How to Engage People with Your Social Media Content

by | Jul 20, 2020 | Leadership, Learning, Social Media

What are the best content types to share in our stay-at-home, pandemic world? What do people most need right now? What are they seeking?

A place to start is with content that resonates with you. What are you looking for when you scroll through LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter?

Another consideration is experiences you’ve had or observations you’ve made about leading and navigating through work during a global pandemic.

Two hypotheses emerged for me.

First, people are looking for helpful content that informs them on topics of interest that solve a problem for them.

Second, people are attracted by inspiring content that motivates them to take action amidst difficult circumstances.

To test these hypotheses, I analyzed the last 60 days of my LinkedIn posts. I’ve been known to gather my own data on a spreadsheet and analyze it for unique learning.

If you post content regularly, I encourage you to do the same. It creates clarity about what’s resonating with people. In addition, it gives clues about what will be engaging in the near future.

Before getting into the data, it’s worth noting that views, likes, and comments are considered by some to be vanity metrics. Why? It can be difficult to link social media content to specific business outcomes. As I reviewed the last 60 days, though, it was clear that one-third of my new clients were people who saw my content on LinkedIn and reached out to me as a result. That’s why these metrics are valuable to me as a solopreneur. They may be helpful to you as well, depending your goals for social media in boosting your career.

My average was one post a week. Views ranged from 4,692 on the high side to 86 on the low side. Likes/reactions went from 113 to 3. Comments went from 34 to 0 (yes, zero; ouch!). In addition, by clicking on the number of post views, more data is available. This includes organizations, titles, and geographic areas of people who engaged with a post.

What did the two lowest-scoring posts have in common? They were both shares of someone else’s content. That was a valuable learning. From now on, I’ll make a substantive comment on content I find share-worthy. However, I won’t share it. Instead, I’ll create an original post on the topic, crediting and tagging the creator.

Looking at the top half of my posts, five themes emerged.

 

Big Brands

The post with the most reach was a farewell meeting as my my three-year term concluded on the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors, representing the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. With 60+ people on the board and more than 400,000 living alumni (Patrick Auerbach can always quote the exact number), potentially a large number of people might be interested. This post got more than 4,700 views and 113 likes. Thanking various people and tagging them, as well as including relevant hashtags, probably helped this post gain more exposure.

 

 

Giveaways

Thinking about what could help people right now, I remembered I had several copies of my book, What Successful People Do on Social Media: A Short Guide to Boosting Your Career. Why not offer some free copies? In a book giveaway post, I tagged the book’s editor and cover designer, along with people who gave the book 5-star ratings on Amazon. In under an hour, five people claimed their books, which were mailed out the next day. Others could still get a free workbook, Your Social Media Success Roadmap, with 50 questions, actions, and ideas about career building on social media. This post got more than 1,700 views. It had the most comments at 34. A few second-degree connections commented, and we’ve since connected with each other.

 

 

Media Quotes

As a result of commenting on U.S. Chamber of Commerce posts about marketing ideas for small businesses, I was interviewed for a few articles. Of the three I posted, the most engaging one was customer communication tips during Covid. Here I tagged the article author and the other contributors, in addition to connecting on LinkedIn with everyone involved. This post got more than 1,460 views, 22 likes, and 8 comments. My theory is this one performed the best because it had the most people tagged. And it was for an appropriate reason, because they were all quoted in the article as well.

 

Podcasts

A fellow grad-school alum, Randa Hinton, contacted me this spring for an informational interview. She introduced me to another alum, Anika Fisch, and we had chatted as well. A few weeks later, Randa and Anika invited me to a be a guest on their new podcast, Opportunity Unknown. They teamed up to share the journey of their job search in the middle of a global pandemic. It’s an excellent podcast, BTW, for anyone who’s looking for work right now … full of actionable advice and inspiration. This post got 1,379 views, 34 likes, and 4 comments.

 

 

Black Lives Matter

As a white person who wants to contribute to social equality and justice, reflect on and adjust my own behavior, and amplify Black voices, I struggled with how to engage on social with Black Lives Matter. Then I read a poignant op-ed in the LA Times by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I shared his article, along with my thoughts. This post got more than 1,240 views and 26 likes. Of my recent posts, however, this was the only one that got zero comments. Hmmm. I’m not sure what that means. Perhaps people didn’t know what to say? Why do you think no one commented?

 

What’s Unique to You?

For the most part, these posts focused on what I’ve been doing in my consulting and coaching business. No doubt you are working on important projects, learning hard-won lessons, and achieving celebration-worthy victories with your colleagues. Your experiences might help someone else solve a problem or feel inspired to keep going on their own professional journey. What will you be sharing in the coming days? Please tag me so I can check it out!

 

 

3 Things Not to Share on Social Media in a Crisis (If Ever)

by | Jun 30, 2020 | Social Media

With 10 million confirmed Covid-19 cases in the world — and climbing — we are living through tough times.

The pandemic has wrought economic pressure. Layered over this is continuing civil unrest with the important aim of creating a just world for everyone.

There are actions we can all take to be part of the solutions to these issues. At the same time, consuming too much news right now may need its own form of social distancing, to maintain our resolve and perseverance in the face of adversity.

If you are working remotely from home and keeping yourself and your family healthy, you are lucky indeed.

Social media usage is hitting new highs. You may be using it more yourself, to keep in touch with family, friends, and colleagues.

As you do, how have you changed your approach? What have you done to re-calibrate the content you share?

Here are three things not to share on social media during today’s crises — or anytime in the future, for that matter.

Tone-Deaf Content

Have you seen posts that cheerfully and chirpily promote some new product or service, seemingly oblivious to the devastation going on all around us? This is tone-deaf content that it’s wise to avoid right now. Why? Because people won’t be paying attention to it. Content has to be presented within the complex context the world is in right now. If it’s not, it will be ignored. Your credibility will also suffer.

Self-Promoting Posts

Have you seen posts that come across as “all about me?” Content that is too self-promotional doesn’t work well in normal times. It falls even flatter in our pandemic era. No one wants to read about or watch someone else’s seemingly perfect life. It doesn’t connect with people. It does nothing to inform, inspire, or entertain. If your content is all about you, it’s best to skip it.

Questionable Sources

Have you seen posts that link to news sources you’ve never heard of? With so much misinformation floating around, it’s more important than ever to evaluate the sources of information you share. In addition to reading/viewing a link before you share it, carefully consider the source. Choose reputable news sources and exercise critical evaluation of any story or article before sharing it.

What to Share Instead

There you have it. These are the types of content it’s wise to steer clear of now, and in the future. What are better choices? Coming up in my next post are ideas about the best types of content to share during this global pandemic. What are you sharing that’s helping others during these turbulent times?

 

 

 

What Can You Do to Help Others During Multiple Crises?

by | May 31, 2020 | Careers, Leadership, Social Media

have a heart and help others

A heartening trend is shaping up on LinkedIn.

Multiple people are posting with offers of helping others during these turbulent times.

It may be a LinkedIn reference for someone who lost their job due to the global pandemic. It may be an introduction to someone else in their network. It may simply be encouragement to keep pushing beyond rejection. It may be valuable ways of fighting the racism that is front and center in our national consciousness.

Shelley Zalis, CEO of The Female Quotient, recently posted an invitation inviting people to contact her for help and connections to her vast network.

Savannah Rayat offered to help people she knows who have been laid off, by putting them in touch with a company or sending an email putting in a good word for someone.

Randa Hinton and Anika Fisch are launching a new podcast. It’s called Opportunity Unknown  They’re helping fellow job seekers by chronicling their journey as recent grads searching for meaningful jobs during a pandemic.

Karyn Spencer and Charlene Wheeless have offered their perspectives on what’s happening in the aftermath of this past week’s horrific events towards Black people in our country.

Men are part of these dialogues as well, and I applaud their efforts to help others navigate these difficult times.

As I sort through the truly disturbing news in our country this weekend, I am heartened by pictures of police in Camden, New Jersey; Flint, Michigan; Santa Cruz, Calif.; and other communities nationwide.

They are joining arms with protesters, sometimes taking a knee, and peacefully de-escalating tensions. This is so important to help us start listening to each other and making meaningful change.

As for me, I invite people in my network to reach out if I can be of help. I’m happy to make introductions, share perspectives, and listen to your journey.

Each of us has something to offer others at this time. It’s especially powerful if we help someone who is different in some way from ourselves. What are you doing to help make the world a better and more just and equitable place?