“Social media isn’t a fad or trend. It’s an enduring reality of online existence.” – Neil Patel, Kissmetrics
I have often asked myself if it’s
necessary for a business to be on every social media platform or if it’s better
to only use the ones that they’re able to actively engage on. There are
benefits to both options. For example, if a business were to be on every
platform, they could lock down a good handle relating to their brand and it
would seem as though they would be able to reach a wider audience. If a brand
decides not to take on every social media platform, they could risk losing
groups of people that may not be on the platform they’re using, but more time
could be spent creating quality content and conversations. I found that it is better to not be on every
platform that you can possibly think of as a marketer and only be on the ones
you can put the time and effort into. There are several reasons for this. Two
of the more important reasons for me are allocating resources and being where
your customers are online.
Make Social Media Social Again
Even though it may seem like being
on every platform would open up a business to more people that is not always
the case. A wider audience does not always mean a more engaged audience. The
Next Web (2015) has actually reported that anywhere between 67.65 and 137.76
million Facebook accounts are fake, so some of the content may not even be seen
by actual people. Although a business may be posting content every single day
and the platform’s analytics are showing that the content is being seen, it is
more important that the content is being shared and engaged with. Through
metrics such as reach and impressions, businesses can see that their content is
being viewed; however, these numbers are sometimes inflated and can be easily
misconstrued. According to Social Media Today (2010), “Content without
conversation is just broadcasting, or just advertising. It goes to the
listener/reader/viewer/visitor… and stops there.” Responding to users is
essential to social media success and if a business is not spending the time
and effort to monitor each social media platform they are on, they might end up
missing a consumer’s comments which could end up costing the business negative
reviews.
Engagement such as comments and
shares can show a more accurate depiction of how successful content can be on social
media platforms. Besides likes and followers, engagement can show more than
just how many people see your content; it can show how potential consumers are
interacting with your content online. It is great to see that people are
viewing your content, but if visitors are not engaging with your content, it
does not help convert visitors into potential customers. Through engagement
metrics such as a share, marketers can find out how to turn that behavior into
a potential lead.
Finding the Digital Footprint
It is also important that businesses
focus their marketing efforts on the social networks that their customers are actually
using. Allocating the marketing budget to cover even three different social
media platforms could be difficult if the resources are not readily available. Even
if the business does have enough people to analyze and manage more than two or
three social media platforms, it is not always the best option. To determine
the best social media platforms to be on, it really depends on the goals of a
business. Questions to consider are:
- Where is my target audience actively engaged on?
- How much time can be spent on each platform to produce quality content?
- What are we, as a business, trying to achieve through social (i.e. brand awareness or sales)?
According to Kissmetrics (2015),
the most important factors that go into determine what platforms to be on is
simply depend on where your target audience is and what the company goals are
for social media. For example, if a real estate company such as Gillespie Group
located in Lansing, Michigan decided to start utilizing social media, maybe a
more image-based platform like Instagram or Pinterest would be better suited
for that type of work. Gillespie Group could then post apartment hacks or tips
and also images of their vacant apartments to find their niche online. According
to Adweek (2016), Instagram is often ignored, but it should not be since there
are over 65.3 million users actively posting and interacting on Instagram. Another
platform that would be beneficial for a company such as Gillespie Group would
be Facebook. According to Regan of Social Media Today, brands utilizing
Facebook can reach 1.94 billion potential consumers and when combining all of
Facebook’s acquisitions, such as WhatsApp and Instagram, the overall reach
climbs to 2.94 billion (2015).
With Facebook’s most recent
algorithm update to highlight more content that is being shared by friends and
family, it is important to find a conversational tone online and share content
that people care about. Advertisements are everywhere in 2016 and it doesn’t
seem to be slowing down, so businesses should find ways to create engaging
content that leaves people wanting to find out more about a business or brand. Catherine
Novak (2016) said it best, “Our world is shaped by the relationships and
conversations we have with other people – by the emotions we feel as well as
the information we receive.”
References
Adweek
(2015). Infographic: Who's really using Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr
and Instagram in 2015. Retrieved from http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/new-social-stratosphere-who-using-facebook-twitter-pinterest-tumblr-and-instagram-2015-and-beyond-1622
Barker, A.
(2015). Why entrepreneurs shouldn’t be on ever social media platform.
Entrepreneur. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245632
Neil, P.
(2016). Which social media accounts really matter and why. Kissmetrics. Retrieved from https://blog.kissmetrics.com/which-social-accounts-matter/
Novak, C.
(2010). Why conversation, not content, is king. Social Media Today. Retrieved from http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/why-conversation-not-content-king
Protalinski,
E. (2014). Facebook estimates that between 5.5% and 11.2% of accounts are fake.
The Next Web. Retrieved from http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2014/02/03/facebook-estimates-5-5-11-2-accounts-fake/
Regan, K.
(2015). 5 reasons why your business still needs Facebook. Social Media Today. Retrieved from http://www.socialmediatoday.com/marketing/kadie-regan/2015-08-06/5-reasons-why-your-business-still-needs-facebook
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