When promoting content on social media, your brand doesn’t always get the buzz you expected. Sometimes, you won’t see any chatter at all. You likely know that no user can always control how your content is seen. Algorithms change and platforms fade, but many rules of social media engagement remain unchanged.
As the faces of our brands, it’s up to us to control what we can. So what’s the solution, you ask? We’re here at Tortuga Marketing working on this problem daily, and we have answers. We’ll walk you through the mistakes that are costing you social media engagement.
Mistake 1: Your social media engagement is low because you don’t say what your audience wants to hear.
You’re a really cool brand, and we respect that! That said, you run a fine line between promoting yourself with pride and becoming audience repellant. This is where you go wrong: you’re talking too much about yourself. The audience doesn’t pay you their money or time to make you feel good. They pay to make their own lives better.
A tip mentioned in Drew Eric Whitman’s book, Cashverti$ing, mentions that the first use of your product is in your audience’s mind. If your goal is to eventually make that sale, you must first create a compelling mental movie where their lives improve because of you. Whether you’re trying to sell a product or buy someone’s attention, the rule applies.
There are plenty of social media methods brands use that drive audiences away. You may have heard of this Instagram growth hack, and maybe even tried it: the follow/unfollow method. The method plays out by you following an account in hopes that they will return the favor and follow you back, and once they do, immediately unfollowing them. This is the beginning of the end for many brands. Avoid quick growth hacks at all costs. Organic engagement is worth way more than engagement scored the dirty way.
Mistake 2: Your social media engagement is low because you’re talking over your audience’s heads.
Your content should not be too hard for your audience to follow. It’s important to create content that is clear and easily understandable. Many stick by the rule that if an 8th grader can understand it, the content is good to go. If there are so many technical terms that the average person would need to have Google on standby, you’ve lost your audience.
Be patient with your audience, and ease into your content marketing strategy by keeping the sales funnel in mind. Make sure that even those who are new to your brand can join in on the fun!
Industry jargon is great if you’re discussing complex ideas among your coworkers. It’s not so great if you’re trying to keep the attention of a mother-of-five who barely has the time to herself. If she has to look up any technical words in your latest Facebook post, you’ve already lost her.
For the life of your business, please stop using jargon in your content marketing. As a bonus, you’ll get a nice boost in SEO if you’re using simpler words.
Want to take this even further? Aim to go with the Rule of One: set one single goal for each post you make. Your content can easily get bloated with several calls-to-action, leading to indecision and the inevitable lack of action. Get your audience moving in one direction with a single goal.
Mistake 3: Your social media engagement is low because you’re not thinking with your ears.
Many brands seem to think posting an endless river of content is successful social media promotion. Don’t be that brand. That’s called broadcasting, and interactive platforms are not the place for it.
Look at traditional broadcasting mediums. Television and radio ads don’t allow viewers to respond directly to the ad and others watching it. Social channels create conversation, so you should listen to your audience.
Like a never-ending focus group, they’ll tell you exactly what they want. You can continue creating lots of useful content, but you have to actually listen to your audience when they talk to you (and about you). It’s important to be more relatable and create content that your audience will resonate with.
Let’s help you create content worth buzzing about.
As a reader of this post, you’ve taken the future of your content marketing into your own hands. That’s a wise move since few people will know your brand as well as you. Being proactive also eases the process of talking with an outside agency for help with your efforts.
It’s a tall order to take on business operations and content promotion. Allow us at Tortuga Marketing to walk you through what we’d do for your brand. Set up a chat and we’ll make sure your time is worth it.
