I see a lot of social media posts and talk to others who create online content wondering why they are not getting any engagement, why no one is commenting on their Instagram photo or replying to any Tweets. My reply is two-fold.
Lack Of Communication
Those who see the blog post, the Instagram photo, the podcast, don’t know what they are supposed to do next. Amateurs – and I don’t mean it as an insult – simply state what they want the viewer to do. Some write “leave a comment in the comments section below” at the end of their blogpost or ask “please share this video with your friends” at the end of their YouTube bit. It works!
The more experienced communicators can craft the message in a way that asks the viewer to participate, to communicate in some way without asking straightforward. The wording, the voice, the structure matters, but takes hours of practice to get right.
Writing into a void is easy, writing to interact without requesting the interaction is di-fi-cult.
Take care how you craft your next message, when you write your next blog post, when you post an Instagram photo description. Be sure an objective viewer will know what you want them to do.
Lack Of Emotion
Simply stating, a lot of created social media content is safe. It’s banal. It’s all numbered, bolded, bulleted and smells like a PowerPoint.
If you’re not getting interaction (when interaction is what you want) you’re lacking emotion in your content. The Instagram photo isn’t moving enough, the YouTube channel doesn’t make the viewer feel like anything has changed after watching, the blog post doesn’t make the reader giddy to start something new.
The question to ask before you start anything, before you tweet, before you share a photo on FB: how do you want viewers to feel?
Just as important, the question to ask before you finish anything, before you hit send, before you upload: will the viewers feel what you want them to feel?
Stay Positive & Voice Matters
Photo credit: me
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