Three Reasons We're Quitting Facebook, Twitter and Google+

Google just announced that they are shutting down Google+. In case you forgot, Google+ was the social media platform they launched in 2011 to compete with Facebook. After years of languishing, and now, with their belated admission of a data exposing bug, they’ve finally pulled the plug on the consumer version of the Google+ platform.  

Google’s action reminded us of the importance of reevaluating our company’s social media strategy and reconsider how we're communicating with our clients and friends. After some careful consideration, we've decided it's time to quit Facebook, Twitter and Google+ (which will still be available for some corporate users). We’re taking this step because of concerns in three areas: 

Security Concerns: As mentioned, Google just admitted a data exposing bug. But they’re hardly alone: In May of this year, Twitter advised all 330 million of its users to change their passwords after a bug exposed their passwords in plain text. And in September, Facebook admitted a breach exposing an unknown  amount of data of some 50 million Facebook users. And this is on top of the Cambridge Analytica scandal that compromised as many as 87 million Facebook user accounts.

Effectiveness Concerns: Helping clients in a dozen different industries develop and execute online marketing strategy, we’ve been able to draw some conclusions about what works and what doesn’t in the realm of social media. We note a general distinction in social media effectiveness between B2B and B2C focused companies with notably better results for the latter than the former. Better, for B2C, but not necessarily great results. The problem, as we it, is contextual: Most social media users are there to socialize first. Shopping and searching for business solutions or services isn’t high on their list.

ROI Concerns: Since advertising on most social media platforms isn’t free, it’s reasonable to expect a measurable return on that social media marketing investment. And again, across industries, ROI has been difficult to track, especially for B2B companies. And it’s not just ROI on the money invested that concerns us, it’s also the lack of ROI on the considerable investment in time required for the proper care and feeding of these social media networks. 

In our experience, well-designed keyword campaigns along with quality SEO are far more effective in driving targeted, in-the-market traffic to our clients’ websites while delivering a measurable, meaningful ROI.

So this will be our final post on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Of course we'll continue to share our occasional ponderings on our blog, by email and via LinkedIn articles. 

Our clients can still reach us by email or, (as quaint as it sounds) by just picking up the phone and calling us. Come to think of it, compared to social media, the phone is more secure, more effective and has a higher ROI in developing client relationships.

Here’s our number: 269-409-8169. Call us anytime.

P.S. Let us know if you need assistance deleting any of your social media accounts and we’ll share some helpful links.