Everyone is talking about the importance behind engaging on social media; news flash, it’s not all about the followers anymore.  And of course everyone wants to know how to do such a thing.

The point of engaging is to connect and build a relationship with your audience or your target audience. People are more prone to buy from someone they like and feel like they know. In my research and time working with clients and even on my own social media pages, I’ve discovered that there are some things you really shouldn’t be doing when you’re trying to engage.  

Here are five things you should NOT do when you’re engaging online that I’ve taken notice of. If you know of any others that we shouldn’t be doing when we’re online, please do share in the comments below.

1. Inappropriate Comments: I would say this is one of the bigger ones; let me know what you think. When you post comments on other people’s post or even replying to someone’s comments on your own post, 9 times out of 10 this comment shouldn’t be ‘buy this or buy that’ or even ‘go read my blog, I just talked about that’. No one wants to hear go somewhere else to get information or go somewhere else to get information that we’re talking about here; they won’t you to tell them here. At least have a little bit of back-and-forth with them before you refer them to some outside application or website to give me additional information. At least tell me the benefits of going to get that product, how it’s going to answer the questions, how it’s going to meet their needs before telling them to give you a hit on your blog. Build a relationship with them; chat with them. Think of this… If you put a comment on someone’s page and their response is go read my blog as I talked about this specific thing or by this because this is perfect for what you’re having an issue with, how likely are you to click the link or go buy? Don’t be pushy.
2. Not Responsive: Sometimes you will get a direct message (DM) or private message (PM) asking a question about your post or comment. It’s the worst when there is no response. Social media is all about being social, so checking the inboxes and replying are crucial. It’s like being at a party, someone you saying something to you while you aren’t talking to anyone else, and you ignoring them – #rude. Naturally if it’s something that you aren’t interested in or the person is being rude, then that is another story. Side note – some people don’t know this but Instagram and Facebook both have TWO inboxes, so check them both.
3. Isolation:  You want your ideal customer to find you. You want them to be able connect with you, so you want to be findable… It means different things for different platforms. For Instagram, it’s having an open profile – no private. For Facebook if you have a group and using it for people to find you, then it needs not to be private but closed or open would be ideal. For LinkedIN, it’s just being ensure your profile can be found. Connect with me to find out the other part of isolation that is not good for your engagement.
4. Staying Anonymous: Pictures with faces statistically get more likes and engagement than those without. People like to buy from people, so never showing a picture of your face decreases the changes of people connecting with you.
5. Not Being Authentic: Social media is about being social. Somehow someway, people can tell when you are not being authentically you. If you say you like watching mystery shows, but you can’t name one or your posts/videos don’t reflect that with your copy/text shows otherwise then… Authenticity attracts.

Know of any other things NOT to do when trying to engage on social media? Then share them here. Sign up to get how to’s when it comes to engaging.

MonicaMichelle

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