Social Media is one of the most powerful things that have happened to our generation. It is driving engagement between folks sharing similar interests irrespective of location. Simply put, the world is just a click away!
No wonder Social Media has done a wonderful job so far, but increasingly I am missing the ‘engagement’ aspect of it these days.
And my disenchantment with the medium is grew more as I was reading the Ghost Tweeter post by Kerry O’Shea Gorgone.
5 Things not driving ‘Engagement’ on Social Media
1. Outsourcing
Simply put, outsourcing is just not ‘social’. On social media, people are expecting to hear the real YOU. When you ask someone else to do the job, the entire essence of the medium is lost. While you can have a tribe that shares content, but you have to be there to respond and drive the engagement with your followers otherwise you will just end up with one more marketing channel.
2. Buying Followers/Likes
How often do you see someone with 100 tweets and having 10000 followers or 10 updates and 1000 likes. Social Media is about build community and creating engagement with folks sharing similar interests. When you buy them in bulk, assuming they are real users, only a few would connect with your thoughts and engage. So when someone says ‘Build your followers organically’, they really mean DON’T BUY!
3. Like/+1
More often we see that people either Like or +1 a ‘status update’. Huh!! What can we really make out of it?? When a status update is put on the social platform, we most probably would be seeking a opinion on a subject. When we see a Like or +1, it’s very difficult to judge if the person agrees with the point or they just mean that ‘Ok, I have read you’. Simple words like, ‘I agree to your point’ or ‘No, this is not right’ will drive engagement and thus the ‘Social’ part.
4. Being a billboard
How often do you see brands that have tons of followers who comment on their update, but the brands seldom respond. Seen that!! How different are they from a billboard – The one that we often talk about when we see while driving to work? The only difference is, the fans are heard, but the fans never hear back. See, the ‘Engagement’ goes for a toss again!!
5. I scratch your back, you scratch mine
Lot of us on LinkedIn have heard the term ‘Open Networker’. They accept all connect request and reciprocate too. And the same stuff continues on other platforms as well. What happens then is, they have tons of connections that are built organically too, but very few in them will be valuable. So these folks might be popular since they have the numbers to show, but the type and quality of engagement would be poor.
Can we do anything about it? Yes, maybe the next time you see a status update, respond to it with few words and see how creatively you can add an opinion. You can always catch up with Peg Fitzpatrick‘s updates on Facebook or Google+ to understand what create updates and opinions are. For me, she’s the best one around.
Start now!
1. By dropping a comment here and giving your opinion about this article
2. Share other engagement killing tactics
Photo Credit: ivanpw
