I have so many conversations with clients and others who attend my networking events, saying that they don’t feel like their social media is working properly anymore.

So this blog post is going to shed some light on that perception around one of the reasons (a really really big one!) why social media might seem like a ghost-town for your business!

And the reason is:

You aren’t listening to what “THEY” are saying!

“They”- being the people who control these platforms because news flash – that simply isn’t us!

Did you listen when Instagram back in June 2021, said that Instagram isn’t a photo sharing app anymore?  Or are you still predominately only sharing photos?

Did you embrace Reels or are you still ignoring them with great gusto?!?!

Instagram bosses announced in December 2021 that they would “rethink” what Instagram looked like in 2022” – and if you’re on Instagram a lot – you will have seen many many changes already on the platform, but my prediction is there is much more to come.

In 2018 Facebook’s Zukerberg canned content and told us that content was no longer important – they made it all about interactions, and community and really went all-in with Facebook groups – encouraging us to grow our own communities on Facebook, meaningful social interactions!

So, are you still ignoring Facebook groups as part of your marketing strategy?

Are you still producing content and linking out of Facebook with that content and wondering why there’s no interaction, no love, no algorithm given to it?

Are you still being promotional on your own Facebook Page and expecting that it’s ok – that another business (Facebook) will let you grow your own business for FREE?

It’s time to rethink.

It’s not just the Metaverse that’s changing either – with the shakeups occurring over at Twitter, if that is the place for you to interact with your clients and prospects, you better listen up for what’s changing, what’s happening, what’s being tested and measured and change your Twitter habits in conjunction with the changes! Why? If you don’t you will lose what you’ve spent thousands of hours building – just like on Facebook and Instagram.

Yes, I will admit, it totally sucks that these platforms have us performing like monkeys.

“If you want the banana, do as we say” – but that’s the reality of business in 2022 as far as social media goes!

We want the banana – the algorithm – so we have to perform in the way the platforms want us to.

It’s a little dark, I know, but I am always looking at that building or that car going past or that flyer that comes across the desk that has the big blue F for Facebook on it.

It’s genius to think that Zuckerberg created a business that we are all doing the promoting for him! AND – not only promoting but actively driving traffic too – it’s the golden egg business, isn’t it?

I guess when it comes to social media marketing, it’s important not to scratch the surface because who knows what it we might find!

So, it’s time to rethink the way we use organic social media, because it’s getting harder and harder and what worked once and what you see many MANY people doing, simply isn’t working anymore.

Now, I don’t have the magic answers.  BUT I do put my money where my mouth is on my social media, in so much as I am always testing and measuring things.

Perhaps it’s time for you to embrace some test and measure theories too!

Let’s take Facebook for instance.

• Instead of putting up a post with an external link in it – put the link in the comments.  Did that make a difference with reach or engagement?

Test and measure.  Try new things.  Try out different ways to get engagement and traction.

• STOP trying to grow followers.

PLEASE stop trying to grow followers as a metric of your success.  No one – literally no one cares. It’s a total vanity metric.  Useful for grants, awards and vanity.  Not much else.  (Although I will say that Facebook did announce last year that people with over 10,000 followers on Facebook would get new features – I am yet to see that happen – just FYI).

So, unless you have a good reason – such as new features – to grow your “number of followers” – stop looking at them and above all stop concentrating on them.

Now Facebook might not be about numbers in that sense but in another sense it IS about numbers!  Stick with me here…..

• It’s not about the number of people who like or follow your page but getting engagement – getting brand exposure – it is about that number.

A very very small percentage of people will ever go to your Facebook Page – doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be up to date, but very very few people will ever go there.

They will see your content in their feed.  You will reach them, keep top of mind with them, in their own feed.  You have to produce content that gets them there.

As many of you will know, I have a Facebook group called Buy From a Bush Business.  It has over 365,000 members.

I can’t tell you the stat of how many people would click that group and go there – but I can guarantee you that MOST sales through that group won’t happen in that group.  They would happen in the consumer’s feed.  And yet know matter how much I try to explain this, I still have people fighting about who’s up the top of the group.

It’s not the point.  It’s not who’s up the top, it’s whose feed are you getting into.

The idea for organic growth, for organic sales has to be to get into someone’s feed – aka the algorithm.

We need the algorithm to LOVE us more.

How do we do that – well, again, I don’t have the exact answers, but here’s what I recommend you should be doing:

1.Create amazing content.

If you want engagement – think of a question that you can ask your audience, such as “When did you get your first job in retail?” and keep the post short enough to allow you to use the background and text enhancement feature that make it stand out.

While this is absolutely NOTHING to do with selling, it has everything to do with brand awareness and engagement.

The science as far as I am concerned is to get engaging content in front of a wider audience once a week which then will hopefully put other content, with a different strategy, like sales, in front of them too – by in front of them I mean into their feed.  Try it for a month or two and let me know what happens.  Test and measure.

2.Try links in comments.

Rather than in text or caption, add this into the comments and see how that goes. This is where you can test and measure.

3.Focus on video.

Again – I repeat – FOCUS ON VIDEO.  Stretch yourself, do video.  Go live once a week.  Do reels – you don’t have to dance and sing, but you do have to do reels.  Do story videos.  In February 2022, the headline was “Zuckerberg tells staff to focus on video” – read the signs, listen to the signs, act accordingly.

4.Make marketing a priority!

Ensure you are strategically blocking out time in your calendar to keep on top of your marketing.

5.Don’t be afraid to try new things.

This could be doing an Instagram Live, recording a reel to trending music, setting up some “ask me anything” or “this and that” posts in your Instagram stories.

Check out what your competition and other big accounts are doing, and see if you can work some of those new ideas into your social media campaigns!

What’s that saying “if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got” – well no – not on socials! On social media it is a case of do what you’ve always done and you’ll get zip!!!

Really try to understand the beast you are working with here.

• Organic marketing on Meta owned platforms is almost dead.
• Posting photos only is dying quickly.
• Ignoring video is at your own peril!

If you feel like you are already behind when it comes to marketing, remember, when is the best time to plant a tree, 20 years ago, when’s the next best time – TODAY.

Change your marketing strategy and marketing mindset today.  If you want to use these platforms to grow your own business, then you need to watch for trends, follow the people who are in the know about changes and make the changes that are sometimes whispered in our ears to help us grow our businesses.

Let’s continue to chat about this over in my Like Minded Business Owners Facebook group – you can join on Facebook if you haven’t already!

Oh and talking about my Like Minded Business Owners Facebook group – I have some amazing guests coming in there to do lives with me throughout this year.  I am super excited by this.  From finance experts to PR and marketing experts (besides me) to Law experts – they are all coming on to give you their time and do some Q&As with the group.

Another amazing reason to come and join that community!

CONTACT JENN:

Are you stumped into what you strategically need to change with your social media content and approach? I can help you! Simply book a discovery call with me here!

And again, don’t forget to join my Like Minded Business Owners Facebook group. The people in that community are amazing – it is a great place to get ideas, seek feedback and generally get some awesome support!

Or you can DM me on Instagram or send me an email jenn@jenndonovan.com.au

I wish to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Yorta Yorta People, on which I conduct my business today and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples reading this blog post today.

About the Author:

Jenn Donovan of Social Media & Marketing Australia.  Jenn’s a coach and mentor from rural NSW and is all about empowering business owners to earn what they’re worth so they can make a bigger difference in the world.  The Founder of Buy From a Bush Business, Co-Founder of Spend With Us – Buy From a Bush Business Marketplace and host of the very popular podcast Small Business Made Simple, Jenn is all about community and humans interacting with humans!  H2H Marketing – human to human marketing. Jenn talks the talk but importantly walks the walk! Jenn’s online community is over 320,000 with her famous Facebook Group currently at almost 365,000 members and still growing every day.  She’s the major of her own little online city!

Get in touch – www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au

On Instagram – @jenndonovan_

On Facebook – Jenn Donovan

Or on LinkedIn as Jenn Donovan