Lots of businesses these days find it hard to grow their audience. Almost a quarter of social media marketers see it as their biggest challenge. And if you think about it, there’s no wonder why this is. The competition is fierce, and the users’ attention spans are getting shorter by the day. But among all the problems that social platforms bring with them, one seems to stand out — churning. Of course, you won’t just sit there and watch your customers leaving your profiles. Instead, you’ll want to do something about it, and we want to help you do the right thing. So, how should businesses cope with social media churn? Read on to find out.
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What Is Churning?
When people talk about churn rate in the business world, they’re talking about the rate of losing existing customers. And if we take that to social media platforms, it’s about the speed at which your followers are unfollowing you.
Now, if you’re working on your profiles and doing your best to write blog posts that capture the reader’s attention, seeing a high churn rate might discourage you. However, the chances are that the problem isn’t in you at all.
Sometimes, users will follow your account only to make you follow them back. And as soon as you do it, they’ll stop following you. So, you’ve added one more account to the list of people you follow, but you’ve lost one follower yourself. Just like that, you’ve increased your churn rate. It’s enough that it happens ten times a month, and your numbers will be off the charts by the end of the year.
Chasing The Numbers:
No matter what your business does, you shouldn’t be chasing the numbers on social media. Many experts agree that they are a vanity metric and that if you focus on them too much, you’re essentially chasing the carrot on a stick. Keep this in mind, and you’ll have an easier time dealing with social media churn and other similar “scams”.
Still, you’ll want to grow your audience as much as possible. Here, we’re talking about the people who will listen to you and buy your products. But unfortunately, people need to become your followers before they can become a part of your audience. On the good side, though, building a fan base isn’t that hard. You’ll have to put much more effort into keeping those fans loyal.
The Effect Of Social Media Churn On Business:
If your company relies on social media for revenue and growth, everyone who unfollows you costs you money in a way. It’s your lost chance to engage them and turn a member of your audience into a paying customer. But there’s more to the story than that.
Here’s another way to look at it. The more users follow you, the more people see your posts. And even if it seems that they do not need what you’re offering, they might know someone who does. So they could refer you and get you both a sale and a new follower.
Hence, although you shouldn’t be chasing the numbers, you should still keep an eye on them. A solid social media following can help you attract more business to your shop. Use it as a window to show the world what you do and how you make your customers feel. You’re selling a solution for a problem, and if you manage to establish an emotional connection with your followers, your job will be much easier.
With all that cleared up – how should businesses cope with social media churn the right way?
How To Handle Churning
If you notice your churn rate going up, you should take it as a signal that something’s wrong. Now, there are two possible explanations for it:
- It’s not you – it’s them
- It’s not them – it’s you
There is nothing you can do to prevent the people from unfollowing you in the first scenario. However, you shouldn’t be sad about it by any means. These followers wouldn’t engage with your content anyway, and they’d just be pumping up your follower count.
In the second scenario, however, losing followers isn’t good. Maybe you didn’t know about social media marketing mistakes, and you took the wrong path. Either way, you lost followers that could matter to you because you didn’t meet their expectations, and you need to fix what you did wrong.
How To Cope With It?
Don’t Rush To Follow Back:
If you ask experienced social media marketers about their strategies, they’ll all tell you the same thing — they follow the accounts they like and don’t mind getting updates from. They don’t even expect them to follow back most of the time. So, you should use pretty much the same criteria that you use for your private account.
If you’re not sure how you should act, think about how your favourite brand would handle it and do the same thing. The faithful members of your audience won’t care if you follow them or not, so don’t feel obligated to do it.
Don’t Use Unethical Ways To Get Followers:
We all want to see the follower count on our business accounts reach the sky, but we have to be careful about how we get there. Don’t be tempted to resort to buying followers. It might seem like a good idea at the moment, but you’ll become aware of the risks soon enough, and it might be too late at that point. Instead, work on your content and ethically gain new followers. Only that way can you build a proper audience.
Create Content For Your Followers:
When creating your marketing strategy, you’re doing it with your target audience in mind. You should do the same thing when it comes to social media. Think about your ideal followers and what they expect from you, and create what they want to see. Offer them quality content on the topics they’re interested in, and they’ll come to you on their own.
Conclusion:
So the answer to the question of “How should businesses cope with social media churn” is simple — by focusing on their audience. Your goal should be to attract people who care about what you do and meet their expectations. Don’t mind those playing the churn game of follows and unfollows, and pay attention to the users who can make a difference for your company.
About the Author:Oskar Dale is a writer and digital marketer at Digital Dot. In his free time, he nurtures his Japanese maple bonsai tree and grows tomatoes on the terrace of his apartment.
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