This week’s blog is another little rant, and it stems from me seeing too many businesses wasting a lot of valuable time. I’m staggered by just how many marketeers and so-called social media ‘experts’ think the number of ‘likes’ on their Facebook page means anything at all. I see this number getting crammed into every PowerPoint slide and social media report like it’s a major priority. But here’s a shock horror: it isn’t. The number of likes or followers on your Facebook page, Twitter or Instagram mean absolutely nothing; how many of those people actually care about your business, does. Luckily, I thought a quick blog would help explain all!

In short, everything comes down to context, so I want to set the record straight on the misconceptions you might have about ‘likes’ and ‘followers’.

Why people ‘like’ or ‘follow’ pages:

This is a super important place to start. We follow pages for the same reason we make friends in the real world, to build a connection with things we like. It’s why we usually make friends with people who have similar interests, or are taking the same college course or working the same job. The same concept goes for the web; we follow pages that produce content and posts we WANT to see. And that last sentence is the foundation of this blog. I’ll be talking heavily on why you should focus on content before chasing ‘likes’.

Why people consume content:

People consume content for two main reasons – education, or escapism. Educational content, you may have guessed, includes the likes of ‘how-to’ videos, consumer advice and comparisons, or even documentaries. Escapist content is usually something that entertains, it allows people to ESCAPE from their day. This is most content on the web: from viral fiction series on Netflix to personal vlogs, music covers or even the ‘Epic Fail’ videos you can’t help but watch.

So with that, here’s a few myth-busters on your number of followers

#1. “The more likes I have on my Facebook page, the better!”

FALSE

I hear this a lot, and all I can ask is ‘why?’. Of course, we all want to create a bigger audience to help amplify and share our message, but actively chasing the ‘likes’ and ‘following’ is the wrong way to go about it. A bigger following doesn’t necessarily help, it’s about WHO those followers actually are. You have to play a reverse game. There’s no use having 12 million followers if only 10 of them watch your videos. Businesses should stop chasing those who don’t care (yet), and engage with people who already give a damn. If your content is good enough, your following will grow over time. Businesses that obsess over ‘likes’ aren’t playing the long term game, they are more worried about quick, short-term sales over establishing an actual brand, and this is why they lose.

If you want more on this, here’s a quick example – I always refer to one of my favourite YouTube channels – “Car Throttle” – these guys didn’t gain 2.3 MILLION subscribers overnight. Instead, they started out like everyone else – setting up a YouTube channel and having a few mates subscribe as a favour; the difference is, however, they’ve spent many hours creating entertaining content that is easy to enjoy.

Now, they have an established brand, loyal fanbase and a YouTube channel that generates revenue from sponsorships and merchandise. But here’s the thing: they appeal to car enthusiasts and no-one else. They entertain car enthusiasts and no-one else. They educate car enthusiasts, and you guessed it – no-one else! My point here is that they’re are 7.7 BILLION people who aren’t subscribed to their channel – but I doubt they are bothered. You have to know your audience, establish your brand and then create a connection between the two. Don’t always chase likes, chase engagement.

#2. “More followers = more sales!”

FALSE

In theory, yes. In practicality, no. This is a simple mistake that a lot of businesses make; they go chasing the ‘1 Million Likes’ status before learning how to convert the 5 followers they already have. Now, it’s perfectly fine to have likes and followers as your primary metric, but only if it aligns to your goals – brand awareness, for example. However, your content is still the variable of success. You won’t create brand awareness without content that actually means something, so start there. If you are aiming for sales, then learn what content appeals to your audience, learn what converts and focus on that – THEN start looking at your audience growth.

SPOILER ALERT – this next bit of advice is totally awesome!

Good content will help both raise conversions and grow your audience. I’m not talking about one individual video piece – although that is possible, but it has to be SUPER special – I’m talking about consistent, regular content that provides value first. Host a weekly review show, start a blog/vlog, film how-to guides and write daily tips – whatever works for your business and product. Give as much as you can to the consumer, whether it’s entertainment, advice or education. A good level of content bonds you and your customer, meaning you are in their mind when they enter the market or need something you provide. Instead of selling, make sure your audience is already ‘bought in’ to your brand. Many businesses give up on content marketing because they don’t have the patience to wait 12 months before people start caring, or even tuning in.

The biggest mistake I see is wanting to draw direct, instant connection between your content and sales, and the truth is this: it’s incredibly difficult! It’s almost impossible to say that someone watched one of your YouTube videos and then two weeks later, visited your site and purchased a watch. THIS is where businesses misunderstand the ‘ROI’ in their content. I don’t waste hours of my time running tedious reports, trying to match Facebook clicks with bounce rates on my site, or website visits with conversions.

When you have the patience and the ability to look at the bigger picture, you see that building a brand is the ultimate aim, and half of your metrics become irrelevant. Businesses overload themselves in reports when they can’t look any further than the confines of their office. They want instant gratification or re-assurance, which shows me they don’t have confidence in either their product or the content they produce. Don’t be like them. Have patience. Create good content. Have more patience. Create more good content. Develop interactions and build your brand. In turn, those ‘meaningless metrics’ begin to mean a lot, and they grow in perpetuity.

#3. “We should always try and grow our following”

FALSE(ish)

In essence, yes. But once again, this should NEVER be the primary focus. Followers don’t equal success, so don’t pin everything on them. The magic actually happens when you ENGAGE with your current followers through your content and interactions (responding to comments and direct messages). This is what actually builds the brand image you want people to love – and good branding builds the audience you want over time. Don’t ever expect to get more than you give; your follower count will always be responsive to the value you provide. It just makes sense!

#4. “We must have more likes than our competitors”

FALSE

I hear this quite a bit, and again, all I can ask is ‘why’? Followers don’t equal success, so having more followers than your competitor definitely doesn’t mean you’re ‘winning’. If you have 4 million followers, none of which care, but your competitor has 400 super loyal fans, then who’s really winning?

TIME FOR A RANT (and an excuse to use my favourite David Brent gif): Previous job roles have seen me work in social media teams where the business was obsessed over ‘likes’, and it actually comes from a lack of understanding on just how little worth they actually have in the real world. In turn, it meant our primary aim was to have more likes than our competitors. We actually spent as much time on competitor analysis as we did our own, and was detrimental to the time we could spend creating content. As a result, our pages stagnated while competitors actually executed the right way!

#5. “I can’t get more likes without advertising.”

FALSE

It may take more time, but anyone is capable of growing a dedicated fanbase to their brand/product without spending money – as is the theme with this blog, it all comes down to content. The content you put out is the way you communicate with those who do follow your page, and those who discover you over time. The real key is consistency – weekly uploads, daily posts or monthly highlights for example. Once discovering your content, people are more likely to stick around if they can expect more value. Set aside some time each week to create your content and it will help cement things into your schedule and become second nature. Creating content shouldn’t be a burden, if you want to create a dedicated audience organically, then frequent engagement is the secret sauce to success.

#6. “I should buy followers to grow my business quicker”

FALSE

Why would you waste money getting fake accounts to ‘like’ your page, when you could create good content and advertise it to people who actually give a shit about your business?

If you run a small bakery, then make baking tutorials and advertise it to people with an interest in food. If you’re a local band and want people to come to your gigs, advertise your songs to people who like your genre of music. If you are a real estate agent, produce a mini-series of education videos on increasing the value of your home. I’m blown away by anybody who thinks that buying likes is a good ‘growth hack’ for any page or business. Most of the accounts are fake, so why is it beneficial for them to follow your page? I’m even MORE blown away by any so-called marketeer who thinks that buying likes is a valuable way of spending even the smallest amount of their marketing budget because of a ‘status’ they think it holds. It comes down to either a genuine lack of understanding, in which case you shouldn’t be working in marketing… Or an unfortunate state of affairs where you are pandering to either your own ego, or that of another manager’s. I have a massive amount of empathy for anyone in that position as it can be incredibly frustrating; all I can advise is trying to educate the managers or colleagues who need it and align them to the business’ needs; failing that, I’d leave. It may be harsh but you can’t hardly enjoy your job if you can’t create content that is both fun to make and actually beneficial for the business.

So with that comes the end of another lengthy blog! I hoped it helps anybody who has had the patience to read it. I can certainly relate to a lot of these situations from both seeing, and working first hand in businesses that make the same mistakes. These blogs aren’t here to slate those businesses – well, not entirely – I just want to provide knowledge and value, of which comes through context and experience! Hopefully, this switches people’s mindset a little bit and puts some businesses on the right track with their content. Have patience and allow enough time for things to happen. If you can genuinely see yourself committing the next 2 years to creating good quality, valuable content, then you are already winning! Focus on that, and the followers will come naturally!