The number one issue people have with their social media accounts is NOT posting anything. People get overwhelmed by all of the noise out there and simply don’t post anything because they aren’t sure what to post.

Post something, post anything- chances are that nobody will see it anyway if you haven’t posted in awhile due to the way the social media algorithms works. In fact let’s start with that. It’s important to understand WHY you should be posting on social media and how it all works.

Social Media Algorithms

(Skip this part if this is old news)

The reason your business should post on social media is to get eyes on your brand to stay ‘top of mind’. Chances are that when someone comes across something of yours on social media, absolutely nothing will happen. They won’t click to your page, let alone open up their wallet and give you any money. If you are lucky you may get a like and if you are SUPER lucky, you may even get a comment.

Here’s my super-dooper scientific explanation of how different types of engagement works on Facebook and maybe even LinkedIn (numbers are just for demonstration).

  • Like +1
  • Emotion reaction +2
  • Clicking on the link +3
  • Commenting +4
  • Clicking share +5

The more ‘points’ my post has, the more important the algorithm thinks my post is and therefore places it in more people’s feeds. More people’s feeds = more eyes on the post/brand.

If you’ve heard the buzz phrase “post engaging content” this is why. You want people to comment no matter what the comment is. They could say, “YOU SUCK” and the algorithm doesn’t care, you get +4 points. One FB ad comes to mind from a marketer (of course) who knew exactly what he was doing and included an obvious spelling error in the ad copy. Of course the keyboard spelling police came out in full force and before you knew it the post had hundreds of comments of people ridiculing him for his spelling mistake. It’s like the saying, “any press is good press’. Facebook saw all of the engagement on that ad and pumped it onto more and more feeds, spreading his brand like wild fire.

The moral of the story is that you want people to LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE your posts so that it gets in front of more eyes. Does that seem daunting? Let’s just start with posting things to show that you are alive, but you may also want to use a social media engagement tool to facilitate your efforts.

What should I post?

Identify who you are posting for and what you want them to do. Who is your target market on social media? Do you want them to buy something or are you just looking to boost brand awareness? This is where every single company needs to come up with their own strategy and not just follow the advice of some random blog post they found from googling ‘what should I post on social media’.

The main generic rule I can give you is to post things that will add value/be entertaining for your target persona.

Get inspiration everywhere

Do you spend time on social media? What types of posts catch your eye? Start saving posts that you like and start a collection to reference once it comes time to plot your strategy. I’m talking colors, fonts, messaging, imagery, video style… look at everything.

This also includes your competition. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Obvs your posts will be better, but see what they are doing and what works and doesn’t work for them. Are certain types of posts getting more engagement than others? Do they get lots of love for the original memes that they create? Get your meme hat on and start memeing!

Social media sequence/schedule

If you have no strategy or plan, you’re probably just not going to do it. Or you may just post from time to time when you see an article about why social media is soooo important. For the record I personally don’t think it is soooo important, I think it’s a necessary evil.

You’ve identified your target persona, so now you need to decide what THEY want to look at. I’ll give you some examples of types of posts to add to your sequence and you can pick which ones would appeal to your audience.

Other types to try, preferably relevant to your industry, product or persona

  • Jokes
  • Ask open ended questions
  • Polls
  • Memes
  • Images
  • Inspirational quotes

Now that you have a few types of post that you feel comfortable with (NEVER post anything that makes you feel slimy) write them down on a post-it note and put it up near your computer. This is your sequence.

Time to set your schedule. Put a reminder in your phone, put that shiz on your calendar, whatever trips your trigger. Monday, Wednesday and Friday is an easy one. You don’t need to post everyday. If you never post, you need to walk before you can run. If posting on social media makes you miserable and stresses you out, don’t do it. Either find someone else to do it or accept that your biznass will not be found by potential clients on social media.

Sorry that escalated down a dark path real quick there, but I hear so many people complaining about the task of posting on social media. If you don’t like it, don’t do it.

Adjusting your sequence

Once you start posting your sequence, pay close attention to what works and what doesn’t. I’d give it a full month before adjusting your sequence just so you have a decent sample. Maybe all of the inspirational quotes you posted flopped, but the GIFs got a few likes. Ditch the quotes and add another type of post into the mix.

Remember that if you are starting from scratch, building an audience takes a lot of time. Be patient and have zero expectations. Generally people expect magic and get frustrated when nothing happens. Don’t set yourself up for that disappointment, I’ll tell you right now- nothing is going to happen in the beginning. This is also why it doesn’t really matter what you post after you get done reading this post. Nobody is going to see it (unless you already have an active audience).

How to get engagement

Ask for it. It ain’t going to come naturally.

Family and friends

I wrote this post awhile back and I’ve received so much, “OMG I needed this” type of feedback, I guess I struck a chord with a common pain point.

An open letter to friends and family on how to help me promote my online business

Tell your friends and family that they need to like your posts. Send them links to your posts and make it super easy for them to react. Talking to so many business owners over the years, I’ve heard so many grouse about this. “Why don’t they just like my posts?” or “Ugh, my cousin hasn’t even followed my Instagram account yet.”

Chances are that they just don’t understand that their likes and comments DO matter.

Engagement Pod

Get a group of your peers together and agree to like each other’s posts. Once you post something new, drop the link in the group chat and everyone else clicks and likes. This is so simple and easy. 3 seconds – click link, click like. If you can’t bother to donate 3 seconds of your time to support another human being, I don’t want to be in the same as pod as you anyway. Which leads me to the next topic…

The social media golden rule

Do I need to go over what the golden rule is? Treat others how you want to be treated.

If you want people to like your stuff, like theirs first!

Sometimes I also call this social media karma. If you react to posts, shout-out to other businesses, engage in the comment section and generally just make an effort to be a friendly citizen of social media- I believe it will come back to you.

Go now in peace and post some thing. Post ANYTHING and then do it again in a few days.