Is Social Media Still So Effective As It Used To Be?
Have you ever noticed that the effect of the social media marketing of your company are much less effective than they were a few years ago? Nowadays, it is difficult to stand out because of the increasing number of publications, the fact that algorithms on social media channels have changed and also the social media behaviour of the user himself has changed. Last week, a large number of Facebook users stopped using the system. As a company, how do you deal with these changes? And how do you take advantage of this to remain relevant to your potential customers?
More about the changes
Our own social media behavior indicates that a lot of things have changed compared to the past. Previously I used to share everything with the general public, think of Hyves, Facebook and Instagram. Nowadays, we like to share photos, videos or stories through closed channels, such as WhatsApp and Snapchat. Now we occasionally share something on Instagram, nothing on Facebook and LinkedIn we use for the business shares. But the figures from 2017 shows that we are not only the ones who have seen this shift:
- By 2017, private sharing of content through URLs was twice as big as sharing content on social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Engagement in social media channels declined in 2017, while engagement with private platforms such as WhatsApp, Slack, Messenger, WeChat and Viber continues to grow.
- As a result, the number of social media shares halved in 2017 compared to 2015.
- The level of involvement with Facebook messages posted by companies and news websites dropped by 20 percent in 2017.
All these changes have taken place because of the amount of information posted on social media channels, allowing users to choose from so many content that not everything is read anymore. Additionally, messages are often no longer seen due to the new algorithms. This implies that social media channels will decide for you what content you will or will not see. In 2018, these trends will continue to grow and even fewer messages from your company will disappear in the timeline of your potential customer.
Is it LinkedIn, relevant?
However, there is still a social media channel in which the involvement with messages is still increasing, namely LinkedIn, at a rate of 60 percent per year. The reason for this is that LinkedIn continuously updates the platform with new features, analysis and updates. But with LinkedIn, too, not every message has the same range. The fact is that external links provide less range than a photo, video or text you have shared on LinkedIn. LinkedIn sees these messages as spam or low quality messages, which are placed at the bottom of the timeline by the algorithm. A few tips on applying correctly as a company can be found below:
- If you still want to use a link, place it in the comments below your message and refer to the text of your message below.
- Objective: To increase brand awareness. Choose a text message because it allows you to reach second and third degree connections.
- Aim: to reach loyal customers and relationships. Choose a text message with image or video message because it is initially shown to first-degree connections.
Google is the channel to generate traffic.
Anyway, what still works now, will you think? Google is now the channel to generate traffic. Visitors prefer to search for information on Google rather than through social media channels. It is therefore also important to make your website SEO and SEM friendly, which will make you appear high in the search results.
Stand out with your content
So how can you still make your company stand out via social media? From the text above, we may conclude that social media channels are becoming more inefficient in terms of reaching (potential) customers. LinkedIn, Google and the sharing of content on private channels, on the other hand, are effective. Below are some tips for your content strategy, which make you stand out:
- Rate your content by discussing new topics before the masses, write about it.
- Posting in-depth and precious content. So you remain interesting and fun to follow.
- Regularly update the content so that it remains relevant and retains the involvement of visitors.
- Use SEO or SEM, as this will put you as high as possible in the Google search results. Today’s search platform.
- You should minimize the use of external links in your LinkedIn message.
- Create content that people want to share via private shares (know your target audience).
Are you looking for help?
Crux is a social media marketing company and digital marketing agency which provides tailor made SEO or SEM for your company. This will complete your content strategy and ensure that more (potential) customers end up on your website. Feel free to contact us if you want more information or if you want to schedule an appointment.