Why How Many Followers You Have Shouldn't Matter
Should your social media follower count matter to your small business? Probably Not.
There's one huge problem with the way that most small business owners or managers starting a social media program think.
See if you can find the fault I'm talking about in this thought process:
'If we publish the right content, and a lot of it, we're going to amass thousands of followers on [insert social media network here], and then they'll see our posts all the time and it will remind them about us at the right time, and then they'll buy more from us, and our revenues will grow.'
Did you find it?
This train of thought may be correct if you're Coca-Cola, or Apple, or a Celebrity. But if you're [insert name here] Plumbing, or [insert name here] Attorney-at-law, or [insert name here} Dental, you'll likely end up disappointed, and you may make the mistake of stopping your social media campaign.
The first reason this common thought process exists is because it can be accurate for the right company, with the right marketing department, with the right skill level at creating astounding high-quality content that people would genuinely want to interact with.
The second reason it exists is because the thought process worked years ago, when social networks were in their infancy, before the term 'content overload' existed and back when news feeds weren't adjusted based on algorithms or customized using features such as Facebook's 'Unfollow' button.
The reality that most small business owners need to understand is that when I've had a long day working and I'm done playing with or attending to my kids, and I have five minutes by myself, and I don't have a problem, I'm not going to go through a stream of posts on my Facebook page talking about home plumbing needs, or legal trouble, or dental care.
I'd rather see news and information about my friends, or my favorite things, or topics that really interest me.
People don't want information about your service all of the time, and they don't talk about your service all of the time, and that's a truth most small businesses owners and managers have a problem accepting.
HOWEVER...
People do need information about your services one-time, and that's at the time they're are having the problem. The problem is what you and your service are the answer to. And that is happening all the time, because many different people (or businesses) are experiencing the problem.
We are all experiencing different problems and challenges at different times as we go through different points of our lives. Businesses too, through different points of their business life cycles. And it is for that reason, that your social media postings should remain timely, and relevant, and constant (this is something we struggle with too - you're not alone).
Just because someone doesn't 'Follow' you on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter, doesn't mean they don't reference those sites to get a better understanding of who you are before they buy from you.
Keep posting. Keep creating new content. And don't focus on your follow count.
Social Media is a Search Engine too.
