We’re all chasing the wrong numbers on social media
This week’s update to my 8,700 email subscribers is all about the numbers that you are seeing on social media and how to make sure you’re reading them the right way.
Let’s go.
Numbers don’t lie. Until we make them lie.
One of the biggest reasons why businesses migrated most of their advertising spend to online channels is because you could see the numbers.
While television and radio were still hiding behind mysterious “ratings” that no one could ever fully explain, digital marketing had defined reach, engagement and click numbers you could see.
You weren’t just hoping that 10,000 people were watching the show that you happened to have an ad placed in; you could now see how many people saw your ad, engaged with it and clicked on it.
Numbers are powerful.
But they’re not always what you think they are.
Some numbers don’t matter at all.
Have you ever noticed that some people have massive followings on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn, but barely anyone ever comments on their posts?
Or that some highly successful people on social media channels don’t seem to have a huge following?
You would think that someone getting lots of leads and a good flow of sales from Facebook would have a huge following. Right?
Wrong.
Followers or “Likes” has very little to do with successful lead generation and sales.
So why do we place so much importance on how many followers someone has on social media?
Followers are visible. Most other numbers are hidden in our private insights.
Follower, reaction and comment numbers are the only publicly visible statistics for our accounts on social media.
Visit any competitor’s Facebook page and you’ll see how many people follow them.
And if their number is bigger than yours, you understand that you have to work harder to get more people following you.
What you don’t know, is whether that larger following delivers anything but an ego boost to them.
For example:
My LinkedIn following is around 4,500 people. My YouTube following is just over 300. My newsletter has nearly 8,600 subscribers.
So far in 2022, my YouTube channel has delivered consistently higher value leads to me than anything else I do.
While the newsletter and LinkedIn deliver more leads, the ones from YouTube are for bigger pieces of work from bigger businesses.
Anyone would think I’m failing to get much momentum on YouTubebased on my subscribers. And by the views on a single video, that may seem even more true. Until you notice that I have over 5000 views of my videos each month.
That info isn’t immediately on display. Only my subscriber numbers and individual video view numbers are.
So the obvious numbers we see are not necessarily the numbers we should be taking most notice of.
This was a big lesson I had to learn in my early days. I was so busy watching my competitors’ follower numbers, that I wasn’t noticing that chasing new followers was alienating the followers I had.
It’s a mistake I am still recovering from years later.
The numbers that matter.
When you do social media there has to be a goal in mind.
Why are you doing social media?
The correct answer will be one the following:
- to get known
- to get leads
- to get sales
Anything other than these is just vanity. You don’t just do social media “because that’s what we’re supposed to be doing, right?”
Let’s see what numbers matter for each of these goals.
To Get Known.
Reach & Engagement are the numbers that matter here.
Reach shows how many people were exposed to your brand or message.
Engagement shows likes, comments, shares and clicks.
It’s even more potent than reach because engagements notify others of their friend’s action on your post, multiplying the reach beyond only your followers.
To Get Leads.
This is what sits in your email, Messenger or WhatsApp inbox or phone.
You know that what you’re doing is working when you have leads coming in.
Outsiders have no idea how many leads you’re getting. Only you can measure that.
To Get Sales.
This is the ultimate measure.
You could have 10 followers on social media and still be pulling in lots of sales.
If that’s the case, then social media is likely not the source of those sales.
But it may form part of the web of promotional activities that led to someone developing an interest in your products and services.
That’s all for this weekend. Just one short read about how to avoid the mistakes I made when I chased the wrong numbers on social media.
If you’re not getting value from these tips, please consider unsubscribing.
I won’t mind, and there are no hard feelings.
Alternatively, if you are enjoying this newsletter, the best compliment you could pay me would be to share it with one person who you think would benefit from it.
See you again next week.
P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are a few ways I can help you out:
1. Learn what the bare minimum stuff is that you need to start a business online in this free YouTube video
2. Join me for a free two-hour workshop on how to build sales funnel sequences and mini-courses in Mailchimp, SendinBlue and Active Campaign (Current Australian Business Number is required)
4. Book a free no-obligation 15-minute chat about where your digital and small business struggles are to see if we can get you on the right path (available within Australia only)
