Defining social media success, for some, is all about playing the numbers game. For some, it's down to meaningful social media engagement. For others, it's about quantity and quality in equal measure.
But, whichever way you measure your social media success, one thing is clear - as in business in general, the relationship-building has to come first.
Quantity can rarely be sustained into long-term, profitable social media engagement without first giving quality.
This, it seems, is an ongoing struggle for some.
For me, successful social media engagement is focused on quality first.
What do I mean by this, and why is it important for your social media engagement? Well, consider the following:
Is it better to have 1,000 highly-engaged, motivated, re-tweeting followers on Twitter, or 10,000 followers who barely notice your tweets, least of all re-tweet and share your social media content on a regular basis?
No brainer, really.
Or - to take the example to another social media platform - which Facebook profile are you more likely to share social media content from: the one constantly posting meaningless, random and generic 'inspirational' quotes, or the one posting selective, personal, meaningful hyperlinks and photos?
Another no brainer.
In the current frenetic climate online of 'Like Me, Follow Me, Share Me' it's still crucially important to build the relationship before asking anything of your social media network.
You have to give before you can ask for anything. Why? Because it's social media engagement, not direct selling online.
My top tips to seeing social media success with quality not quantity are:
* Like attracts like
Remember that your social media contacts all have their own networks, many of which could be beneficial to you. Try tapping into the key influencers within your social media networks, and switch them on with quality content. It will be liked, followed and shared by the simple fact that good social media content is worthy of spreading.
* Deliver quality deeply
Remember that it's better to network small and deep than wide and diluted for the best results via social media engagement. What does this mean? Try networking and engaging with a smaller, committed group of social media contacts and watch the positive results. Going for a quantity approach might look impressive, but it's unlikely to deliver a quality ROI over time.
* Quality costs quantatively
Remember that quality costs - and it's always at a premium. How does this relate to social media engagement? Simple, really. To deliver a quality message, you need to invest quantatively - this means investing in creating, researching, and sharing the very best to your audience. If you feed your followers with the best, you increase the odds of a quality ROI on social media marketing.
What's your definition of quality?
This is an important point to remember. If your idea of quality social media engagement is to push broadcasting selling messages at your audience, you can expect them to vote with their mouses and click elsewhere.
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