Hello!
Today I joined a new social networking site called Tsu. When I got there, I quickly discovered I was certainly not alone!
Up until yesterday morning, I had not even heard of Tsu. So I took to google to find out what all the fuss was about and was very encouraged by what I discovered.
Earlier this year I did a post on here called 'social media, this much I know' which you can read here:
I feel compelled to blog about Tsu today as a follow up to that post back in April which highlighted facebook's intentions for pages, with the continued decline of organic reach of posts from facebook pages. In the last few weeks, it's no surprise that facebook have updated their business news section with this post: https://www.facebook.com/business/news/update-to-facebook-news-feed stating January 2015 as the time we can be assured to see less content from pages in our newsfeeds.
Be clear on one thing - it will happen!
Be clear on another thing - many have flocked to Instagram (I'm there too),
However, please bear one FACT in mind whilst you build your following over there.
FACEBOOK INC OWN INSTAGRAM!
the words 'matter of time' spring to mind.
So with that in mind, what should we be doing to ensure our social media related marketing efforts work for our little businesses.
Firstly, if I was back working in advertising and you were my client, I would strongly recommend you start collating your own database. The best way to do that is to encourage your customers and followers to opt into an email list for your newsletter. I use mailchimp and I am very happy with it.
Secondly, keep calm and carry on, but also experiment by trying new social media platforms.
Thirdly, think before you opt to pay to boost your post on facebook. All those pounds will seriously add up. If you are thinking of paying to promote then please consider your overall marketing spend for the year - weigh it all up to ensure you are getting best value and a good chance of a return on your investment. For example, it could all collectively add up to the cost of exhibiting at a key craft or trade fair where you get to meet people face to face, make sales and gain valuable feedback.
It's always best to have a plan when it comes to your marketing budget then you'll happily get the most out of it. My advice would be, don't knee jerk react when you see your post reach fall on facebook. The problem I have with the way facebook is currently going about the paid for posts is they are not clearly targeted (there is no control over who the post reach is boosted to) making it very hard to feel convinced you'll get much return on your investment overtime - so think long and hard about what you want to achieve in the long run.
And, this is why Tsu grabbed my attention.
Who is Tsu? I hear you cry!!
Well, Tsu is a NEW free network that gives the social revenues back to you, because they believe it is the right thing to do.
Hear what the founder of the company has to say on Fox Business:
'As content creator, you'll earn fair value for the social things you share'
So all the above is what did it for me.
The only reason facebook has reached it's current status is from people sharing their content, their data, their lives, their connections. There is a huge advertising value for all that collective data. I believe, the people on facebook have already paid handsomely because we have given our data to them freely, data that they can use to sell on to their advertisers.
At the end of the day all the people that use facebook are basically facebook's products!
Which is OK, if users are happy and gaining a very good experience by getting to see the content they are interested in most - like all those lovely pages they opted to like and follow. Which unfortunately for them, from January 2015 many of those pages will no longer get shared with them because the pages can't afford to pay to reach them.
So with that in mind, this new Tsu concept seems less of a :
'Eh? did I read that right? make money from social networking? that sounds too good to be true, surely it's a scam?'
It makes is seem more of a:
'Oh yes, that is absolutely the FAIR way to go about things...it's not really about making money from my social media content - as let's face it, I've already given most of it away for free anyway...,it's simply a breath of fresh air to hear a company recognise the fact that it is MY content that I am willing to share with them for profit as long as they treat me fairly and I'm getting a good experience as a user'
Well that's the conclusion I reached today!
Time will tell whether this will amount to the next 'big thing'. For now though, I am giving it a whirl and so far I'm liking what I see.
So much so I am happy to encourage others to come and join me over there.
Here I am on Tsu:
I hope this post has been informative and shed some light on a new approach to social media.
Best wishes
