The social media world can be a tricky place sometimes. With so much content being shared by hundreds of people every minute, the powers that be who control platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others (or, more technically, the algorithms they build) must prioritize what you see in the limited minutes you spend on your network of choice. The algorithms are designed to show you as much of the content you want to see in that window. It’s not always 100% accurate, but it’s pretty damn close.
As a brand using social media to connect and market your business, it can be frustrating when you share content and virtually no one sees it. You may have created a solid piece of content or found something on the ‘net you feel would resonate with your audience, but the networks through which you share simply don’t prioritize it and the people who do see it simply don’t engage. It may seem like your audience isn’t paying attention to you, thus leading you to post less frequently and, eventually, stop posting on the network not delivering results altogether.
With so many people utilizing the social web in numerous ways, you want to maintain your presence…despite what may seem like a futile effort. It takes time, consistency, and quality content to build your presence. And even then, sometimes what you share will get lost amidst other content.
If you feel your audience is being anti-social with you, it’s time to re-engage! Here are a few ways to breathe some life back into your efforts:
- BE SOCIAL – Being active on social media is like being at a party. Imagine just walking up to someone and dumping a bunch of info on them and not listening to what they have to say. Or someone asking you a question and you completely ignoring them. That’s not social. Get on your networks and interact with your audience! Ask them questions. Answer their questions. Converse. In addition, answer questions in your space that aren’t directed at you. Keep the street going two ways and you’ll notice a change in your audience engagement as you behave this way consistently.
- Set a Budget and Use It – Let’s not sugarcoat it: Facebook wants your money. Paid marketing on social media, whether it be Facebook or any other platform that allows it, is going to give you better results. It’s how they’ve built their algorithms. Fortunately, you don’t need to be a Fortune 500 to make it work for you. Set a monthly budget of how much you’d like to invest and use it to promote your best content. If you post something that gets a lot of engagement, throw a few bucks behind it to get even more eyes on it.
- Share Valuable Content – Posting for posting’s sake will get you nowhere. Today’s social web values quality. We talked earlier about people seemingly not paying attention to you because they’re inundated with all sorts of information. Well…imagine how they’d feel if they were just as inundated, but you spent your day cluttering up their feeds with hot garbage. They’ll tune you out immediately. Whether you create the content or find it through other mediums, be sure it fits your space and will help your audience before you hit the ‘post’ button.
- Do a Giveaway – I love free stuff. You love free stuff. Everyone loves free stuff. Do something where your audience can be entered to win a prize (i.e., a Visa gift card or a restaurant certificate) for Liking your page, sharing your post, and tagging 2-3 friends in the Comments. This helps push your message out exponentially and can reach a wide audience for a smaller investment. The more you invest in promoting a giveaway such as this, the more engagement you’ll build for your page.
- Try Different Forms of Content – If posting links to certain forms of content has gotten stale, shake things up. Try shooting a quick video (currently the #1 way to create engagement on the Internet) or a live video to create engagement. Post a picture and ask your audience to “caption this.” Quiz them with a trivia question. Bottom line: don’t become a slave to just posting links. Mix things up and deliver quality, fun, informative, engaging content at all times.
- HELP – The more you give on the Internet, the more you’ll get back in return. That means helping people find solutions to their issues. Answer their questions, give them insight, and help them get from A to B. Helping within your space will establish your authority and contribute to the growth of your loyal, engaged audience.
