Effective Social Media: Why Oftentimes Less Is More

Back when I was working at a tech start-up, which for all intents and purposes was then functioning as a digital marketing agency, I got the chance to meet a talented young woman currently spearheading digital media for a brand she helped create. She had majored in English literature and not marketing, which I think helps any marketer because it helps teach you how to communicate and write clearly. It also gives you the ability to creatively analyze data. The words great authors use are just pieces of data encoded with meaning waiting to be decoded by creative readers who see, not words, but things encoded in the words. Every piece of great literature ever written is also a complex problem to be solved — and solving problems is critical for marketing success. It was apparent that she had clearly thought through the strategies and tactics she is using on her job.

Sometime later, I learned that someone she’d interviewed for a job managing social media at her company had commented during the interview that the thing he liked most about social media was that there are no rules or boundaries — and he likes being completely free to use the free-of-charge bandwidth to say or do anything, at any time. It wasn’t surprising that he didn’t get the job.

It’s true that social media doesn’t have an established set of rules. But there are definitely guidelines, albeit subject to rapid change. Social media evolves and changes quickly, so a marketer who wants to be effective needs to base strategy and tactics not on tendencies that are temporary, but on a solid foundation.

Since at least the beginning of the last decade, both individuals and organizations have felt growing pressure to increase their social media engagement. But in spite of the pressure, many professionals and organizations with low (or no) social media engagement continue to be successful.

That of course doesn't mean they should dismiss these platforms as irrelevant. The risk of not leveraging available communication channels to create awareness and pursue opportunities is real, and they will continue to rise over time. That doesn't mean, however, you have to participate in social media in the same way and to the same degree that others do. In fact, many of the practices employed to date by some of social media's biggest advocates have become examples of what not to do. Boundless enthusiasm is a classic hallmark of a new adoptee, but as things continue to mature it becomes increasingly clear that this mania isn't sustainable. We need to strive for a better balance between quantity and quality - and ultimately it comes down to the principle of less is more.

This principle should certainly lower the barriers and make it easier for individuals/corporations who/that desire be more reserved in the public eye to increase their social media engagement, but it's also worthy of consideration by individuals and organizations that are already actively engaged.

Why Less Social Media Engagement is More

Both individuals and organizations who try to engage on too many platforms, all at once, will find that it's almost impossible to maintain that engagement without increased and/or dedicated resources. If they don't increase their resource commitments, they are very likely to end up with abandoned digital properties. Hence, it is advisable to develop a clear sense of what you're going to share on each platform, as well as how often and when - and make sure your social media engagement plan can be easily maintained given available resources.

For both individuals and organizations, it's important to show your value and highlight your offerings, but too much self-focused content might not be such a good idea. For individuals, it can come across as desperate, egotistical, and/or narcissistic. And organizations can sound like carnival barkers or sleazy used car salesmen - or even worse.

Each platform has its own language, customs, and normative expectations. Individuals and organizations who participate without learning what sound social media engagement practices look like run a serious risk of undermining their own credibility - not just with respect to social media, but in general. A high volume of activity isn't acceptable on all platforms. The acceptable volume of status and sharing activity on Facebook is probably no more than half of what's acceptable on Twitter - and on LinkedIn one individual status or company update per week is probably plenty.

A hazard for individuals like myself in the digital marketing field is that social media engagement focused on quality, not quantity, can be perceived as not utilizing the platforms to their fullest extent. You can be accused of not posting content often enough or not doing enough to address subtle public jabs taken by individuals targeting you on social media. Taking public jabs at others while avoiding direct confrontation is a hallmark of passive aggressive behavior. Passive aggression is a deliberate but masked way of expressing feelings of anger and envy. For many people, it is also a new norm made possible by social media. Don't feel pressured to be feeding into others' passive aggression.

Too much cross-posting can also seem spammy. On one hand, because you likely have a different network/followership on each platform, you need to cross-post to ensure your content reaches the maximum possible audience. On the other hand, if people see the same content several times in a short period of time, it's more likely to be off-putting than enticing.