17th April 2023
Are you getting the best from your social media posts? Let’s be honest, everyone is hoping. and praying that their social posts go viral, reaching thousands of people and turning you and your business into ‘social influencers’. Well I’m sorry to be the one who has to tell you, it’s probably not going to happen. The days of influencers having millions of followers are a thing of the past, and those who managed to get to that mythical platform will fall as quickly as they rose to the dizzying heights of being an influencer if they are not careful.
Algorithm’s and technical updates mean that social media platforms are constantly changing, which can be very frustrating for users. it seems that as soon as [we] are comfortable with the layout and the functions of a platform, change happens and we go back to the beginning (more or less).
And then there is the decision about what platforms to use. Call me old fashioned but I’m going to primarily stick with the worlds leading platforms, those being, Facebook and Instagram. YouTube is up there as a leader but personally I don’t produce videos so it’s not as relevant to me. I use Twitter, Snapchat and TikTok but truly believe they are secondary in getting the message I need to share across.
Everyone seems to be fascinated with TikTok, Reels and Stories, and companies are pushing for businesses to make silly videos that are fun and frivolous that are shared on these sites. Don’t get me wrong, I occasionally do these random videos and share on the platforms, more than any other reason though is I like to analyse who looks at them.
Do I jump for joy when I see that a TikTok has received X amount of views and X amount of comments? The honest truth is NO, because when I look at the people who have interacted, I don’t know any of them. Are they going to do anything for my business, NO they are not because they’re just scrolling through these feeds until they see something they want to engage with, not necessarily buy into.
Facebook and Instagram are still key players, and a strong visual image with minimal text and a couple of # that are relevant to the subject matter get better engagements from new and potential clients. For me it makes sense to focus in on the platforms that generate business first and foremost.
If you then look at the age groups that frequent your business, and understand what social pages they might be active on, it changes the dynamic of what you should post and on which platform. The largest age group in the UK is from the age of 25 upwards, with 65 and above being the single biggest group. Are the majority of these clients TikTokkers or do they enjoy scrolling through Facebook more? Facebook wins hands down.
So, don’t give up on creating crazy little videos for TikTok etc, but don’t forget to cater for your clientele and share positive and inspiring images and messages across the social platforms they visit. And please don’;t worry about how many followers you have, how many comments you get, and whether or not your posts go viral. Focus in on creating regular posts that are seen daily on your followers and potential new followers feeds. That’s the best route for using social media successfully.
#BeSocial #BeSociallyAware
