You keep hearing about the importance of social media to build your business. You see your colleagues’ posts getting some action, but nobody is Liking, Commenting or Sharing anything you post! What gives?!
There are actually a number of good reasons why your social media efforts are falling flat. Here is a down and dirty list of some of the reasons why, and what you can do about it:
Keep in mind that your professional social media sites are not your personal online journal. While you should be yourself and let people get to know you, your posts need to focus on your audience and what they care about. Additionally, while it’s great to share any accolades and awards your business receives, be sure your posts are balanced with plenty of value-added posts.
Solution: Before you hit the share button, ask yourself, “What value am I giving to my audience with this post?”
Bad content will never attract followers. And by bad I mean poorly written, terrible grammar and sentence structure, typos, and poor organization. Your post should also have and make a clear point. When someone interacts with your content by Liking or Sharing it they are ostensibly endorsing it. People won’t put their name behind junk. Lousy content also sends a message that you don’t care or that you are sloppy. Why would someone trust you with their business if you aren’t careful with your own?! Social media interactions don’t need to consume large amounts of time, but they still need to be done carefully and thoughtfully.
Solution: Take your time with your content and posts. Proofread everything carefully and be sure you are offering value, solutions or an educational point. If this is not your forte, pay someone to write and/or edit your content.
You probably have some favorite people on the social media sites that you follow. I bet they all have one thing they all have in common – they post consistently. You do not have to post every day, but regular, consistent posting is how you will make it into the Newsfeeds of your followers. You have to create consistent content not only to stay important to your audience, but to give the social platform’s algorithm something to pick up on (they use bots to search constantly for new content and trending topics).
Solution: Set a schedule to create and post your social media and stick to it. Use the scheduling option of the social platform you use (ex: Facebook Pages Manager), or scheduling software such as Hootsuite, to be efficient with your time and post ahead.
The most common mistake people make when deciding to use social media for their business is to set up a business account on every social media platform. And then they sit there with one post from 2017. It is much better to have an active presence on only one platform than no activity on any of them. Pick one you feel you can keep up with. The worst thing would be for someone to think you aren’t in business anymore because you’ve had no activity.
Solution: Choose one to two social platforms you feel comfortable working in, and post regular, quality content.
If you want to build an engaged audience and loyal followers on social media, you need to put in some time. You need to be creating fresh content, researching what your audience is interested in, and then providing it. Another important step – you need to be Liking, Sharing and interacting with other pages, accounts, and groups in your industry. You have to give what you want to get when it comes to social interactions. You also need to share some of your business posts on your personal social pages to expand your reach. Don’t be shy!
Solution: Time block in your schedule each week to be writing, researching, and scheduling content posts. If you don’t have time, pay someone to do it as this area digital marketing is important to growing your business and digital footprint.
While it is never a good idea to “buy” followers, spending something every month to boost, promote or create ads on social platforms will help get your posts seen by a broader audience. This is also a great way to build your following as people not already in your circle will interact with the content, and then you invite them to Like your page. The sad truth is, Facebook and other major social platforms reward people who spend money with greater reach. It doesn’t have to be a lot – even $20/month will get you results.
Solution: Set a modest monthly budget to promote your content to a wider audience. Take the time after each promotion to invite new people who have not previously Liked, Followed or Subscribed to your account to follow you.
Building social status takes time. If you just started posting YouTube videos a month ago, don’t expect to have hundreds of followers already. Your business Facebook page is not going to go from 127 followers to 3,000 this year (probably).
Solution: Make a commitment, create quality content people will care about, stick to your consistent posting schedule, and have faith. Just like “real life” interactions for networking and building relationships – the energy you put into your social media will be felt by people when they see it and it will attract the followers you desire!
This article was originally published in Maine Association of Realtors, Maine Realtor Magazine