Today we’re talking about building your business by creating connection and community online and off. Because doing that on a regular basis will bring more ease and joy into your marketing efforts!

And who doesn’t want a little bit more of that?

To give this episode a listen, click here.

Are you getting the engagement you’d like on social media?

Picture this; you take some time, maybe even too much time (Shout out to the over-thinkers out there!) to craft a thoughtful post about your life or to share some new news about your business.

You put it out into the meta-verse in eager expectation, and then sit back and wait for the responses to your brilliance.

And then, Nothing.

There could be some external reasons for this. Maybe some major sporting or news event, or you could be posting it at 11 PM when many of your connections have gone to bed. Or it could be even more simple than that.

I’ve got some ideas.

1) We are competing against an ever changing algorithm that supposedly determines who sees what.

2) Your content might look like everyone else’s. We’ll talk more about that in a minute.

3) We are in an attention economy, and many of our connections might just be speedily scrolling through their feed looking for something specific or nothing at all.

Chances are, it might be a combination of all 3.

The Algorithm

First, Let me talk a little bit about the algorithm; the magical algorithm.

What is supposed to happen on Facebook? And on Instagram?

We should be delivered content that we have already told some magical machine in the sky that we wanna see.

In theory, we do that by how we engage with others.

Are we watching stories and reels? Then they’re gonna serve up more of that. Are we commenting on our close friends’ posts? Ideally, that will tell the meta gods to keep sending us more of the same.

That’s why I say in theory though, because it seems like it’s supposed to work that way, and that isn’t always what happens.

If you are seeing too many posts from businesses and groups, be sure to spend a little more time commenting on those personal posts over time.

That should help. That’s one part.

The Content

The next part is, does your content stand out? I’m gonna spend a lot more time on this in the future, but for today, if what you post looks and or sounds like everyone else, there might not be any compelling reason for your peeps to stop their scroll and give what you were sharing a second look.

Here are some trends that all start to blur together:

• Before and after weight loss photos.
• Motivational or other quotes that have nothing to do with anything. 
• Stylized photo shoot pictures

The photos don’t really tell a story, which means someone has to read. Some will. Some won’t.

Another thing about these photos is they aren’t really shareable, and sharing is a great way to increase reach. Look, if this is working for you, more power to you. It just doesn’t work for everyone.

What about business posts on your personal page?

Not only is this troublesome for engagement, it’s problematic in general and can get you kicked off Facebook. And you know what? It’s a violation of the terms of service, so you have no recourse.

More trends are:

• Posting exactly what everyone else in your industry posts. (I can go on and on about this one, but let me use real estate as an example. If all you ever post is about open houses, you might be losing out on some opportunity.)
• Posting the exact same content to every platform on the same day. That can be problematic as well. 
• Oh, and don’t even get me started with the @everyone feature now available in Facebook groups. Just stop.

If there are other trends you would love to see disappear, let me know. I would love to hear about those.

The Attention Economy

So the last thing is the attention economy, and that might be the one you have the least control over, but here are a few things to consider.

• What can you share in a graphic that will create curiosity and therefore get someone to stop so that they can find out more? 
• What is something unique to your industry? 
• What is happening behind the scenes?

I have one real estate friend who often shares pictures of herself sitting in the bathtub at one of her listings. It’s hilarious and memorable for sure! Shout out to you, Nancy! I see you!

We will talk more on curiosity creating content in other blog posts. It’s one of my favorite topics!

So would you like more engagement?

Here is my number one tip for getting more people to respond to your content.

Ask for it. Ask a question that’s easy to answer. Ask people to share it. Privately ask friends to comment.

If you really wanna improve reach on something in particular, one of the easiest ways to improve the reach-ability is to ask your friends to comment on your content.

I was reminded of this specifically recently.

There was a post I posted and I wanted more eyes on it. I wanted more people to comment.

So I actually reached out to five people in private messages with a link to the post and asked them to comment. And they DID!

Asking friends for specific help will get you more reach than any boosting, and the bonus is it’s free.

So what is one action you can take? I’ve shared a few ideas and would love to hear your takeaways.

What might you shift in the content you share or how you engage in the coming weeks?

Come on over to Facebook or Instagram and let me know. And can you do me a favor? If you are enjoying these blog posts so far, it would mean a lot to me if you would share them.

Sharing these posts are so helpful for so many reasons, and I would be so grateful.

Until next time, cheers to creating a community that follows you wherever you go!