The mainstreet media would have you believe that if you are not on all the social media platforms, you will end up like the dodo bird…extinct. Here’s my take on it.
Does Social Media Matter? Yes, sure it does. Some of it matters a lot.
Select the social media platform that’s right for you and your business. Delete all others from your life. Image Source: iStockPhoto
Social media provides a convenient platform for anyone that wants to connect with their friends, fans and followers. Also, with other features now helping with social media, it might be worth trying out the best linktree alternative for the ability to share more content in one place. In a perfect world, you are socializing with like, kind and quality and get to send your message out to people that actually care about it or truly need it.
Companies and brands of all types are also attempting to use social media tools to connect and communicate with their customers and prospects. Some even use social media messaging to advocate for their causes or simply to share their beliefs with fans and followers. See CEO.com for five of the biggest social media moments of 2014.
From all I’ve seen, the best users of social media marketing tools have figured out how to get personal and to create a genuine connection with their audience. This can go a long way in being able to establish success. Regardless of whether you have a personal or business social media account, building a profile that reaches a wider audience is something that everyone strives for. To do this, you need to utilize the tools that you have access to so you can grow your followers. Did you know that sites like nitreo helps you get more followers on instagram? And when it comes to establishing your presence on social media, your followers could play an important part in this.
They don’t treat social media as a product broadcasting medium but instead, use it to get the attention of their prospects interest and use it as a future client attraction tool. They literally try to serve their audience instead of directly selling to their audience. It’s a beautiful thing. However, it can have considerable negative consequences depending on the marketer/brand utilising social media. A poignant example being the effect it can have on self-image, and self-esteem – constantly being reminded that you aren’t good enough, or don’t look your best until you do x, y, or z. I’d recommend doing some further reading on that topic, as it’s far too encompassing for this one post. So without further ado here are the top 5 reasons I personally decided to delete some of my social media accounts:
Top 5 Reasons Why I Deleted Social Media Accounts.
1.Unwanted Media Clutter.
I am entering 2015 with total focus on what matters and what counts.
The big question: “What will I do different in both my personal life and business life? Getting rid of media noise and clutter is at the top of my list.
Webster’s dictionary defines clutter as: “…to fill or cover with scattered or disordered things that impede movement or reduce effectiveness.”
Welcome to the world of social media folks…talk about out of control noise and clutter. Its a minefield of random, useless information distributed around 50+ time sucking platforms. You must get control of it or it will control you. Solution: Get rid of all but a few platforms relevant to your purpose in life.
2. Attention Distraction.
Clarity of Vision. Clarity of Purpose. Clarity of Action…absolutely necessary and literally mission critical today given the millions of distractions aimed towards us humans.
FYI: There’s only one way I know of to make sense of all this information chaos…”Get Rid Of It!” Get rid of all unnecessary information.
Once you have eliminated all random, useless information from your life, you will be amazed at the freedom of mind and clarity of thought you will experience. Life will literally become fresher, cleaner and clearer. Go for it I tell yas. Make 2015 the year you get rid of all distractions, including deleting social media platforms that are doing nothing for you.
3. Free Up Mental Space
One of the unintended consequences of my social media experience over the past five years is that my social media activities had literally taken up brain space. Yes, social media had become “filler” in my brain. A concern given my limited brain space as it is!!!
You know someone is in “filled-up” brain mode when they are constantly checking their social media accounts…I mean constantly!
Every one of their free moments goes towards staring at their smartphone looking at emails and 5-10 social media platforms.
You see them crossing a busy street face down staring at their phone, they go to the bathroom with one hand holding toilet paper and the other holding their phone, they text while simultaneously talking to friends, they find themselves reading useless tweets while waiting in line at the supermarket, etc…
If you love these behaviors, good for you. If you’ve become addicted to a social media platform and are OK with that, great! If not, better follow my social media detox plan and get rid of all non-essential social media tools and platforms asap.
4. No Need For Me To Be Connected To The Entire World.
Click image for my Bucket List.
I’m no world-wide social media phenom like Virgin CEO, Richard Branson, but I sure like the way Sir Richard works the world of social media. Click here to see his “Seven Secrets to Social Media”.
And, while I have a huge bucket list of countries and places I want to visit (See #BucketListMJB), fact is the majority of my social media audience hails from the USA (60%). Canada (20%), Europe 10% and all other (10%).
Bottom-line, my audience, and the audience I really care about serving via social media, are for the most part, people like me. They are nuts about motorcycles or some part of the motorcycling experience. Everyone else are loved family members and friends trying to figure out what I am up to in “my free time” and curious observers who are lost in the social media universe.
5. Big Time…Time Suck!
Click image for SomeeCards.com
Anyone who runs a blog or that attempts to build a significant following of fans on a variety of social media platforms knows that doing social media right is hard work and takes an incredible amount of time.
I get asked about the time issue regularly and I tell anyone who’ll listen; if you are not totally eMobile, prepared to work any time of day everyday, and, are not a master of personal time management, don’t do it. You’ll only get sucked in to social media oblivion merely sharing random information that nobody cares about.
Plus, if you are not bringing good tips, ideas and various pieces of useful information to your “target” audience, whether personal or professional, your time on social media has no real value. It’s just spam.
So, I’ve done my social media cleansing. Now what?
I truly believe that having a presence on the more popular social media networks still provide benefits for you and your company. Especially when done in such a way as to increase one’s search engine presence. Here’s where I will be investing my social media time in 2015.
My Blog: I will continue to post on my blog because I need something relating to my passion when I can’t actually ride and explore on 2-wheels. When I can’t ride, I really enjoy writing about it.
Plus, I want to connect with other people who are crazy about motorcycles just like I am. I use my blog to give my followers all I can from my 2-wheel experiences. Best I can tell, 90% of my blog followers love motorcycles as much as I do. Talk about a target audience!
FYI: My blog no longer accepts random sign-ups. You need to send me an email with a request to sign up for regular posts via email. Click here to contact me for sign-up.
Twitter: 4,000+ followers – Twitter has become my favorite social media platform. It’s a great communications delivery tool and has a large identifiable following of people like me who are nuts about motorcycles, travel and adventure. Everything else that is irrelevant or just plain useless, I can easily block.
I do all I can to get rid of inactive followers and those that don’t follow back. I also tend to ignore transfer posts from Facebook to Twitter or other media platforms. I don’t follow accounts without a profile picture or those not tweeting in English or French…the two languages I know.
Plus, if I can’t say it in 140 characters then I don’t have time to say it.
Follow my Twitter Handle @motorcyclemarc.
Facebook: 5,000+ followers – I will keep my original Facebook account open for my regular 4,800 – 5,000 followers. 5,000 is the maximum amount of connections Facebook allows on your personal page so I had to create a second page for those who wanted to follow me but could not do so on Facebook1.
You can now follow me at MotorcycleMarcII when the first page reaches its maximum and you receive the pop-up: “Sorry, this user has reached the maximum number of followers so you can’t follow them at this time.”
Facebook appears to be heading towards more of a “pay to use” social media model. In other words, you pay and Facebook distributes your message. You don’t pay, your promotional reach will be near zero. I can see the day when nobody will see your Facebook posts unless they are paid for. Stay tuned.
Follow my Facebook Page MotorcycleMarcII.
Google+: <100 followers, 43,000+ views – Truth be told, I am not yet sold on Google+. Apparently, I need to maintain this account in order maintain my connections standing online via Google searches and to access various online Google tools. i.e. YouTube videos. Don’t expect much posting activity on this platform other than for distribution of my blog posts.
Linkedin: 1,000+ connections – Professional corporate profile only. Rarely used. You will not see any motorcycle-related content on my Linkedin account.
All other platforms: 100s+ followers – Gone! Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr,…Many of the followers on these social media platforms are non-motorcycle people so they are not really a part of my world. I understand that Instagram is a big deal for many social media users, especially those that use tools like Social follow to gain their desired following, but it’s never really been what I’ve given most of my attention to. 70% of the members participating on Instagram, for example, are outside the U.S. according to PRDaily.com.
Plus, I am sure there are some social media platforms that I signed onto years ago and have forgotten about so they are in the social universe somewhere doing nothing but contributing to social media clutter.
Social Media & the Motorcycle Industry. Part I.
One of the interesting trends I’ve noticed in the motorcycle industry is that the social media function has been delegated to junior company employees or generalist marketing agencies, most of which seem to have adequate social media platform knowledge but little to no real knowledge of the motorcycling experience and/or the motorcycle business in general.
Best I can tell, this is a questionable use of payroll expense and vendor/consulting budgets. Why? Because subject matter inexperience online fails to fully engage motorcycle enthusiasts and potential new riders with contextually relevant content and dialogue. It almost always looks like a product dump. The resulting social media communications are therefore perceived as having little to no value so prospects and customers move on.
MJBbizTip: Motorcycle-related businesses need to put their best social media face forward to “connect” with their audience and, must be able to show the ROI on their social efforts.
Those assigned to run “social media marketing” for motorcycle manufacturers and distributors/dealerships must have relevant knowledge beyond having a Twitter Handle, a Facebook page or knowing how to conduct surveys. Otherwise, they’re simply adding to the media noise and clutter already out there. Not to mention costing these companies a lot of time and money.
For motorcycle business owners, social media should be used to provide unique insights into one’s motorcycle lifestyle and adventure, educate prospects about the best motorcycle for them and, uncover new ways to deliver products and services. Done right, social media should allow you to uncover trends, needs and problems that haven’t been uncovered and provide appropriate solutions.
The result: You and your motorcycle-related business become the “go to” place for helpful information about the motorcycling experience and,…sales go up, up and up.
The bottom line.
To achieve what I’m after in life takes every ounce of my energy, time and focus. I cannot afford to be a part of or involved with anything that takes me away from my family, friends, my work and my motorcycles. It’s that simple. As the CEO of my life, I don’t have time to waste time…herego, a focus on only three key social media platforms is a must. Only my Blog, Twitter and Facebook will get my attention in 2015.
Ride Safe Out There.
Motorcycle Marc
Social Media Detoxin’ on the shores of La Jolla, California.
Coming soon: Part II: Social Media in the Motorcycle Business. FYI – It is not only critical to participate in social media marketing today but also critical that you are doing it right.
P.S.
Here’s a bonus feature for you. “The 80 Rules of Social Media.” by Social Media Guru, Jeremy Waite.
Note: Copyrights and Trademarks are the property of their owners. No infringement ever intended. Please see footer of this blog/website for more information.
