Wonder Why No One Engages with Your Social Media Content?
A Linkedin connection has gotten very frustrated recently.
That is because she was getting nowhere with her social media traction and engagement.
This isn’t her first social media platform.
She invested time and money on a website, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Tik Tok.
What could have gone wrong?
While she is busy trying to establish an online presence, I had never read her posts on any of the social media platforms. When we spoke, she mentioned that she was proactive building her social media presence yet … it didn’t work for her.
She was close to throwing the towel.
I committed to give her my best review of her efforts.
As we spoke, I spent time reading her website and social media posts. Ten minutes in and I found telling signs.
The materials were well-written, with no grammatical / expression issues. Vocabulary is rich. There was a ton of content presented in a variety of posts, articles, videos, and PDFs. What felt seemingly off was the overriding theme of “Me”, “I am good in this”, “I am a worthy connection”.
While I do understand persona branding and profile marketing, we have to strike a balance between self-promotion and the value we can put upfront for others.
Everything I read of her social media output was simply about how terrific she was.
It just feels wrong.
It is NEVER about YOU.
Have you spoken to someone who is self-obsessed? Have you seen how their eyes glazed over because the topic moved away from them? I have.
In fact, I have met many such people.
I have met too many people behaving in this fashion.
It is also comical to watch as they mentally check out. I believe that such behaviors — when caught by our eyes — turns us off. Especially so if we have encountered it a couple of times.
My connection was doing the exact same thing on social media. The funny thing? She isn’t like that in person. She is affable, funny, genuine, and considerate.
It was everything opposite of her social media contents. I suspect that she has a misguided understanding of marketing and the way her messages have to be crafted for mass consumption.
As I looked at all her social media contents on various platforms and starting at her drinking right in front of me, I figured there is a lot for us to address.
Your Readers and Followers Come First
First and foremost, focus on what we can do for others. This is the central principle guiding our execution because people care about what we can do for them.
They are the Sun and we are the planets orbiting around them.
When people initiate a connection request, they usually believe that we are in a position to provide help. This principle applies from an urgent need for a dishwasher to seeking an executive coach helping them become a better version of themselves.
No one wants to waste their time reviewing something that provides zero assistance!
You might be surprised at the number of people I know who genuinely want to be a positive resource to the people around. They want to help and we want to help. It drives us. It is part of our values, and occasionally that sense of authenticity gets lost while developing the message.
We have to target our messages to others and for others. And while we have to mention who we are and what we do, it is often best to construct and craft our messages predicated upon the way we can help others.
When we are doing something like giving examples or stories of how we enabled others to achieve their goals, we are effectively illustrating our abilities without having to blatantly state them.
Our audience will understand what we can do, and they can sense positivity and genuine intent just by our illustrations of being there for other people.
The paradox of using social media is that we want others to see who we are and it cannot just be about us or our act of blowing the horn all the time. The keyword is “all the time”. It can be part of the “About You” in the profile and ultimately, it is not “JUST ABOUT YOU”. Our outreach is about making the life of others better, regardless of our professional domain.
Solve Problems. Today. Forever.
The only orientation we need to portray on social media is a problem solver. I believe so. We can solve problems because we understand the problems others have and we have the tools plus skill-sets to solve them today, tomorrow, and forever.
There are entire sections of bookstores dedicated to “Self-Help” and there are no shelves out there for “Helping Others”.
For some of us, we might have a very niche audience while others have more widespread appeal. Our message can be crafted in the same manner — how we can help others in various ways.
We want our words to be about them.
When we care about them, they care about us. Show our empathy for those we can help. When we can resonate with others with depth, we will get to establish that elusive connection that will serve us well for a long time.
Maybe, forever.
My Connection was Appalled by My Feedback. I Expected It.
She remained quiet throughout the conversation.
She was thinking.
While my friend still has a long way to go in terms of reorienting her position across all the social media platforms, there are many out there who are just getting started.
It is thus imperative to start on the right footing.
Let’s endeavor to put others in the center of what we do.
It will serve us well.
That is because we serve others well.
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About the Author:
As a Consultant by training, I believe in making the complex simple.
Because simplicity adds value.
Simplicity helps us gain clarity, and clarity helps us to grow.
And if we are not growing, then what’s the point of anything else?
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