Are you still chasing likes and followers?
If you answered yes to the headline of this blog, then you need to stop chasing social media likes and keep reading.
First of all, some of you may be asking as to why I’m writing about this topic now when it’s been covered in the past? Well, the simple answer is that we still come across those that are obsessed by how many people like or follower their page etc.
Now I know how hard this trap of chasing likes and followers can be as it’s pleasurable when you see the number of people following you going up and it’s an easily quantifiable number that gives you instant gratification.
This, however, has to stop and stop now as you are focusing on the wrong thing and you are measuring the wrong numbers.
Do you really know what you like?
Let me ask you when was the last time that you had a look at the pages that you like in your own Facebook profile? I’d hazard a guess that if you headed over there now, then you’d probably scroll through most of them wondering when you even liked that page.
Before typing this, I did the very same exercise and would admit to not knowing or remembering half of the pages that I apparently like.
What does this tell us? Well it tells us that we are pretty click happy when it comes to the like button, but more importantly, it tells us that we aren’t actually engaged or engaging with half of the pages that we like, so those pages that think that they have a true fan in us are wrong. This isn’t just a Facebook thing either as we are the same across all platforms. How many times have you scrolled through Instagram and seen a post from someone or a company that you have (in your mind) never heard of? Their the one that you liked at 2am on Saturday morning.
So, if this is the case, and so far you are still with me, then we have to ask as you look at your business pages and profiles “how many of your followers and people that like your page are actually true believers” and how many of them are truly your target market or even in your market?
Its not all doom and gloom
Now before you slit your wrists it’s not all doom and gloom as obviously the more people that you have then the greater chance of organic reach, however as algorithms change (constantly) then it needs to be all about engagement, interactions and building trust with your end users and still the best way to do this is through good and engaging content. Once you earn a consumer’s trust, they are far more likely to do business with you, engage with your brand, help spread the word and recommend you to others.
So how do you build that trust? If you haven’t got a strategy, then that’s your first port of call then start looking at your content such as credible third-party articles and reviews as well as reviews from users and self-branded content. You need to be seen as a leader in your field of expertise and become the go to page for your target market to get the information that they need and require to make a decision.
Talk and have a conversation with those that engage. I cannot emphasize this enough in that you need to build a community around your page and be seen as a real person or at least real human beings that care. Remember that there are two words in social media, so be social, but also remember that it is part of your media strategy.
More importantly, have fun. If you aren’t having fun with your social media then you are doing it wrong
Want to know how to engage with your target audience and have fun along the way? Call our team at Live Wire Media today.
