2024 has the feel of the end of Fatal Attraction. It’s not Glenn Close leaping out the bath but a comeback like a Biden/Trump election, a new strain of Coronavirus, Girls Aloud back out on tour.
Not all of those things are necessarily bad news, but things we might have thought/hoped were consigned to the past.
Some thought blogs were the online Glenn Close
We all got distracted by different social media platforms.
And for a while they worked.
But even major brands are now seeing significant reductions in social media referrals to their websites. The New York Times and the Guardian have reported reductions of over 60% from their social content. Household names in consumer brands say organic referrals are down over 20%.
Is social media over?
Of course not, but relying on it as a primary traffic to a website is; it’s just not as effective as it used to be.
Any of the platforms want to keep users on the platform for as long as possible. They’re not going to make it easy to follow a link and head away to another site.
Maybe it’s time to rethink the investment we make in social media, and what we expect it to achieve.
Why that means refocusing on your owned media
It might be that your website or app, your blog, your newsletter are back to being where the good stuff happens.
It’s where you get to showcase what you do best, what you stand for and believe in, to every single person who shows up, not just the ones the algorithm decides can see what you do.
Driving people to your home base gives you more opportunities to engage in a more meaningful way.
Make the journey worthwhile
If someone’s taken the time to follow a link from search or opened your newsletter, then make that action worth it.
Deliver quality content. Don’t be the equivalent of a wet day at the seaside when the amusement arcade and all the fish and chip stalls are closed.
How do you make the most of them?
If you need quality content, you either need to get incredibly good at really fast, or outsource it.
Bring in the AI (though you might want to read my watch outs on the pitfalls to avoid).
Bring in a professional.
You need quality and speed. AI can help with one of those. But there’s a good reason why we copywriters are still working; we know how to do this stuff.
You want content that’s effective and hits the mark the first time. You want it to sound distinctively yours. You want it to be an emotional sucker punch that grabs attention, heart strings, and gets people to do something.
Not sure why you’d bother?
Sure, if you’re getting impressive results and reach from your social media, then carry on. There’s an exception to every rule and trend.
But if not, think on this. Businesses with blogs produce 67% more leads per month than companies that don’t.
So, blogs and newsletters might have been down, but I think we might see this year that they are definitely not out. What do you reckon?
