Using Great Content to Escape Social Media Numbers Trap

If you could improve any one aspect of your business’s social media presence, what would that be?

If you’re anything like many of the people I’ve asked this question over the years, your answer might include things like “getting more followers and likes,” “generating more traffic on my website,” or “growing my email list.”

The ever-increasing focus on numbers is not surprising, especially when you consider how easy it now is to measure so many aspects of what transpires on the internet. Unfortunately, it is clear that many people are now focusing more on barely relevant numbers than on activities likely to generate positive results for their business. But really, who can blame them?

With the number of “likes” prominently displayed on every Facebook page and the number of followers boldly listed at the top of every Twitter account, it’s only natural that users begin to assign a greater level of importance to those numbers than is warranted. Many people incorrectly come to believe that those large numbers of followers and likes bestow influence on the users who have them. This, of course, is false. In fact, it’s precisely the other way around. It’s influence that can cause large numbers of people to like and follow.

So, when people seek to add followers and likes using tricks and schemes, they achieve virtually none of the benefits they’re looking for. It’s pretty well known by now that Twitter followers and Facebook ‘likes’ can be purchased, but who’s kidding who? Seems akin to a guy wearing a bad toupee or stuffing a sock inside the front of his pants.

Doesn’t your business have enough going for it that your energies would be better spent creating and sharing real content that would interest and engage your customers and others in the target audience? Wouldn’t you be better off attracting people based on the products you offer and the services you provide, instead of through a clever arrangement of smoke and mirrors that will surely be discovered in the long run?

The best way to promote your business online is to create valuable content that attracts, interests and engages your customers and those most likely to want what your business offers.

And the best way to insure a steady flow of that type of content is to run an excellent business, to learn how to best translate that business success into a series of communications (written, photographed, videotaped or other) that convey those successes to others. The audience you build as a result of this strategy will be far more valuable than any sort of shortcut approach you may be tempted to take. And the value you provide for your audience will guarantee that your fans stick around and spread the word as your business grows.

Here’s an example of some content we recently helped a restaurant client create that has produced considerable interest and engagement in a matter of just a few days.

Chris S. Cornell is president of Creative Content, LLC, a Westchester-based firm that provides innovative commercial photography and video, public relations, website development and social media management services for food and beverage industry clients. Cornell also manages several online communities in Westchester County, NY and the Hudson Valley. He consults, speaks and writes on the subject of social media, content production, marketing and public relations. You can follow Chris on Twitter at Cornell140.

Adam Stone

Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.