Scroll on by…

Nobody joins social media to be sold to, yet it’s often thought of as the Holy Grail in terms of advertising.  If you listen closely, you’ll hear that social-media advertising talks only in terms of “target audience”, “engagement” and “reach”.

Not “results”, because those can’t be guaranteed.  You can get your posts in front of however many people you like, but what each of them choose to do afterwards is anybody’s guess.

(Nine times out of ten, most will likely just scroll on by, Dionne Warwick-style).

It’s even worse if you take a scattergun approach, as I used to.  I had accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and I’d just paste the same sporadic posts across all of them.

I knew that wasn’t a great marketing approach, as I hit Command/P for the fourth time in four minutes.  It’s just… we hear so much about how incredible social media is for “reach” and “engagement” that I felt stupidly obliged to say something at least once every week.  Otherwise people might forget I exist, and where would I be then?

I found out when I deleted my Facebook and Instagram accounts last November, and then Twitter in January.

I half-thought my business world would fall in.

So when nothing happened, it was a bit of an anti-climax.

Focus, my friend

I kept LinkedIn alive; mostly because no-one had used my photo to set up a fake account on there, and it wasn’t permanently spitting with weird anger.

Since I was only focusing on the one platform I decided to mix things up a bit; talk to a few more people, post more often, and ask an organised someone to do the scheduling and the pictures.

As it turns out, that laser-focus has worked out much better for me.  For one thing, scheduling my posts means thinking about and writing them in advance – rather than rushing because I’ve suddenly realised it’s time to say something.

For another, people have noticed.  “Your LinkedIn posts have suddenly got really good!  What’s happened?” asked a client recently.  (Thanks.  I think).  I’ve also received more messages than usual from people referring me to their friends and colleagues.

The conclusion is…

If this humble experiment-of-one shows anything, I think it’s this.  When it comes to social media, don’t fret about having to be present absolutely everywhere, and put some genuine thought into whatever you decide to share.

It’s worked out so well for me that I’ve teamed up with Mel, who does my pictures and post-scheduling, to offer a full LinkedIn service to others.  I do the writing, and Mel does… well, the rest!

If you’d like to know more, get in touch.