More is not a smart communications goal

It’s like I am hearing the Pointer Sisters’ Jump (For My Love) song on repeat. It’s that refrain “more, more, more.” I get emails urging me to get more website visitors. I see accounts on Twitter that claim they can get me more followers. I see announcements for webinars on how to get more blog readers.

Enough!

More is not a smart communications goal. More is meaningless without qualifiers. Yes, I want more Twitter followers. But I want followers that are genuine (as opposed to spam) accounts and who have an interest in what I am saying. I want more blog readers who will find what I write useful and may then share a post or sign up for my newsletter or hire me to do work.

But more in and of itself does not mean much. If a Facebook page has 4,000 likes but none of those “likers” shares information or buys products, then what is the point? If you have thousands of Twitter followers but are never re-tweeted, are you having an impact? If you get hundreds of website visitors but there is no “conversion” then what did you accomplish?

We see ploys for more all the time. You see TV stations running sweepstakes and exhorting people to “like our Facebook page.” You see link bait. You see forced sign-ups for newsletters before you can read an article or blog post. All these are trying to get more without caring exactly who those people are.

Your communications goals should not be simply to get more. Your goals need to be specific. For example, you may want to reach more people in a certain geographic area or in an age group.

Are you being bombarded by vendors trying to get you to get more? If so, what are your thoughts about it?