Are you actually social or do you only use social media as a channel?
Globally, 3.5 billion people are active on social media on a regular basis and research shows that users are online for an average of two hours per day. Of course, this presents many opportunities for anyone running a shop!
But stop for a moment and ask yourself: How do you actually use your social media? You might post a picture or a video and spend a lot of time choosing backgrounds and placing products in a nice way. But how often do you actually look at other people’s profiles and comment? Do you want to make new contacts or leave an emoji on a profile you’ve never visited before? No, I really don’t have time for that, you might think. If that is the case, you should read on…
The basic idea of the producers is that social media should be exactly what the name suggests – social. But if you only post on your own profiles but are not active on others’, what happens? Compare this to going to a party where you walk in the door, say “Hi!” and then go to another room and lie down to sleep. When you think of it that way, it seems like very strange behavior, right? But the idea behind social media is that it should be like an online party where you talk to each other, greet new guests and hang out together. One-way communication doesn’t work at a party.
Social media without social is just media
Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, has created algorithms based on how active you are. You will therefore see more of the profiles you engage with the most in your feed. You’ve probably noticed that you often see news and stories from the same people? That’s why it’s important to try to vary where you leave comments and engage in new places.
How to become more social online:
- If you receive a comment, respond to it.
- Go through your feed every day and leave a few hearts and comments on posts that engage you.
- Follow some new hashtags that interest you and discover new profiles to follow. Engage with newly discovered profiles and maybe they will follow you back.
- Hold a competition where you have to leave a comment.
- Ask questions!
- Get your customers to ask you questions with the “ask me anything” feature.
- Showcase your customers and partners (they love it and often share, making your profile visible to their network).
- Try a new filter on your Story – you might not think of this, but there are lots of different filters that you can click on to see everyone who has used the same filter.
The best way to find out what works for you and your store is to experiment. Try to keep an open mind and try out any new features that come up. All new features are prioritized by the algorithms, so for example, ‘reels’, a newer feature on Instagram, will reach more people than if you just post a picture. Don’t expect everything to be perfect the first time you try something new. Mistakes are allowed! In the worst case scenario, you can actually delete the post.
Good luck with your social engagement!
