Only change is constant – yet once again change has struck – big time. In the words of the late Tall Thin Duke, David Bowie…Ch-Ch-Ch-changes…
As if Twitter hasn’t been through enough, with Elon Musk shelling out 44 billion dollars to acquire it, then promptly starting to make changes. Then we witnessed the rise of TikTok, plus massive inquiries into its operation as well as one State banning it. And most recently, Meta launching Threads to compete with Twitter – 30 million users signed up in a weekend to the platform. BOOOOOOOM!
On the whole, numbers on social media are generally trending down. Posts and engagement across most channels declining. Here are some sobering numbers according to a recent study by RivalIQ: https://www.rivaliq.com/blog/social-media-industry-benchmark-report/
Engagement Rate per Post:
Instagram: 0.47 percent
Facebook: 0.07 percent
Twitter: 0.35 percent
TikTok: 5.36 percent is the outlier, with incredible upswing with users and exposure
Organic reach is down as well. It used to be that on Facebook you could expect an organic reach of 2 percent. Currently, the MAXIMUM reach you can achieve on Facebook is 1.7 percent (assuming the perfect post meeting all written and unwritten posting rules), but the sad reality is the average post is only experiencing .07 percent. Let me put these reach numbers into a term you might understand: If you have 700 followers or fans of your page, only ONE person will see your post. Given the average drycleaner has 300 fans or followers on their Facebook page, it’s very likely NOBODY is seeing your social media content. So, what’s the point? With such low numbers, it’s long past time to really take a good hard look at your marketing strategy.
Social media still has a place in the marketing mix, but its role is diminished. Right now, you need only make a post every two weeks, and that post should be about a service you offer. I know there are some marketing consultants and services that are saying you need to post five times a day, but I’m sorry, that advice really is more for the sake of many marketing companies attempting to justify their expense and to game the system trying to increase reach numbers. You are much better off diverting those financial resources towards other marketing efforts.
Social media has always been about building an audience and then monetizing your audience. Many of you have been misled paying for content and content development. How many followers do you have? If it’s less than 1,000, you have nothing. If you now realize you need followers, you are going to spend a lot of time and money to build an audience, and then you will have to figure out how to monetize it. And if you think social media content is a fantastic tool to find customers, HA! I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
There are much better ways to deploy using social media, ways that are not based on bullsh!t long tails strategies that may or may not pay off (and most social media strategies don’t pay anything). But I’m not going go any deeper right now because I reserve this information for my clients, sorry.
Recently, social media fragmented yet again. Tik Tok has had a phenomenal increase in users. Its daily users skyrocketed. Both Facebook and YouTube had to act quickly releasing Reels and Shorts on their platforms to counter and stem the hemorrhage of traffic to Tik Tok. Currently, Tik Tok is a media darling with loads of folks jumping on the bandwagon.
But Tik Tok is pretty much the same story as MySpace, then Facebook. History tends to repeat itself and it’s definitely so in the world of social media platforms, they rise, they fall. Tik Tok is the current hot new thing…well, it was, until Threads came on scene.
Elon Musk bought Twitter and promptly began making changes. Some Twitter user folks didn’t like it. And so the massive layoffs and firings of staff began. Facebook quickly snapped up staff and began building a different social media platform under their Instagram banner in secret. In a matter of weeks, the new platform…Threads was released. And, oh my, what growth. From nothing – to 100 million users in ten days – the fastest growing platform in social media history.
So, what is Threads about? I don’t know. It’s just been released, and millions have signed up. It’s so fresh and new, nobody has figured out how to use it yet. But the Threads uptake certainty demonstrates to me that the market for something to believe in is truly infinite as 100 million folks are doing their best Lemming impersonation surging to get on board the next hot new thing. Just like the other social media platforms, there are massive amounts of people throwing effort and resources into something they have no idea about nor how to use it. It’s frankly a bunch of people who simply think; “I gots to be getting me some of that social media.’”
Just because it’s available doesn’t mean you need to jump on it. Threads is just a new fragmentation, and possibly another colossal time suck, that will distract you from what you really need to focus upon: running your business.
Far too often I walk into a small business ready to buy something, and management and staff are off in a corner having a content development planning strategy session, talking about what video they are going to make, or what they’re going to post next, all in the hope of attracting new customers into their store. Far too often I’m left to wander the store aisles trying to get service to find what I want to buy but can’t because everyone is so busy looking to find or attract the next new customer. It’s sad that these same owners and employees can’t see the customer standing in their store with their wallet out ready to buy. Talk about lack of focus and a missed immediate sales opportunity chasing the next customer they may or may not have. Sigh, just look after the customers you already have!
Then again, far too many businesses are always chasing the next sale, never looking after the customers they currently have. Same with social media, jumping onto the next new hot thing before they figure out how to use the platforms they currently have. Stick with what you have and focus on monetizing the assets you have. I like to specialize in lead generation, and customer relationship management – that seems to keep customers walking in the door in steady streams for my clients. My clients are busy looking after customers and don’t need to rely on continuously prospecting for new customers.
Something to think about, eh?
Darcy Moen opened his first drycleaning shop at the age nineteen. Over the next sixteen years, he built his first 600 square foot plant into a chain of 5 stores, creating and testing his own marketing programs along the way. Darcy is a multi-media marketer, working in digital signage, video, print, direct mail, web, email and is a social media expert certified by Facebook for Pages, Insights, and Ad systems. Please visit www.drycleanersuniversity.com.
