Why is the audience not engaging with our Social Media posts? How do I get something to go viral? My content is good, but I want to get more likes and comments. Do I have to pay for engagement and reach?..... At least my mom likes it.
Social Media engagement is one of the most important data points to focus on when publishing content. You want the engagement that encourages more engagement. “Likes,” “Comments” and “Shares” drive more “Likes,” “Comments” and “Shares.” What does this mean? If you want engagement you need to engage. Don’t just post good content. Like posts (even ones you are not tagged in), Respond to comments (even ones that are not on your posts) and Share content that matches what you want to be associated with.
Engagement is the “Social” in “Social Media.” Here is an analogy of poor social engagement. Imagine you invite your friends and family over for a dinner party. Everyone shows up and are excited for the food. You set the table with the perfect meal from the oven and get everyone a drink. The group are all sitting around the table admiring the meal they are about to consume. Then a door opens and closes. Everyone looks around and find that you just left your own house. You walked out the front door, got in your car and drove away without even saying “goodbye.”
Your friends and family look at each other in confusion. The group starts talking about what just happened. Some of them might eat and drink because the food is good, but they are not going to enjoy it as much if you were there with them. Some of them might just sit there and look at the food. Many of them will get up and leave never to return. You just lost a friend or family member for the rest of your life. There will always be a small group of your friends and family that will eat, drink and be happy even if you are not there. This small group of people are there till the end because they don’t care that you are not there. All they care about is the free meal.
If you have another party the following week, and invite the same group, it is more likely than not that less people will show up because of what happened the last time. The group that will show up are just there for the food and the people who don’t show are the ones you really care about because they care about you.
In this example the food & drinks represent the content published on your page. Your house represents your social media pages. The table represents the opportunity for engagement. If you do not connect with your audience, they will be confused by the lack of interaction. Many of them will leave and never come back because you did not engage with them.
Now image this time you don’t leave, and you have proper edict at this party. You set the table, you hire a professional chef to cook everyone’s favorite food, research the best drink to pair with each plate. A connection is made with everyone at the table. You sit down at the head of the table and start telling a story that includes everyone. An inside joke that everyone understands because it is about the meal you all had together. The following week you invite the same group but must expand your table because everyone invited a friend to come with because last time was the best night of their life.
Engagement, similar to communication, is a two-way street. You need to provide good content and engage with your audience. If you don’t the only people who show up are there for the possible opportunity for something free and nothing else. They may stop showing up because the content never changes, and you don’t talk to them.
Treat every post as an opportunity to connect with the audience and don’t be a bad host.