New Algorithms Means Rules of Social Media Marketing Have Changed
New Algorithms Means Rules of Social Media Marketing Have Changed
Most law firms recognize that online resources offer many legal marketing options. In recent times, social media marketing has been extremely popular because it essentially provided a free avenue for effective online marketing campaigns. The cost associated with effective organic placement and pay-per-click marketing on Google and other search engines often limited the ability of law firms to compete effectively since firms in competitive markets often had to spend tens of thousands of dollars a month to remain competitive in this type of online advertising. However, social media sites have followed the algorithm model of search engines like Google, so the rules of the social media marketing game are changing. Law firms will need the assistance of online marketing experts more than ever to remain competitive in the realm of social media.
Instagram recently announced that the site would be following the lead of a number of other social media portals by unveiling an updated algorithm. While the social media site previously published posts in their news feeds based on the chronological order that they were published, the new algorithm reorders video clips and photos posted by users based on the popularity of the content. The announcement by Instagram follows on the heels of the of a similar change by Twitter several weeks earlier, which permits reordering of user timelines based on the relevance of the tweet for individuals who opt-in.
These changes by social media sites are predictable given modification of Facebook’s algorithm during the last several years.
The changes by Facebook and other social media sites reflect economic pressure exerted by Wall Street for the publicly traded tech-communication companies to generate more extensive advertising revenue. The net result of this shift in the way posts appear will make it much more difficult for those engaged in social media marketing to gain traction. This blog provides a number of key takeaways regarding this shift to Google-like algorithms by social media websites.
Quality Content Is a Priority: Because of this shift in the priority regarding the positioning of posts, the quality of the content in posts becomes an important priority. If the content posted is not highly relevant, original, and interesting to users, posts will have limited effectiveness.
Effective Social Media Marketing Is More Costly: Successful marketing using social media through either organic results or paid advertising will necessitate more significant financial investments. While social media marketing might previously have been popular because of the limited cost to be competitive, marketers will have to make more substantial financial commitments to remain relevant.
Social Media Advertising Could Become More Effective: Because of a reduction in marketing content in news feeds, marketers might be more effective at zeroing in on consumers and influencing consumer preferences. These types of algorithms mean that marketers can target an even narrower audience.
Failure to Adapt Will Impact Many Companies: Because of the cost and difficulty involved in persuading marketers of the value of social media marketing, many businesses will slowly lose their social media influence. Although high quality content will be essential to an ongoing presence, many companies will still be negatively impacted because they are not able to secure good content.