We measure the success of things (and we set objectives), based on the metrics we understand. And in the case of social networks, something that everyone understands is the number of followers.
From the beginning, marketing experts have tried to explain that the important thing is not the volume, but the quality. Or rather, the balance between both. Italy Business Email Lists
And what we really define is having success, it’s the return for the brand in the form of quality traffic, database records, referral and direct sales, recommendations, etc. In short, everything that allows us to capture the value generated for our brand.
The number of followers matters and a lot
But one thing is what we want to convey and another thing that is understood by those who listen to brands: customers.
Do the test and ask outside of your circle of contacts dedicated to topics related to marketing. What is the main metric used to assess a social profile? When they talk about this or that popular profile, what information do they usually highlight?
At first we see a content that interests us, and then we look for evidence of the “quality” of that user, reasons to follow him or not. We review its contents above, but the objective data that encourages us to follow is the number of followers.
If we take it out of context and take it to the professional world, what do you think is the most used metric to select an influencer or a lecturer for an event?
Another example is the social profiles of companies, what is the most common way to measure success? What is the most common goal? Unconsciously we think that the higher the number of followers, the better the results.
By having more followers is it more influential? If my brand has more followers does it get more revenue from social networks? The answer is that not always, and sometimes it can even be a bad sign.
We are obsessed with accumulating followers
As much as a marketing professional is clear that the volume is not the answer, the reality is that a high number of followers generates confidence and this has positive consequences in many aspects.
Of course, in the growth balancing quantity, with the quality of these followers is the key to success.
We all know the cases of companies that complain because their marketing strategies of influencers do not work as expected, those of Twitter profiles that have had large decreases in their number of followers after the purges made, profiles with little published content and tens or hundreds of thousands of followers … the casuistry is huge.
This fact has generated many currents. From those who leave their lives (sometimes literally), to accumulate followers, even those who claim that the number of followers is not important (but in fact if they care).
As a result of all this we have a metric that everyone understands (is the perfect situation), but that is totally distorted.
From my point of view, social networks have not been able to control (or have not wanted) the behaviors or tactics that have led us to this point and now find themselves in a difficult situation to solve.
I hope that those purges that false followers and bots that have made Twitter become the norm in all social networks and continue to evolve.
