Social Media Part 6- The Problem of Likes

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“How can there be a problem with likes?” I hear you ask. And well may you ask.

Everything from common sense to that article on blogging you read will tell you that the way to measure success is through lots of likes. And every time you get a new follower you do a little fist pump in the air. So what’s wrong with that?

Admittedly everyone needs likes. Not just because it makes you feel good but because likes do tend to generate likes. It’s a bit like walking past one restaurant that is crowded with happy eaters and then passing by another that is populated only by idle waiters. You’re going to eat at the busy restaurant. Likewise when you are looking at a Facebook page or blog and there are only 10 followers you will probably keep going. The content will have to be really amazing to make you stay and possibly follow, or it has to be really clear that this is a new enterprise and the low numbers are understandable.

But the number of likes will not tell the full story. For instance, I have loads more followers on Twitter than on Facebook. But I have zero interaction with any of them. As a measure of quantifiable success my Twitter account is up there. But as a measure of experiential success as defined in my last post it’s way down.

The other factor that is really obvious to me as a classical musician is one of target market. My live concerts and my CD sales are driven by a certain demographic (namely the over 50s) whose interaction with social media is decidedly less than those in their 20s. So when you look at my Facebook account you won’t see a complete representation of those who are interested in what I do. A good old-fashioned mailing list fills that space.

Likewise as a freelance classical harpist my collegial demographic is also limited. There are only so many freelance classical harpists in the world. Certainly far fewer of them than there are, for example, Justin Bieber fans. Let’s not dwell too long on that point. But again my target audience is small. And not everyone is interested in social media, so the numbers reduce still further.

So the upshot is that in some circumstances 50 followers can be a really good number. Especially if they are 50 good followers who are not just along for the ride, but are really engaging with you and what you do.

If that is the case, then I would say yes, it’s worth it.

Social Media Part 5- Is it worth it?

After spending the last few weeks working through some of the complexities of social media we reach the all-important question: is it worth it?

And just as we had to break down the definition of social media, we’ll have to break down just what is worth what. Rather than providing us with a straight forward answer, this little question of worth becomes more of a ‘how long is a piece of string’ matter.

Because what social media can provide and produce can vary significantly depending upon an individual’s use and expectations.

We’ve already established that the only real cost of social media is time. That’s our input. What its output is and what we can gain from it is generally measured in the quantifiable terms of ‘likes’, ‘follows’, ‘shares’ etc. From a sales perspective, musicians look for CDs sold and/or tickets sold.

But there is also a non-quantifiable result. From a business perspective it can be about raising awareness of your brand name and identity. From a collegial perspective it can be about establishing connections with musicians you might not otherwise get to meet, and sharing ideas and experiences.

As a harpist in Australia, which has a rather small harp world, this is one thing I really appreciate about social media. I have sat at home in my jim-jams eating breakfast while watching a live stream of a concert in America and exchanging on line comments with other participants. This is amazing.

Bearing this in mind it’s generally best not to approach social media as strictly a marketing or promotion tool. Absolutely you can do that, but this is a form of communication that prides itself on connection and authenticity. So perhaps the question of worth is one which needs to be measured experientially (do I feel that I am making and benefitting from good connections?) as well as quantifiably (do I have lots of likes and is that flowing through to a tangible (financial) reward?).

And here we might take a little side step to explore the problems of ‘likes’.