Know when to to hold ’em

OK so you got us to help you choose your Social Media platforms and it seems like it’s going well.  At least, no complaints. However, like most things, it is not set and forget. It is always a good idea to review if a platform is going stale or if even a new one is emerging.  So how do you know when it’s time for a change?

About every three months, it is a good idea to have a look at how your social media is performing. Is it meeting your expectations? What is working? What is not working? What needs to change? Or what has changed?

Often there can be external factors that dictate changes to your strategy. Social media platforms are technology, after all; technology that is continually evolving in response to usage, not to mention the need for revenue.  Anyone working in social media needs to be aware of these, often unannounced, changes and modify strategy in response.

For instance, both Twitter and FaceBook have made changes to the order of items (tweets/posts) in people’s feeds.  The shift is to predicting what people would “care” about most rather than chronological order.  If you use the FaceBook website then you may be familiar with the constant battle to see Most Recent rather than the Top Stories but you may not know their algorithm has also shifted to showing more posts from friends and less public content.  Depending on your audience, organic reach (simply being in a follower’s feed) is becoming limited.  Does that mean you abandon your efforts?  Or does that mean you try for more engagement?  Should you consider paid advertising?  Should you try another platform, in replacement or as an addition?

If you have outsourced all or part of your social media marketing then you need to keep an eye on what they are doing for you (even if it’s us).  Check in to review the content being created to make sure it aligns with your strategy. If not, what has changed?  Is this a “it’s not us, it’s you” scenario? Has your business changed direction and forgot to tell everyone?

Maybe it is time to review your playbook and fine tune it.

At the end of the day, like Kenny Rogers sang, “You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, Know when to walk away and know when to run“!

Or as we say in the industry, “pivot”.