Hello Everyone and Happy New Year!! I know I haven’t 
blogged in a couple of weeks; I have been enjoying the holidays. ☺ I’m back at last and in honor of the new year, I dare everyone to make one of your new years resolutions to be to stop worrying about how many followers you have on Twitter, how many “likes” you have on Facebook or circle-adds on Google+ for that matter, and to stop any behaviors that surround worrying about the shear number of people you have supporting your social media pages.
I believe that too often companies are worried about shear numbers on social media networks in belief that the higher number of people following them equates to them succeeding in the social media realm. Come on guys, you have to realize that this is simply not true.
Instead, I suggest that companies start the New Year by setting goals that are targeted around increasing the amount of active users they have on their various social media sites.
I believe that this goal is a lot more beneficial and realistic for companies and if companies focus on this, they will see a greater success rate then they have seen in the year prior.
How to attract and retain active users
In order to attract and retain “active” users on social media sites companies must begin by being more active themselves. In 2012 simply having a page on these social media sites will no longer be enough. Companies must learn and find a way to be relevant to their target markets and furthermore create a real lasting relationship with those target markets in order to be successful (and also differentiate themselves from their competition). By doing this, we have a larger number of “active” users on social media sites and these “active” users are more likely to be brand loyal and are also more likely to help spread your brand to ensure its success.
Furthermore, for many companies, the goal of active uses also means actually hiring a social media manager who can efficiently an effectively oversee the everyday operations of the company’s social media interactions. If one person is appointed to the task they can better devote the time to fully develop the relationship that is needed with “active” users on social media sites.
Overall, I urge companies to shift focus from shear numbers to actual active users in order to stay ahead of the curve in regards to social media. Active users are more likely to bring your company increasing sales that is superior to simply having followers on various social media networks.
Whatchya think? Have you started getting “active” to increase active community members?
photo credit: goha
The Ultimate Guide to Social Media for Small Business
