E N G A G E M E N T
No, not the type where you get a nice shiny diamond on your finger. I’m talking about social media engagement.
So you’ve set up your business. Your branding is looking top notch, website looks amazing, Facebook, Instagram looking perfect
You invite all your friends to like your shiny new business page, they invite all their friends to like your page… you’ve got hundreds of followers already…brilliant right?
NO. It actually kills your organic page reach.
Think about it…you post on your FB page, and you don’t get any engagement because all your followers have no idea who you are, what you are about and have zero interest in your business. They’re only following you because they liked your page as a favour to a mate. They received an invite saying “such and such invited you to like xyz page”
And many will click like a robotic response because they like the friend who’s asking and are helping them out!
So…What happens next?
Well you’ve got lots of followers on your business page but no or very low engagement.
So Facebook have a wonderful thing called the algorithm which makes a decision that your page is rubbish and no one is interested in the content
It makes that decision that all the people who liked the page, as they don’t do anything else to ENGAGE with you eg. comment, like, share etc they must not think your content is of value
No value = less organic reach
Think about how many pages you have liked and haven’t seen stuff from for a long time…it’s because you don’t engage and FB have decided not to show you that stuff.
So firstly do not invite all your friends to like your page unless they are your ideal customer.
Also asking for ‘like for like’ or ‘help a small business invite all your friends’ is not a strategy for growth.
Please, please, please only like pages you are interested in and will engage with.
Dormant likes do not result in sales, they are vanity numbers and they kill the rest of your reach. Equally likes from someone who is never likely to buy from you and not your ideal customer are of no value. Real genuine engagement is what you need to be targeting, a small number of likes and real engagement is so much better than large numbers.
The onus is on us the business owner to make our business page interesting and engaging to our ideal clients. Remember, FB is no longer a numbers game of vanity likes.
So, now we know we need engagement to help grow your reach… how do we create content that guarantees engagement?
Here are my tips…
- Follow the 4:3:2 rule…
It’s a simple ratio for your social media posts:
- 4 posts which add value to your brand… useful tips to help your reader: Tip Tuesday, Wednesday Wisdom, how to videos etc.
- 3 posts that show your personality in your posts…post content that create connections: current affairs, your thoughts, how you’re feeling.
- 2 posts that promote or sell yourself: show your work, testimonials from clients, behind the scenes.
- Don’t be Spammie Pammy! Don’t be posting rubbish day after day. Take time and effort to create your posts.
- Network and create relationships. Don’t be a ‘lurker’, if you read a post and enjoy it make sure you like, comment or share. This will help to create good online relationships.
- Take advantage of national holidays and key dates. It’s not just about Valentines day, Christmas day etc. Don’t forget about World Smile Day (2nd October) or World Mental Health Day (10th October) and of course Black Friday (27th November). The list goes on and on! I always make a list of those key dates that are relevant to my business and create nice posts with graphics etc. It’s a great way to engage with your followers.
And there you have it… Go forth and ENGAGE!
I’m Kristina, a Virtual Assistant and Marketing Consultant from Lancashire, UK.
I have over 20 years of experience working in Executive Support and Marketing & Design. During this time I have worked for some major brands including Kelloggs, ASICS and Phones 4u.
I’m now utilising my marketing and organisational skills by helping startups and smaller businesses to get organised and noticed! I love my job, why? for me personally, it gives me the flexibility to be able to work and spend time with my family, I have two gorgeous children Theo & Sadie. I also get to help new businesses grow, help entrepreneurs achieve their goals with my admin and marketing expertise.
