with over 83% of americans having a social media account, small businesses have turned to social media to engage with their users and share important updates about their businesses. however, as many of you have noticed, organic (free) engagement on posts has dropped dramatically over the past few years. in fact, as little as 2% of your audience (fans) are seeing your posts organically. why?
money.
it’s a lot more lucrative for facebook to charge people a little bit (or a lotta bit) of money to share posts than it is for them to just provide that reach for free. and some assessments (like the Hubspot one linked to above) are showing that the larger the audience, the smaller the overall reach. so what’s a small business owner to do? try the three C’s of posting.
consistent posting: if you post once in a blue moon, or 14 pieces of content every day – or worse, once in a blue moon and then 14 pieces of content all at once – your users won’t stay engaged with your brand. consistently posting content on a regular cadence will allow your users to maintain engagement with your brand without oversaturating them (aka “making them unfollow you”).
clever posting: obviously you want to let your audience know if, for example, you’re having a special event or a sale. but you also need to keep your users engaged when something isn’t “happening,” when you want them to remember you in their day to day. by posting funny, witty, or interesting things in the “down” times, you can boost your social engagement. interviews with your staff or long-time customers, public interest pieces, historical tidbits about your town or location – all these things can generate likes and interest.
coordinated posting: in social media marketing, we talk a lot about content arcs – basically, making sure your content is working together, each tweet / facebook post/ instagram photo building upon the prior to ensure narrative coherence. think of it like your favorite book or tv show – when you get interested in something, you want to learn more. thinking of your content as part of a larger whole will help you create content that follows a narrative theme, engaging customers along the way.
interested in doing more with your social media? contact us today to learn more about how we can help you.
