We?re told by ?the experts? that we need hundreds of shares to be relevant, hundreds of comments to be important, and thousands of subscribers to be worth reading. So we write the easy content that gets these eyeballs, shares, etc.
And it?s all bullshit.
It?s lazy content that enriches no-one. Not the blogger, and certainly not the reader, despite what they believe. And on and on the circle grows, until we?re all back at square one and no-one cares.
If we want that web, fine ? let?s put out the easy content and the buzzworthy soundbites, and make the web a giant pool of crud.
If we don?t want that web ? write the stuff that really matters to you, and be proud of every single word.
After all, isn?t that why we started in the first place?
Amen!
I work with a client in the furniture/retail industry. The head designer asked me to increase her Instagram followers because manufacturers would hire her to front new furniture lines if she had a bigger following.
I did some research and apparently American and Canadian furniture manufactures hire designers to be their spokespeople based on the # of IG followers they have. No design proficiency is tested…the only qualification is followers on IG.
I’ve taken her down a different path that’s paying off; however, there are many, many that buy into this scheme. And we won’t stop it. People are sheep.
Wow – that’s equally sad yet indicative of how we’ve let the numbers win.
It’s almost like Klout for designers – never mind if your designs look like they were cobbled together on MS Paint, just show me your IG profile.
And we wonder why so many businesses cite lack of results as a reason for social media failure…
Hi Danny,
Like you said, the problem is that many (or maybe even most people) look at your blog and see what’s most obvious to them. They see the numbers, not the people behind the numbers.
The hardest part is the most interesting. But, it might not get a lot of shares or many comments. People might not be that interested, because it’ll take up too much of their time.
I have been thinking about how to best market “my” Vegetarian festival. If I should make it personal or do my best to make my role invisible. At the moment, I’m not sure how I should do it. I’ll start blogging about it this week.
But what are numbers? Does a post with more social shares than readers count as a success? Does a subscriber list of 10,000 with less interaction than a truly involved subscriber list of 100 offer more value?
Front end numbers are usually nice to have, but don’t necessarily tell the complete story. Perhaps it’s time to remove all forms of “social proof” and let the real numbers do the talking…
Digital marketers made a mistake long ago when we didn’t push for metrics that were more clearly tied into post click conversion activity.
Somewhere along the way we saw a push to correct that and ended up with a focus on cost-per-click or cost-per-acquisition and publishers got nervous because they worried about the person who saw an ad on a page and but didn’t choose to engage until later.
So they worried about whether they didn’t get credit for helping to sell a product/service, let alone branding.
My guess is that part of the reason why social proof is still so prevalent is tied into the factors above and because it is easy for people to sell that as having value.
Lazy analytics.
Hey there mate,
That’s an interesting point about the CPC / CPA cost, and the value (perceived or otherwise) that model brings.
There is still hope for us yet: Buzzfeed might attract 18 billion impressions per month, but is only getting 420 million clicks back to their website. That return is just over 2%.
Sure, 420 million clicks is nothing to be sneezed at – but at what value, when looking at the bigger picture?
In my ad sales days we wrestled with these issues on a daily basis. Some of that was probably due to the times, it was ’99 or 2000 and we were all trying to figure out how to grab a larger piece of the ad budgets than interactive was being given.
Used to be frustrating to be told that company XYZ could spend millions on a TV ad they could barely track and then be told we needed to have 1000 times the proof for the ROI on the peanuts they spent with us.
I have always thought that was bullshit. Perhaps that is why I am still obscure. I blog when I have something to say. I also don’t really care that much about being “famous.” What does motivate me is touching someone. Whether I make them laugh, cry, or even tell me to go pound salt.
I want to be the one that made them think.
That is why I like certain bloggers more than others. I like the ones who challenge my beliefs, and it is my sincere hope that I do the same for them.
“I want to be the one that made them think.”
Amen to that, miss – something we should all aspire to.
Hear, hear Danny. I’m 100% with you on that.
Loved your newsletter this week. You’re a bloody good writer. Reminded me of the song “The voice” by John Farnum. Have a great week.
Thanks for the kind words, miss – and I’ll take John Farnham any day. 🙂
I seem to be creating controversy with some of the things I’ve started writing about. And I’m not even trying to be controversial!
I’m starting to explore writing more and write more of the harder content. I’m still not completely comfortable with doing it yet.
But it’s a road I’m determined to travel down.
Yeah, that was quite the interesting exchange this weekend, on a topic that wasn’t even really related… hey ho!
Winston Churchill once said,
I think that should be part of everybody’s mantra in life at least once. Preferably more. Especially when content allows us to do this effectively and succinctly.
I was starting to wonder about why he was so invested in the product.
That?s awesome Tim, especially for a Ninja 🙂
The sad thing is, it’s actually put me off using wpDiscuz on my wife’s site, where I still use it, as she likes its features. When you get super defensive, and question the meaning behind someone’s opinion, it doesn’t put your company (or the one you represent) in the best light.
I agree– in the end, these “social proofs” are but vanity numbers. It’s meaningless in building a long-term following because the audience you’re targeting will most likely see right through your fluff and “You won’t believe what happens next” type of posts.
Of course, I’ll inevitably keep clicking on Buzzfeed type of articles (because, cats) but it’s equivalent to my junk food fix. But to elevate them as “important” and “worthy” out of pure social bandwagon effect? Haha, NO.
Hi Danny,
I couldn’t agree with you more!!! Blogging is more than just getting traffic. I actually learn through the research and writing and gain new ideas not just for my readers and prospects, but also for my clients.
The internet is only a compelling place when we make it one and the fact is that too many blogs say nothing, mean nothing and help no one.
I won’t take the time to read them if they don’t say anything other than the obvious.
To many want the lazy, easy way to traffic in hopes that traffic will equal money and it doesn’t work that way!!!!
This is hard work. You have to identify the tangible values your customers experience when they do business with you; what are the problems that are solved by each tangible value; and who are specifically solving the problems for.
Then you can write one article for one person and solve one problem or meet one need for them.
It’s amazing how easy it is to come up with articles that are a 1,000 – 2,000 words when you know your audience and then engage and learn from them even more.
Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox, lol…. I just want to say I couldn’t agree more. We need to be using our blogs to make a difference and that requires work when we consider how fast blogging is growing and how crowded it will soon become.
You want to stand out, stop the nonsense.
Have a great week Danny!
~ Don Purdum
Hey there Don,
Great comment, mate, thank you. For me, you hit the nail on the head with this statement:
By various estimates, there are anywhere between 200 and 600 million blogs online, with thousands of new ones being started every day (so much for the old “blogging is dying” argument). And yet, even with all that competition, so many are happy to trot out crud just with a hope of standing out, when – in reality – they’re standing out for the wrong reasons.
Like you say, we need to be using our blogs to educate – our readers, our clients (potential or existing) and, just as importantly, ourselves. After all, if we’re not pushing ourselves to be better through the content we create, why should anyone take our advice to better themselves?
Unfortunately, many of the articles start to sound alike after awhile. When it comes to content, social connections and shares, it is more about quality than quantity. Focusing on that might take more time and effort but it will be worth it for everyone.