Is it a numbers game?

One of my posts on LinkedIn last week gained tens of thousands of impressions, a handful of comments and one serious business enquiry.

My coach said something to me yesterday that made me think:

'1,000 LinkedIn likes can’t beat one real life conversation.'

I can get very caught up in impressions, likes, comments and follower numbers. Are you the same? But what are we actually trying to achieve?

One thoughtful message? One conversation that wouldn’t otherwise have happened? One genuine business enquiry?

Those things don’t always show up neatly in the engagement statistics.

So perhaps the question isn’t:

'How many people engaged with my post?'

Maybe it’s: 'Did it make something happen?'

I’m increasingly thinking that’s the number that matters.

What do you think? Are we paying too much attention to the social media numbers?