A lot of marketers continue an unhealthy obsession with spending time purely in Facebook and Twitter. I see it again and again. And while Facebook and Twitter absolutely should have a place within a larger digital strategy, your marketing does not start and end with them. They’re outposts but not a hub.
What happens when you take a holistic approach and focus opt in at the source? You provide a valuable destination that a community of sites, networks and people can point at.
Let me illustrate this with an example of the sources for the last one million or so visits to a site I market:
Note by marketing the site holistically, organic visits have come from more than 5,000 sources and mediums. So how do Facebook and Twitter come into the mix? Their traffic contributions look like this:
Sizable for sure, but the point to make here is they don’t own a monopoly on traffic and attention on the web. Live by Facebook and Twitter, die by Facebook and Twitter.
There is a huge mix of sites, networks and apps spanning every category that can become potential referrers when you market a site and gain critical mass of organic traffic. Certainly Facebook and Twitter can reach influential people who then link to you on the open web. But these are not the only places (or ways) to connect with those influencers and if your traffic is mostly Facebook and Twitter you probably haven’t crossed the threshold necessary to achieve increasing returns.
Jeremiah of Altimeter Group notes to broaden your mix and he’s right, there is a long tail of sites and communities even if there is an inequality of buzz about the largest ones. Eric Friedman at Foursquare notes your site is an island, so build more routes that cross through it and you’ll grow.
If you’re just spending time on Facebook and Twitter, you’re thinking small and missing a lot of opportunity.
JOIN 25,000+ DIGITAL PROFESSIONALS
Stay up to date with the latest trends for free. Enter your email
below to join The Future Buzz community of more than 25,000
passionate marketers, bloggers, developers and entrepreneurs
across platforms. Your information will never be shared.
Infinite Listings replied | Mar 28, 2011(1 comment)
You make a number of good points – it is easy (or should that be lazy?) to become transfixed by Twitter & Facebook, at the expense of a proper strategy. Businesses must never rely on too few opportunities in a marketplace that is constantly evolving.
Shawn Jennings replied | Mar 28, 2011(1 comment)
Great article. We have been focusing a lot on facebook and twitter. Time to start building more bridges. 🙂
Alisha replied | Mar 29, 2011(1 comment)
How about instead of just stating a fact, give a few examples of other social media sites. This isn’t going to help anyone broaden their internet experience.
Adam Singer replied | Mar 29, 2011(633 comments)
Hey there Alisha, thanks for the comment.
I write a lot of lengthy posts on how to do just this. Today I was being brief just as a quick CTA since a lot of my posts are so long. I recommend you dive into the archives if you want more, I share in great detail how to accomplish exactly the results displayed here: http://thefuturebuzz.com/new-to-thefuturebuzz-start-here/
Hope to continue having you as a reader here. If you have a specific question feel free to fill out my contact form or email me (adam (at) thefuturebuzz (dot) com), I answer reader questions all the time and would be happy to address your question for the whole community.
Cheers,
Adam
Nathan King replied | Mar 29, 2011(1 comment)
Adam – This is a great point that I think many businesses fall into. With all the news surrounding social media, they need to be reminded that these success stories are just a fraction of what is out there. All the eggs shouldn’t be in the social media basket (nice Easter reference, huh?).
Integraphix Design replied | Mar 30, 2011(1 comment)
Totally agreed – many companies stick to facebook and twitter alone and won’t venture out into the other thousand social media options out there. I think the media propagates this as well though – all they ever talk about is facebook and twitter.
Drew Knapp replied | Mar 29, 2011(1 comment)
fascinating, I would have never guessed these numbers.
Kate Davids replied | Mar 30, 2011(1 comment)
Hey, good point. There are plenty of other social media sites out there, from BrazenCareerist.com that focuses on professional development to one focused on rabbits (community members impersonate their pet bunnies). I read a story recently, though, that the social networks interact in a kind of ecosystem where the majority of people leaving Facebook and Twitter go on to more focused social networks. What are your thoughts on that?
Mitch Mitchell replied | Apr 1, 2011(14 comments)
I had to go read your definition of holistic first before deciding how much I agreed with you. And you’ve got it absolutely correct in that it’s about a fully integrated experience and not just Facebook and Twitter. This is especially true when one considers that not every business or even individual is suited for either of these.
Kelli replied | Apr 3, 2011(3 comments)
I completely agree! I used to spend a lot of my time on purely facebook and twitter but, I have now noticed the tons of other social media cites that are out there. Especially when it comes to the business world, there are many other places to look for the “buzz” with what’s going on in that particular field. I’m afraid that Facebook and twitter are dwindling down to pure social gossip instead of sending positive and educational messages.
Eurocasino replied | Apr 4, 2011(1 comment)
You made an excellent point here. A point that pierces every soul looking to explore marketing opportunities.
One needs to extend its tentacles and reach other social marketing channels than live and die on facebook.
I use facebook and twitter but more effective on twitter which is becoming a great source of rumours. I need to go real, viral and I will go with your concept.
Katie Lockhart replied | Apr 5, 2011(1 comment)
I wasn’t aware of all the opportunities out there. I know foursquare is a new up and coming social media, but was unaware of other opportunities. I am working on a social media campaign right now and would be curious to find the other less talked about sources. Facebook and Twitter seem like the biggest area to focus on. I agree with Kelli, Twitter and Facebook and centered around a lot of gossips and not facts. Advertising or posting on these sites may led to your company being roped into the gossip.
david720 replied | Apr 8, 2011(1 comment)
Facebook and Twitter maybe the dominant platform nowadays and putting all your resources into these two may be a little short sighted. If you want your marketing strategy to succeed, broadening your mix is a must. YouTube and Foursquare are a good bet.