This topic is particularly relevant to recent years when many small businesses started turning to digital and online platforms partly to make up for the access to customers lost during the pandemic and partly because business is generally trending in that direction anyway.
Crystal Lengua wrote an article for Sign Media Canada a couple of years ago in which she addressed what she called the “Social Media 80/20 Rule” (loosely based on Pareto’s Principle). This rule holds that for social media to work for you there has to be a proportionate balance between useful content and promotion. In other words, bombard your readers with promotion and you’ll lose them; you must offer useful content.
Lengua’s model is 80% quality content and 20% business promotion.
So, as we work on the transition to a greater online and social media presence, let’s be reminded of this useful advice.