Hey Everyone! Long time no talk, well, on this written format. I used to be our main contributor on the Grand Apps blog, but I've been doing a lot more video work on social over the past few years. So, as you can imagine, the written format has went by the wayside. If any of you know me, you know I am an active user on social media and I LOVE IT. And if you don't know me, add me on LinkedIn here.
I've been using social media pretty much since it came out back in the MySpace days with my top friend Tom. I remember the AOL chat days and dial up internet and I'm only 29. Over the past 24 months I've noticed some social media trends and wanted to share them with you all.
1. Fragmentation Is More Real
So, as I've been growing my social media following I noticed a lot of spill over among followers between platforms. Friends on Facebook would follow you on Instagram and those same friends would be connected on LinkedIn. But now I'm noticing more fragmentation happening with less spillover. As users start to decrease use of one platform and increase use of other platforms, they might miss you if you're predominately on a single platform.
2. Likes, Views, Comments Don't Matter
Yup you heard it here first! I understand people out there that are "hackers" will say, "But Chris, what about the algorithm?! Facebook sees more engagement and ranks it higher!" Yes. Yes they do. I'm talking from a purely branding / content point of view. I can't tell you how many times people have told me "Hey I saw that post you did" but I can assure you they didn't engage with it because I almost said something, ha!
What this means is people are just used to scrolling. They see the content. They might not be compelled to stop right away, but that should not deter you from posting or using social media. Don't get so caught up in the numbers game. Overall, are you hitting your business goals? What is your strategy? I'm playing very long term. Too many people are playing too short term.
3. You Need To Be On LinkedIn, Period.
LinkedIn is seeing so much engagement in early 2018. I have a real case study for this. One day I posted a rant. Yeah I'm human and get a little heated at times, so I posted a longer tail text rant. I woke up one day and it had 50,000 views with hundreds of comments. I don't have a network that big, so that means LinkedIn is making this more public for others to see who don't follow you or you're not connected with. That is a HUGE deal! That is way different from most platforms. The only way that happens on Instagram is if you make top 9 trending. I would say DOUBLE DOWN on LinkedIn efforts in 2018. I am.
As you can see, I only have 4,304 followers at the moment. But if you look at some of my posts below, you'll notice WAY more engagement that is outside my reach.
The Takeaway:
Social media is huge and it's only going to keep growing! Use it as an asset for yourself and for your business and watch it take off.
Cheers!