This is a conversation I’ve had with quite a few businesses, including quite a few at the Cheshire Business Event I attended at the beginning of the month.
Everyone seems to be spending quite a bit of time and/or money spent by PR and Marketing employees or external companies doing daily posts and weekly updates etc. I used Instagram as a means of checking how many likes they got and no one there had any more than 6 likes and not many answered me when I asked them how much this was costing their business. Yes we are all guilty of scrolling down and rarely pausing to like let alone comment, but is this a good return of investment or more a case of “Emperor’s New Clothes” ?
It’s also important to think about people’s mindsets when they go on social media; most of us are looking to be entertained so we are only in “receive” mode and it’s not often we reach back out other than a like. How often do you share a post and if you do, does anyone even see it ?
I brought this topic up in a break out room during a business network meeting recently and the marketeer put down their lack of likes was due to the fact that they weren’t using the correct Social media SEO, hashtags – which of course would be used if you went to them.
What people don’t sometimes realise is that unless you specifically search for a group or company on social media and go to their page, you will never be shown all their daily posts; the big social media brands cherry pick what posts they want to highlight and at the end of the day, unless you’re a person who regularly housekeeps your contacts and “follows”, there is no way that you are going to have the time to view updates from all the 500+ accounts you have.
So we may already be following a business because we’ve met them and they’ve asked us to (kindness) or because we are interested in what they are selling or doing (looking for information or products; we may also comment on their posts), but as mentioned, unless you go to their social media you are very unlikely to see anything for the reasons above. Equally if I need information on finding a restaurant where I can meet friends for tapas, I am more likely to just go onto a browser and search; using social media isn’t quick and easy to search…
I’m increasingly encouraging businesses to post social media on their own website and not lose interesting snippets to the transient nature of social media. Have a think if this may work better for you and reach out if you want to chat further.
