Are you a one channel pony?

As I write, it is exactly one week until the Ethical Business Marketing course starts. And I potentially have a very big problem.

The LinkedIn algorithm has taken the huff.

My posts aren’t being seen. The number of views has crashed. No matter how much engagement I get in the first few views, no matter what I post?

Tumbleweed.

Photo by Luismi Sánchez on Unsplash

I could post a video of me saving a litter of orphaned kittens from a burning building, ably assisted by Tom Hardy in a swimsuit.

I’d probably get 20 views.

This matters - because a significant proportion of our business comes from LinkedIn, and Ethical Marketing is our flagship course. More pertinently for me, it’s where the bulk of my income comes from.

It’s the Big Cheese in my patchwork quilt of projects: get enough people on this and I spend the next few months with the time to write for peanuts, to work at cut rates or pro bono for non-profits, and develop some ideas that will make a difference (but no money).

Get it wrong, and the next few months herald the stress of juggling childcare with late nights and shamelessly chasing commissions.

Why am I telling you this?

Because it’s a salutary tale of what can happen if your marketing depends on social media.

LinkedIn works for us - I know that. It’s where I build many relationships and gain a significant number of sales. Plus it’s free, it doesn’t take much time, and I enjoy being there.

So it would be very easy to put all our eggs in the LinkedIn basket.

And, truth be told, LinkedIn has lured me in, with it’s carefully disguised vanity metrics and regular pats on the back. Gradually and unwittingly, I’d become a little too complacent. I knew there were a few other parts of our marketing mix that were somewhat neglected… but it didn’t really matter, because the work was coming in. Right?

Wrong.

As this week shows all too clearly, putting all your eggs in any social media basket is a seriously risky plan.

Social media is fickle

Yesterday, I spoke to someone who, out of the blue, had their LinkedIn account suspended.

A few months ago, I worked with someone who suspected that a competitor had repeatedly flagged their Facebook posts as ‘misinformation’. (They weren’t, but if you get reported often enough, the automated systems are going to assume that there’s an issue.)

This morning I was in conversation with some social media managers who were reporting drops in Instagram reach from 10% to 0.8%.

None of these people have done anything wrong. They haven’t tried to game the system; they haven’t posted anything inappropriate.

But social media is fickle.

Changes to the social media algorithms happen frequently and behind closed doors - and they can play havoc with what’s worked for you before. (A heads-up for anyone else who’s noticed the LinkedIn Dip: the general consensus is that LinkedIn is updating its algorithm as it pushes ‘Creator Mode’. Past iterations of this kerfuffle suggest that it should settle down fairly quickly.)

With social media you are always at the mercy of all sorts of automated weirdness. It could be an overnight drop in followers due to a purge of fake accounts. Or, even worse, it could mean having your account suspended because it is incorrectly tagged as a fake account.

How about being flagged because you asked your audience their opinion, and one replied with the ‘danger phrase’: “You should do some research...”?

Now, none of this is to say that social media shouldn’t be part of your marketing mix.

But if you realise that you’re relying on a single channel; or that one channel is dominating your decision making or sales?

Then it’s time to diversify. To add a little more oompf to your mix. To gently wean yourself off your go-to platform.

In my case, I’ve got away with it. Just. Fortunately, there were already enquiries before LinkedIn quit our little love-in; and fortunately, with 20 years experience, I was able to ‘pivot’ pretty quickly.

But it was far too close for comfort.

The takeaway?

If the President of the United States can lose his platform overnight? Then so can you.

Photo by Darren Halstead on Unsplash