Are you giving people a reason to engage?
Are you giving people a reason to engage?
I hear it all the time. One of the most-asked questions I get when it comes to the social media game…. “Why can’t I get engagement on my posts?” And yes, I could ask you about your hashtag strategy, your reach, and all the metrics, but that’s not the first thing I go to when I hear this. No. The very first thing I look at is - are you even giving them a reason to engage?
It sounds simple, but take a good look - are you? Because I hate to break it to you, but a caption of, “All a girl needs is wifi and a goal [INSERT RANDOM EMOJI HERE]” isn’t enough to get someone to leave a heart-felt comment or start a conversation. Why? Because you’re not using social to be SOCIAL.
When we post short, one-off captions like this, we’re basically training our followers & viewers, reminding them every time we post that this caption is here to share my life, not start a conversation with you. Social media was not created just to share about you (while it quickly evolved into that), it was created to form relationships with other people and be SOCIAL. Getting back to those roots is what will start to get you engagement.
Think about it - how am I supposed to leave a comment to that caption? As a reader - there is no starting point to the conversation. If we were at a party, you wouldn’t walk up to me and start a conversation by saying, “I loveeeeee coffee & donuts.” Like, okay, good for you, but I didn’t need to know that. No, you wouldn’t do that! You would walk up to me and initiate a conversation, “Hey! How are you? How have you been? What are you up to?” and let it progress from there.
When we post a caption like, “I loveeeeee coffee & donuts”, our followers have to pick where to start the conversation and social media is too fast for that. They’re too distracted by everyone else, so unless you make it easy for them by initiating the conversation and letting them go from there, then they’re just going to keep scrolling. So how do we, as content creators, invite our followers to engage with us by initiating the conversation? Here’s 3 ways…
ask a question
It’s so simple that we often forget, but a great way to initiate a conversation is to ask your followers a question. What are you doing this weekend? What is your favorite drink during happy hour? How are you feeling today? They’re simple, but super effective and are always a win when it comes to getting people to engage.
get their opinion
People love feeling helpful and sharing their opinions, so give them a reason to! Ask them to recommend the best place in town for a chai latte. Give them options of a few dresses and ask them to pick out which one you should buy for your next trip. It doesn’t matter what it is - people will always give their opinion because feeling helpful and sharing our opinions is something we all love to do.
share something relatable
People love feeling like they’re not alone. Whether it’s loving the same hobbies, feeling the same emotions, or having the same type of day - people love to chat with people they relate with! So start sharing things your audience can relate with. Anyone else loving _____ right now? Am I the only one who _____ ? Raise your hand if you ever______. All great ways to start a conversation around a subject that your target audience can relate to!
So I want to challenge you right now, take a look back through your posts that don’t have the engagement that you want, and ask yourself - did I give my followers a reason to interact with me and hold a conversation? If not, then start switching up your captions to be more conversational, involving your followers and see what happens!
PS: If you want to start, but don’t have the time to write up captions or figure out what to post, I have a set of free social media templates that were created specifically to get that conversational engagement going with your followers. Just click the button below to instantly download the templates and copy/paste/post them asap!
about the blogger
Hey babe! I’m Courtney Jo! I’m a content creator who coaches babes in biz on how to create their dream life of freedom through content creation, business, and mindset! I’m also an award winning, nationally recognized portrait photographer and I sling some amazing natural hair and skin care products on the side that has changed my confidence and life!w
binge the recent posts
I’m Courtney Jo! A business coach, podcaster, photographer and shampoo slinger, with a goal to help boss babes create their dream life through content creation & marketing!
xoxo, Courtney Jo
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