot build credibility and awareness there.

Today, a wide range of brands — from publishers to B2C companies — have created profiles and run ads on TikTok. One of the most surprising examples is The Washington Post, one of the oldest and most established media brands to build an active TikTok strategy. Despite its formal presence on other platforms, The Washington Post uses TikTok to highlight the funny, human side of newsroom life.

14. You do not have enough content to sustain a social media presence

Social media moves fast — what you post today can easily be forgotten by tomorrow. “I do not have enough content” is a common concern, but it is more manageable than it seems. You can repurpose and repackage older material for new posts, or regularly share high-quality third-party content relevant to your audience.

If a topic you have covered happens to be evergreen, great — a few updates and a light refresh can make it feel brand new. The goal is not to share the same link over and over with identical commentary; it is to keep adding fresh context and perspectives to ensure your feed stays valuable.

15. Social media gives people a platform to trash your company

In the age of information overload, unhappy customers already have countless places to voice their complaints — with or without social media. Staying off social platforms does not protect you from negative feedback; it just means you will not be there to respond. The better approach is to understand why negative comments occur in the first place, address them directly, and offer real solutions. When a customer leaves satisfied, encourage them to share that experience too.

16. Social media is too vague to measure

Social media is not an unmeasurable channel. Some metrics are admittedly difficult to pin down, but that does not mean you cannot evaluate the effectiveness of your social media activities.

With Knight Marketing Tools, you can accurately track how much traffic your social channels are driving to your website, how many leads social media is generating, and how many of those leads are converting into customers. You can even calculate cost per lead and cost per customer — giving you the visibility to optimize conversion at every stage of your funnel.

17. Social media is completely free marketing

Signing up for a social media account is free — but running social media well is a real investment of resources. Even if posting itself costs nothing, you still need to pay people to manage your channels, develop content strategies, and execute campaigns. As your social presence grows more sophisticated, your time and budget commitments will likely grow with it. That said, social media remains one of the most cost-effective ways to grow your audience, build brand awareness, and ultimately drive demand — and for most businesses, the return makes it well worth the investment.

17 Social Media Marketing Myths Worth Abandoning