What does social media success look like to you? Is it a million followers on Instagram, for example? Legions of fans on Facebook? Or is it something different? Something more… you know… tangible? In this episode of the Small & Supercharged Podcast, I lift the lid on social media success and show a few ways you can ‘judge’ your own.
What does social media success look like to you?
Now, it’s all too easy to judge social media success by the most obvious metric, isn’t it? That number under your name that can fluctuate due to so many reasons. But I would urge you strongly to reconsider this if it’s your only measurement.
See numbers alone don’t really ‘mean’ anything. I’m sorry, but they don’t. What actually means something is the quality of the people who make up that number. So if you have 100 followers who hang on your every word, who engage with your content, actually care about what you have to say, and you are forming real connections with you – you’re winning at social media life. Seriously. And in my opinion you’re acing it over people with thousands of followers who couldn’t give two hoots about what that person is saying. Of course, the aim is the thousands of social media followers who care – that’s the sweet spot. But the only way you’re getting anywhere near this level of social media success is by building a genuine, engaged following over time.
Engagement rate can indicate social media success
One number that can give a better indicator of true social media success is your engagement rate. There are simple sums that allow you to work out this number, but expect your rate to be what, on the surface, seems pretty low. Anything over 6% engagement is deemed ‘very high’ on Instagram… in the podcast I show you how to work out your engagement rate on a post.
And the stuff you can’t measure?
And now we go beyond the numbers… what else can success look like? Well, I’ll tell you. Stuff you can’t measure. That one person who reaches out and DMs you and ends up becoming a client. That person you bond with and become lifelong friends. That collaboration opportunity that slides into your inbox and changes your social media world. On paper, and in data, these are ones. ONE person who DMs. And what use is one, really? Well, if you view your success in real terms, one can make a massive difference.
So, this week, I’m urging you to examine what social media success looks like for you – and I mean REALLY looks like. Way beyond the number under your name. Because if that’s all you’re chasing, there will always be someone bigger and more impressive, and you’ll miss the true connections along the way. And I’d strongly argue that these connections are what will change the game.
