This is an archived blog from when I ran Conscious Public Relations Inc. from 2008-2018. Excuse the potential outdated-ness!
What do the numbers mean in social media?
If you invest $10,000 into newspaper ads that promise a reach of 500,000-1,000,000 eyeballs, does that mean you will get that much in sales?
Of course not.
The same is true for social media. I often see this obsession with numbers… both for myself and clients and other businesses I deal with. We all seem to think high follower and fan numbers are impressive.
And they are… if the person has proved they have earned that following, and the following proves to genuinely act on a call to action. Like whenever Seth Godin announces a new book, he has a strategy for rolling it out and it works. He sells.
But when do the numbers fail us?
When you discover that the number of followers on the social media accounts you manage are not true followers. I know of a company who has bought followers for the sake of credibility in order to get even more, and more potential calls to action. Time will tell if this short-term strategy will work, but in my opinion, it’s like investing the advertising dollars, only you actually KNOW that the audience isn’t going to engage or buy or do the action you wanted them to.
If you’ve reached that peak of 1,000, congratulations. It’s a high number. But is it enough for what you endeavoured to do? Are you willing to put in more effort to have your followers genuinely convert their relationships with you into sales?
And when do you stop caring about the number?
I don’t have the answer, but it’s something for you to think about. Welcome to my world!
