With all this hue and cry on the internet about the importance of social media for businesses, it is easy to assume that every social media network out there is ‘bound’ to work for your business.
However, such an assumption is a little too far fetched, and more and more businesses are finding out that even after devoting a lot of resources into social media promotions, the results are far from encouraging – to the extent that some businesses are even considering curtailing certain aspects of their promotions on the social front.
Note : In this discussion the terms ‘platform’ and ‘network’ should be construed as synonymous.
What Works for YOU is Important
There are at least 5 social media websites that are worth considering for your social media promotions. These are Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn and Pinterest. While some businesses are effectively making their presence felt in each of these platforms, others are finding their social commitments a little too ‘taxing’ on their resources.
It is therefore important for businesses to identify those social networks that are driving them most success and ‘focus’ on them. Thus if a social platform fails to deliver results, it is in your best interest to quit and instead concentrate on those platforms that deliver better returns on investment.
Remember what works for you is important and not what works for others.
Knowing when to Quit a Social Network
While analysing the effectiveness of a social media network for your business, you are most likely to find yourself in one of the four situations:
1. High CTR and High Conversion Rate
2. High CTR and Low Conversion Rate
3. Low CTR and High Conversion Rate
4. Low CTR and Low Conversion Rate
CTR stands for Click Through Rate and is a measure of the number of clicks (to your website) that your social media promotions generate.
Conversion Rate is a measure of the number of people who arrived at your site via a social media website and did something that you wanted them to do (like make a purchase, sign up for further communications etc)
Let us analyse your strategy under each of the situations given above
Situation 1
Under situation 1 your CTR and conversion rate, for the social network under consideration, are both high. Its therefore in your best interest to continue with this network as the returns are justifying your investment of resources into the platform.
Situation 2
Here you enjoy a high CTR and a low conversion rate. While your promotions are generating clicks, not many people who arrive at your site via the concerned social media platform are converting. This may be due to the following two reasons.
a) Your promotions are creating unrealistic expectations.
b) Your landing pages are not optimized to aid conversion.
You can under this situation :
a) Give your promotional literature a rethink.
b) Optimise your landing pages to boost conversion.
If after taking the steps mentioned above, your position does not improve, there are two alternatives left for you. If it is merely traffic that you are after, stay put with your promotions . However, if you are looking for more customers and a certain social media platform is failing to deliver so, it is in your best interest to look for other alternatives.
Situation 3
Under this situation, there is perhaps a need to give your promotions a little boost. A high conversion rate signifies that by tweaking your promotions a little to suit your audience or by being more active, you could increase your CTR and effectively move towards situation 1.
Situation 4
Even after investing a lot of time and resources into a particular social media platform, if you find yourself in situation 4, it is a good signal that you should perhaps quit this network and start focusing on other networks that have a potential of bringing you more business and greater success.
Thanks for you time and do share with us your experience of working with different social media platforms.
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