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I’ve been thinking lately (sometimes I tend to do that). This whole social media thing… it’s kind of a game. Here’s what really got me thinking about this today.

I’ve been watching some stats (as any good digital marketer should) and I’ve noticed some funny things on the most popular content pieces I’ve wrote throughout the years. First these get shared a ton but I noticed something odd in those shares. When watching in real-time a large percentage of users share/like content within the first 10-15 seconds of landing on a page. That is no where near the amount of time it takes to consume the full weight of the idea or concept.

I’m guessing that type of behavior isn’t a surprise to you (maybe you’ve done this yourself). I think many of us that operate in the social realm do this type of sharing. This reminded me that now more than ever it’s important to focus on a few core elements. Those elements are:

• Creating the single best headline
• Making content scannable (text and images)
• Consider the emotions of sharing

I cover this in much more detail in today’s show so give it a listen.

But that’s not all that I think makes social media a game. It’s the numbers. I can’t tell you how many times over the last few years I’ve sat down with someone and they have been amazed with my numbers. My social numbers that is. This to me is an element of the game. These numbers do help, they do allow me to have a platform, they also create a form of credibility.

Ultimately if these things aren’t tied or used in your business to produce measurable results your effort is pointless. I cover tons more of this type of stuff in today’s show.

One more thing, I’ve saw this great quote from Richard Millington of FeverBee a few weeks ago. It concisely explains why I think social media (this case Facebook) is a secondary method to reaching your target market. Here it is:

Don’t build a community on Facebook.

Do you want to base your community efforts upon a platform over which you have no control, which has one of the lowest response rates in history, where most of your updates wont been seen by the majority of your audience, where few individuals meaningfully interact with each other on branded pages, with little demonstrable ROI, and where the owner can shift the ground beneath your feet at any moment without warning?

We’ve talk about that before–don’t build on someones platform you don’t control. That’s a game you can never win.