Being Liked Is Not Always What It’s Cracked Up To Be

Over the course of my career, I’ve often been referred to as an “alpha” by colleagues and clients alike. Blame my dad on that one. He raised me to believe that my intelligence, not my race or gender, would determine my path towards success. He also believed that it was a person’s ability to build and foster relationships that truly indicated how much of a boss he or she really was. In the corporate world, I learned that being resourceful was called leveraging but in the Brand household, it was nothing but hard core strategic hustling. 

Hustlers are intense. They are driven by action,  by movement and by achievement. Hustlers make things happen.

I didn’t know it back then, but my sister and I were hustling even when we went trick or treating lol. We always came back with these massive bags of candy, toys, books, clothes, you name it. When you grow up with very little, you learn quickly that you aren’t in a position to just accept the status quo and that if you want something, you have to go out there and get it.

It’s still just all we know; take a dime and turn it into fifteen cents. Make things happen no matter the circumstances. Because of this perspective, I view likes differently. And I’m referring to the likes we get on our various social media posts. Don’t get me wrong. I monitor the ones I receive for myself and on behalf of clients. When I first started handling social for others, I used to freak out and obsess over why certain posts didn’t receive massive likes.

Was it something I said? Maybe the image was cheesy? Or they don’t like me perhaps? I should delete, write it over and try again for more likes?

I used to drive myself nuts. And I know I’m not the only one. We live in a world that celebrates and recognizes this metric in a major way. If a post receives a ton of likes, we deem it credible and valuable. And for those posts that don’t attract many, they are often viewed like the ugly stepchild.

Today, however, I have a favor to ask of you. I’d like you to think about this from a completely different perspective.

Likes are great when you get them. And yes, they should be considered when tracking your social media performance. But if you’re truly building a community; if you are honestly building a tribe of kick ass people that sincerely like what you have to offer, you don’t want everyone liking everything. 

I’ll explain.

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. I’m more concerned with the “right” people engaging with me than just everybody. And it might just be one person that gets it and likes that particular post. For me, that’s still a win and I need to do everything possible to connect with that one person rather than be worried about the people that didn’t like it.

I’ve said this time and time again but I believe that we take our connections for granted. Social media is a communications channel just like sending an email or calling someone. And many of us, are totally phoning it in. Doing the bare minimum possible, but at the same time, expecting maximum results. It doesn’t work like that. Not in 2020. You’re going to have to hustle. And that means more than just getting likes. You have to care about the connections.

If you want to learn more about the power and impact of tribe building, definitely check out Tribes written by one of my marketing biz crushes, Seth Godin. It’s one of my FAVE books. 

Seth believes a tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. 2020 should no longer be about just getting likes by any and everybody. We should be striving to push the envelope and moving the needle. It’s about ideas and leadership. Where are you leading your followers? How do you plan on engaging with them in a more meaningful way this year?

True innovation isn’t a popularity contest or being liked by everyone. It’s ok to not be liked all the time because at the end of the day, it’s not the only thing that matters. Producing authentic, original, innovative content is the key to building long term, sustainable growth and engagement with your followers, whether that’s one or thousand.