This is the elephant-in-the-room topic that so many entrepreneurs and small business owners wish they could avoid…and, understandably, many do avoid it all together.
What if all the mystery behind social media could be wiped away, and all you were left with was a powerful tool to connect with your audience and build relationships with them?
Well, that is EXACTLY what social media IS…a tool…a pathway…a channel to build relationships.
Just like building relationships with people in-person WELL is a learned skill…we must LEARN HOW to master and develop our “people” skills in a digital format. You can do it! Your future-self will thank you for mastering this skill!
HOW do you get MORE ENGAGEMENT on your content?
READY FOR THE ANSWER?
There are lots of things you can do to get more engagement on social media, BUT let’s not “put the cart before the horse.” Oh dear… that is probably not the answer you wanted. Sorry…not sorry. I am an advocate for people to conquer in the most effective order. So, let’s conquer well!
The REAL question should be…
Is your IDEAL AUDIENCE even seeing your content in the first place?
How can we know they are?
Before you get the ENGAGEMENT, people MUST see your content in the first place. If they don’t see it, they will never interact with it. If they “see” it, yet, don’t stop scrolling long enough to read it/watch it etc, nor feel compelled to engaged with it, then you have lost the battle before it began. Let’s talk about that…
Here is the truth of the matter…
If people are not engaging with your content, then they are probably not even seeing it.
If they ARE seeing it and not engaging, then your content is not CONNECTING with them.
Most likely, if they stop long enough to read and examine, then they will more likely actively-engage with it. If they don’t, then they don’t want to let their own audience know that they are connected with it. They are choosing NOT to align with it publicly for some reason, then there are a multitude of possible reasons that can be happening.
This is where the frustration lives…the land of not-knowing.
How can we know “the why?”
This article in Hootsuite goes into great depth about the topic.
Think of engagement as a moment of alignment with something…for or opposed.
People love to give their opinion or point of view on things. If the content is too neutral and does not strike an emotion (one way or another), they will not engage. It must evoke a FEELING (small or grand) in alignment with an already established truth or interest inside them. If it does not, they will not even stop scrolling, much less actively engage.
That feeling can be as small as a moment of intrigue for entertainment purposes, or as large as connecting to a deep-seeded truth inside them for a cause that means a lot to them.
It really all comes down to knowing exactly WHO you are talking to….WHO you are trying to CONNECT with. If you do not know WHO you are targeting your content for…then you will land randomly.
If you have a brand that you are sharing with the world, it does not matter whether you are posting for personal or business, you should be posting with razor-like intention.
When a person LIKES/LOVES a post, they are saying to the world…”I endorse this post…I back it. I put my stamp of approval and alignment with it.” When they comment, it’s an even stronger feeling that drives that action. They want you and the world to know something about that post is important to them…good or bad.
HERE’S AN ASSIGNMENT FOR YOU:
Every time you get on social from now on, be extra-present with how you personally interact on it.
- What drives YOUR decision to interact with posts?
- What makes YOU stop scrolling?
- What makes YOU stop for a post, read it, but not engage?
- What is your WHY for YOUR own engagement behaviors?
- What are the types of posts that YOU never interact with?
- Which types of posts are YOUR favorites to engage?
- Be present with YOUR MINDSET when you are on social.
- Make notes of those thought patterns and behaviors, if possible.
- Do it over and over till you see a pattern growing. Then, consider what other social media users are also thinking and doing.
- Consider your IDEAL AUDIENCE! Based on what you know about yourself…get into their mind as well. What would they align with on social?
We all want engagement…we all want to feel that we are making the impact. We need for our message to reach the eyeballs of the audience in order for that all to happen.
Let’s fix the issue at the root…at the source of the problem.
Let’s INCREASE YOUR VISIBILITY, so that your ideal audience will see your message, and THEN ideally, feel compelled to engage with you.
5 TIPS to INCREASE VISIBILITY on Social Media:
- KNOW WHO you are talking to (your IDEAL audience)…and build your content using visuals & language that THOSE particular people relate with currently.
(Image-Brand Academy to learn how) - CROSS-POLLINATE Posts to STORIES…consistently…on FB & IG
(BeeBold with STORIES Workshop to learn how) - BE ACTIVE in Facebook groups of YOUR interests…post & speak natively in the groups. Check out this blog post to learn more.
- GO ALL IN on 1-2 platforms…don’t spread yourself too thin. EDUCATE yourself about all that the platform provides.
(Image-Brand Academy to learn how) - POST EYE-CATCHING VISUALS that are personalized to YOUR brand and personality…and have a CALL-TO-ACTION built in the caption [but refrain from using links…put those in the comment section].
(Smartphone Photography Masterclass for Entrepreneurs to learn how)
