What is the real value of a social media connection? How much is a social media follower worth?
Are fake follower counts better for business?
The more followers you have on social media the better, right? Wrong! Completely wrong! Nothing could be more wrong. But that’s ok. Let’s not blame the offenders, they have not got the slightest idea on what social media is all about. Obviously. And how much is a social media follower worth?
Lately I have been bombarded with new followers on Twitter. But not your average follower. The dreaded “$10 for 10,000” followers game that spammers have been playing for the years since social media entered the mainstream. Followers that are offering riches in the form of “real” followers. Of course they are real. As real as the Easter bunny and Tom Thumb.
Buying social media followers does nothing for your business
Have you ever bought followers to increase your social media count and believe this is better for your business? What’s the use in buying followers? What does it do for you? But hey, $10 for 10,000 new friends, why not? It makes you look better than the competition. It might, on the outside, appear that you are indeed “the shizzle”, but once people dive in and see what you’re all about, game over. Your social standing is ruined. Not to mention your analytics and reporting. After all, how can Mary Smith, Toronto Real Estate agent, have over 20,000 followers with 50 tweets about nothing?
Elevate your social media following to unbelievable levels only hurts your brand
Take the example above. Mary, a local real estate agent has 20,000 followers! She must be the best agent in the city! Arnold’s Plumbing has 18,000 friends on Facebook – he has to be the ultimate plumber in the area! Everyone loves Mary and Arnold it seems. But let’s investigate. Mary has only tweeted 50 times! Wow! Those 50 tweets must have been so good that all those people had to click to follow. But what did she tweet about? …. Hello world!, Open house at 123 Main, Eating popcorn with the dog! Something about Mary doesn’t seem right. Let’s look at Arnold. 5 links to YouTube videos on deck staining, and 3 about why he’s the best plumber? Arnold, Mary, what’s going on? And Arnold and Mary wonder why social media doesn’t work. They don’t have the right earned audience or the right messages.
Tarnish your brand, loose valuable business… How much is a social media follower worth?
All of this hocus pocus is what ruins brands. Trying to trick people into thinking you are what you aren’t. Who ends up hurt in the end? The person with the crumby brand.
People can see right through the fakes
People aren’t dumb. They know when your putting them on. Is it worth it? Spend the right energy on the right things that will build your business, and social following, in the proper way.
It’s not about the quantity, it’s about the quality of social media followers and posts
It’s not Mary and Arnold’s fault. They just got bad advice. Let’s help educate them. Sign up below for my email newsletter to better understand how digital marketing and social media can help your business grow by engaging and building relationships with your audience.