“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.
