More is Not Better (Where to Put That Thumb's Up)

"Do you just have a big, numbered list on your desk that says, '1) Get Followers, 2) Get Likes, 3) Money Shoots Out Of Computer Hole'?"

This, my friends. This. This is succinct and hilarious and so dead-on that I'm pissed I didn't write it myself. This is a huge part of why I decided to do this.

Here's more from Jon "@fart" Hendren:

Stop caring about essentially made-up KPIs and terrible metrics that measure nothing but how well your brand games a system that nobody else on earth cares about. The amount of followers, likes, and retweets your brand gets is practically meaningless. Nobody's surfing Facebook to see which major appliance manufacturer has the most likes before selecting a microwave, and No-Fucking-Body is going to go pick your brand of toilet bowl cleaner over anyone else's because you 'engaged the community' by asking if everybody was scrubbing the can for their March Madness party. That's bullshit, and you are a hack. Measure success by whether people are interacting with you or talking about your company in meaningful ways, such as by Real Feedback (the kind you didn't force into the funnel).

Is it important to have a presence on social media platforms so that you can hear your customers? Yes, it certainly is. But pouring excessive energy into measuring social media engagement is wasted time, since most of these numbers are not only enormously inaccurate, they are, as @fart says, wholly useless.

More is not better. Not on Facebook. Not on Twitter. Not on Instagram. More sales are almost always better and more ratings are almost always better and more foot traffic is almost always better, but not so online. If you want meaningful and rich experiences on social media platforms then MORE MORE MORE (often at the cost of being tacky with ridiculous and gimmicky contests that reek of desperation like some overly pleading OK Cupid profile--"please, for the love of God, pick me!") is not the answer.

More followers and more likes and higher engagement numbers cranked out by Facebook's self-serving Insights analysis. Then what? What's next? How does this help?

More might be better, but there need to be ongoing discussions about what is the goal when interacting as a company online about why. Otherwise those tasked with running social media initiatives for organizations will have to make promises they can't keep, and these organizations will continue to bleed money chasing a high that yields nothing substantial.

Some of the other stuff in this article is overly harsh, but the guy's handle is @fart, so. But the gist of this piece is spot-fucking-on, and I think a good number of companies need a good gut check, a come to Jesus kind of sit-down with themselves about what they really want out of these "social media ventures."

Comments

[Katherine Coble]

In the last 5 years I have met so many people passing themselves off as Social Media Experts who seem to lack ANY of the "social" skills needed.

I know quite a few SM"E"s who have actually turned people away from their brand or product because they think the best way to be in social media is to grab a bullhorn and a steamroller and go around shouting their company name.

Engaging people is a skill that is lost on 99% of professed social media experts.