Do Numbers Matter on Social Media?

Gotcha!

The title is a trick question! (Which come say are a specialty of mine)

Let’s talk about this one!

The question seems innocuous enough.

Surely numbers, especially big numbers, would matter on social media.

Things like followers on Twitter, friends on Facebook, connections on LinkedIn, and likes, shares, retweets, etc. should all be big numbers and growing even bigger, shouldn’t they?

Allow me the Classic Consultant’s Response, “It depends.”

(Liked my deadpan delivery there, didn’t you?)

First, a disclaimer, I don’t subscribe to the “numbers are irrelevant” school of social media.

Nor, do I believe that a tweet (or some other social media post) should only be posted once.

Only if you’re a mega-celebrity can you afford these snobbish pretenses if you’re on social media to either promote your brand or make money.

(Am I worried about offending mega-celebrities? Not really, how many of them do you think read my blog?)

The correct answer to the opening question is that numbers do matter on social media, but (There’s always a but) only if they’re of the right type.

What’s the right type you say?

Simple, I have a one word answer to that.

Quality

Allow me to repeat for emphasis.

Quality

Let me explain using Twitter as an example.

While all social media advisors, including yours truly, say that Twitter shouldn’t be just about adding followers, but about the conversation itself.

Naturally, if we have a quality conversation, we expect followers.

Otherwise, it gets awfully lonely.

However, what we really want are followers who are real, engaged, and add their own content.

In other words, don’t buy followers on Twitter. (Or, anywhere else for that matter!)

We want our followers in our social media communities to be as committed and engaged as we are when it comes to being on social media.

Quality is also a two way street on social media.

Do you merely like someone’s content or do you add a comment of substance and value?

Do you simply retweet or do you explain why you’re doing so?

It’s all about the quality of our interactions versus the mere volume.

If you can have both then so much the better.

Otherwise, go for quality with whatever numbers you’re using as your metrics on social media.

Napoleon purportedly once said, “God always favors the big battalions.”

He was also implying that these were qualified troops.

Think about it!

That’s it for now!

Please check-out my 8 step approach for developing a social media program to get some more ideas on how to use social media.

Also, never forget to reach out to either ask questions or to ask for help from someone like myself!

In the meantime, thank you for following and reading my blog!

I look forward to any and all comments that you may have. I will reply to any comments made to this blog post as promptly as I can.