Social vs content
In a talk I recently did, it was suggested that social media is mainly about posting content as opposed to actually being social on social media. Both perspectives have their merits, as I’ll explore below.
Social media is about posting content
For some people social media is about posting content, which means posting information. Sometimes a link to a website or blog is included and sometimes it’s just a simple tip that is included. The overall purpose is to push information out, with an occasional offer thrown into to entice followers. This is how many businesses use social media and it does seem to work rather well, especially if you have service or product you want to offer. And these same businesses can and do interact with followers, but generally the focus is on getting those followers to a place where they will buy a service or product from the business.
These same businesses will also use social media to monitor and manage what is being said about their service and product. By doing this they can get on top of potential negative situations and ideally resolve them quickly, while also capitalizing on positive mentions of the business.
The one disadvantage to this approach is that while producing content can be helpful it doesn’t necessarily show that you are engaged. While it doesn’t come off as blatant advertising, pushing out content isn’t as much about cultivating relationships as it is about getting business. While getting more information is definitely helpful for people, it’s still not so much about the people you follow, as about the business you want from them.
Social media about being social
For some people, social media is about being social. While there’s still some pushing of information, the emphasis is less on the information and more on cultivating relationships, which means that the person comments on other peoples’ posts in order to have conversations. This occurs less often on social media, when businesses do it.
When social media is treated as a social medium the focus is on building relationships, which means showing interest in more than just the content you push out. The interest is in what other people are saying, and what they are sharing, with an eye toward contributing to the overall conversation.
The disadvantage to this approach is that depending on the social media site, most people may not be doing it and consequently won’t be interested in responding. On the other hand, by being more social you might cultivate a relationship where the person is willing to help you out.
Neither approach is wrong or right. Each person (or business) needs to evaluate each approach and how it fits with their objectives. One exercise that might be useful is actually trying each approach for a month and then comparing the amount of traffic and conversion to sales that each approach provided.
Categories: Social Media, social media behavior
Tags: content, social, Social Media, social media behavior, Taylor Ellwood
