Chasing Followers, Likes and Views is a BAD Social Media Strategy


What are you? Out of your mind? Isn't that the goal of Social Media? To get more likes, more followers, more re-tweets, more YouTube views? This is what a lot of people will think when they read the title of this post. I'm glad you're not thinking that way.

The goal of an effective social media strategy is not to get more Facebook Likes. It is to engage people into meaningful conversations that eventually result into sales. The goal of an effective social media strategy is not to get more YouTube views. It is to share information with people in a way that is easy-to-understand, thus helping your prospects make a better informed decision. The goal of an effective social media strategy is not to get more Twitter followers. It is to provide people with meaningful content that will improve their life and business.

So how do you develop a GOOD social media strategy? Okay, there is no one fixed formula for creating a good social media strategy. Every business is unique and should have a unique strategy that works for them. But, there are principles that should be kept in mind when formulating your strategy.
  • Chase conversations, not followers. When you engage into meaningful conversations and add quality thoughts to it, you will be noticed. People will automatically follow you without you having to follow them first. It is also helpful if you encourage others to participate.
  • Create valuable content. This is your #1 social media secret. There is lot of content out there and sadly (or luckily, depends how you see it) a lot of it is garbage. Ever wonder why some YouTube videos go viral and some get 10 views over a 10-month period? Think about this a little before you create your next piece of content. This can be a blog post, a YouTube video, or a article written by you. When you create content that helps your audience improve what they are doing, you will automatically create an "Expert" status for yourself.
  • Whatever you do, do it consistently. If you write one blog post a week, do that every week without fail. If you spend 10-15 minutes on Twitter daily, make sure to do it everyday. Being consistent builds predictability. It lets your audience know that they can depend upon you for their daily "tweet fix".
Social Media Strategy should not be about getting more likes and followers. It should be about creating awesome content through which your audience will gravitate towards your product / service offerings and consume them at a faster rate than at which you can deliver them. Now, that's a good problem to have.

Thank you for reading,
Mayur

2 comments:

  1. Right on! I am motivated by great content. Also the way that content is presented helps. I love the way you write yours. It is down to earth, simple, sincere, not trying hard to impress. Bullet points or numbering is a great way for the reader to segment information. Its almost like our brains need a bit of a break between ideas.
    I teach piano mostly because I am obsessed with how to make a person overcome their predispositions of expectations and "make or retrain" the brain to "get it" and build skills on top of each other. I have noticed how breaking new information into "chunks" enables the person to retain more information and extend their attention spans even if the information provided may not be of that much interest to them. I think it has more to do with the satisfaction people feel when they "get a concept". That yields wanting to do and learn more. In the case of blogs....stay reading for longer, retaining and in the case of social media, sharing.
    The fact that people actually "get the message" by feeling confident about "getting it" yields the desire to share, imo. In this case, the writer is responsible to make that happen. ;)

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    1. Ilia,

      I never thought about the fact that people want to do more of something because they "get it". Otherwise, they avoid it. And you are right! As content creators, it is our responsibility to make them "get it". Thanks for an awesome comment.

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