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- Boss, we need to talk about your social media obsession
Boss, we need to talk about your social media obsession
How to tell your boss/client that followers don’t mean shit.
Kirsty Boden-Stuart
September 04, 2024
“I want us to increase followers across our social media platforms by 99.9% this quarter.”
Ah, follower count. A seductive mistress, isn't she? Especially for business owners and bosses.
But having a million followers who never engage is like running a nightclub where all the punters are made of glass. It looks impressive, but the conversation’s terrible, the dancing’s shit and nobody's buying any drinks.
You know that focusing on follower numbers is pure vanity (you mighty marketing superhuman, you).
But does your boss?
In the words of the noble philosopher, Vanilla Ice, we need to "stop, collaborate and listen." It's time to throw some ice ice baby (soz) over those follower expectations and focus on what really matters.
So how do you tell your boss or client that they’re looking in the wrong direction?
Do the algorithm shuffle
First, educate your boss on the ever-changing nature of algorithms. Social media platforms are constantly tweaking them of course. Here's the lowdown right now. No, now… no, now… Urgh.👇️
Instagram
IG prioritises content based on user interests and engagement. Some poor comms person from Insta said of their most recent update in Spring 2024: “Every piece of eligible content is shown to a small audience that we think will enjoy it, regardless of whether they follow the account that posted it or not.”
Facebook
The Book of Face is all about "meaningful interactions" these days. (No snickering in the back – Zuckerburg really, really means it.) Unless your posts spark more discussion than whether that dress was blue and black or white and gold, it’ll get lost in the void. (It was blue and black, by the way.)
TikTok
Ah, TikTok. Home to the algorithm so good at serving content, it’s made procrastinating an Olympic sport. It’s algo knows you better than your therapist and is based on some wizardry I’ll be damned if I know about.
Twitter/X
I can’t even.
The takeaway? It’s all about engagement. Follower count means eff-all if the almighty algorithms decide not to show your content in the first place.
Give them metrics that matter
If you share more meaningful metrics with your boss or client, you’ll be showing them a fuller picture of your success and areas for development.
Create reports that highlight the below metrics. If you can tie these to actual business outcomes, give yourself an extra gold star.
Engagement rate: This is the golden ticket. It's the percentage of your audience that's actually interacting with your content. A small, engaged audience beats a large, disinterested one any day of the week.
Conversion rate: Are your social media efforts actually leading to desired actions? Whether it's sign-ups, donations or sacrifices to the marketing gods, this is where the rubber meets the road.
Reach and impressions: How many eyeballs are actually seeing your content? Kinda important.
And, yes, some of these things can be affected by the size of your following, but follower growth shouldn’t be your NUMBER ONE key performance indicator.
If in doubt, use the party analogy to explain all this to your follower-obsessed boss: “Would you rather have 100 people at your party who don't talk to each other, or 20 people having an absolute hoot?”
When it comes down to it, social media success isn't about having the biggest audience – it's about having the right audience and knowing how to party with them. 🎉
Note: I’m lucky: I’ve got the most understanding boss who 100% trusts my judgement. (Just in case you’re reading this, boss.)
📔 I'm just putting the finishing touches on my course. It’s taken AGES to build, but I’m getting there. It’s a framework to help badass marketers like you switch your marketing from ignored to utterly irresistible. Stay tuned for more news incoming…
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