Article
The False Promise of Social Media
Social media is no longer the organic community space it promised to be. Retaining existing customers is more valuable than chasing social reach. Private groups create clearer communication and a deeper sense of inclusion.
Social media is still evolving, and it has changed since you started using it and you may need to adapt.
When social media was getting big, the promise was that you could create an organic online community and promote what you were doing as an individual or as a group. The idea was that friends telling friends would spread the word and have authenticity that adverts could not buy.
But that innocent time has passed and many things have changed:
- Although anyone can still post on social media, there is a professional class of influencers who will drown out whatever you post.
- The algorithm means, even the people who do follow you no longer see the things you post.
- Social media has advertising and boosted (paid for) content and it is not the organic world of interactions it used to be.
- People consume social media differently becoming more passive and treating it more like personal television than an interactive space.
- Many people are turning away from social media all together and turning to chat apps like Whatsapp.
So the old logic of needing to be on the platform where most people were is becoming increasingly incorrect. The idea of try and communicate through a global social media platform that has its own goals and priorities is becoming ever more pointless.
Social feeds are no longer really about your friends, they are algorithmic, video-first entertainment platform — Matt Navarra
Generally the people you actually interact with are all reasonably local to you and you have some form of direct contact.
Good businesses know it is far better to keep existing customers coming back than it is to find new ones. According to Bain & Company, an American management consultancy, a 5% increase in retention rates can increase your profits by up to 95%.
And this is at the heart of the social media paradox. It seems like an easy way to find new people but it is not, and it is not even a great way to keep in contact with the people who already know about you and your services.
This is part of the vision for Flojourn. It has the ease of use of social media for both the organiser and the group members but it is a quiet space where everyone can communicate more clearly. As an organiser or someone who wants to promote their thing, having a private group can make people feel a deeper sense of inclusion.
Which sounds nicer "Follow my page on facebook and keep up with my lates posts" or "Here is an invitation to my group, where I keep in contact with my valued customers."
The fact that people are using Whatsapp more to organise things shows how this sort of approach works. But Whatsapp still has lots of issues around privacy and lack or organisation.
Flojourn can be far more than just an announcements platform, it can also offer real value to the people come come to your "gigs" be they yoga, dance, music, choir, book club or whatever. Often most communication takes place during the face to face events, and if people miss a few sessions they drift away. Providing updates means you are talking to a much larger group of people and keeping them in the fold.
You may also use this to provide follow up information such as notes from the session, reminders of what was taught or said or other supporting materials. You might also be providing a communication space for attendees to interact with each other in a way that is less daunting than exchanging contact details for one to one contact outside the sessions. Because you have control over who sees which journals and who can comment or contribute you can tailor them to the needs of your group.
To give another example, a personal trainer, might have public or group journals, but they might also have a journal for each of their clients. The journal would be used to make arrangements and a way to give them their programme of exercises. This ends the mix of calls and emails and texts that usually surround these interactions and there is a complete history for each client. It feels personal, it is private, it is organised, it saves time and helps professionalism.
Flojourn is all about keeping the people you already know engaged and making it easier to include people when you do meet them. The fact that it is not heaving with existing members is not an problem, it is a virtue.
Sources
Fewer UK adults posting on social media, Ofcom finds
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