This is a re-hash of a post that I wrote for Social Media NZ a while ago. In light of Sarah Stewart’s post “business and social media – tips from the customer” I decided to have another look at why numbers matter in social media promotion.
iThnk her post highlights some of the points that people get way too wrong when they jump into the social media fray. In particular the common mistake of focussing on numbers rather than a personal connections. But this is the flip side, about why the numbers matter…
You might be a social media purist, in which case you may very well believe that promo shouldn’t be a factor in social media because promo is a numbers game and social media is not. But as much as it ‘shouldn’t be’ social media is a numbers game too.
The world of business is still run by balance sheets and board rooms, this means that when a business takes up the social media challenge it’s gotta be a worthwhile investment. So the reason promo matters is because promotions boost fan numbers, followers and page hits, and all of these are critical in squeezing out more coin from balance sheet.
Why do you need more coin?
- To fund the engagement side of social media (funding the time)
- To build applications/sites that add value to your community
- To reward your community
- To keep pushing the boundaries
Gaining number whilst sacrificing engagement a terrible idea but sometimes you need numbers in order to encourage more engagement, so the next time you see a promotion to boost fan or follower numbers thnk about why they’re doing it. Is it a cheap trick or are they promoting to innovate and add even more value to their community. If so then you can probably cut them some slack, if not then I recommend you provide them with some constructive criticism just as Sarah has done in her post.
I’d love to hear what uThnk about social media and promo…is it right or wrong? Should the numbers matter? Will they still matter when the old guard is 6ft under?
