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Social media is a great place way to reach a new audience. However, it can also be dark when the trolls come out to play. How do you handle the negative comments, emails, and threads without looking like a jerk?
You’ve started a blog and have taken the time to create your social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Snap Chat….the list goes on and on.
All of your posts were well planned. The images and graphics you created are amazing and really sell what you are trying to say. Your social media schedule is set, and you are in a good groove.
Then, you get it. Crickets.
Why in the world is this happening? You feel like you’ve got attention-grabbing headlines and amazing graphics, but no one sees your content? Why? What did you do wrong?
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You’ve got a group or a page but it’s crickets. Find out what you can do to get more people talking and engaged with your content!
THE NUMBER ONE MISTAKE YOU WILL MAKE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
If you do what many bloggers are doing, you are guilty of the number one mistake you can make in social media. What is it?
Talking only about yourself.
But, why wouldn’t you want to do that? I mean, it is YOUR page, and you are promoting YOUR brand, right? Yes, you are. However, social media means you need to be social. Here is an example:
You meet an amazing person and have a great initial conversation. Things seem like this is a person whom you would really like to get to know. Then, you go out to dinner. During the meal, the person talks about nothing more than him or herself. No matter what topic you bring up, they somehow find a way to turn that into something about themselves.
Will you want a second date? Chance are you won’t. Why? They don’t know how to engage others into the conversation.”
The same is true when it comes to social media. You need to share content, ideas, and images from others. Of course, you don’t want to do this in the wrong way.
Here is how you should share content on various platforms:
FACEBOOK (pages or groups)
Images/Memes/Quotes
If you see an image shared by another person, you can share it on your page. Never crop out the watermark and add your own (or delete it). In addition, make sure you give them credit. A simple way to do this is as follows:
This is so true! Thanks, Fun Blog, for the laugh today!
You will then link Fun Blog to their Facebook page. This gives them credit and even provides a link to the page where you found the content.
Recipes
You can share the image of the recipe but never, ever post the entire recipe onto your Facebook page. Instead, provide either a link to the recipe as your post or upload the image and put the link to the recipe in your status.
Link
Always put only the other site’s link in your update.
This platform is the simplest when it comes to sharing other content. The right way to do this is with a Retweet – called an RT. You can respond to the person to provide personalized responses, but even a simple RT to your followers works perfectly.
Images/Memes/Quotes
Re-pin to your own boards as you see fit. At no time should you ever download any other image and then upload and link them to your own site. This is 100% spam, and you risk losing your account.
Links
A simple repin is the best way to share this content. Often, the blogger will include a description they would like included with the image, so leaving that, in fact, helps them and you. The better the description, the easier your own board can be found.
You can always share another person’s image on your page, but never try to take the credit yourself. Give credit where credit is due.
WHY NOT TALK ONLY ABOUT YOURSELF?
While I understand that you want to promote your brand, you need to understand that it is more than just appearing self-absorbed on your pages. It is about establishing yourself as an expert.
When people follow you on social media, they are doing so because you share something that interests them. Many times, they consider you a resource of sorts. They will turn to you for information, be it from your own site or not.
You will become the expert and the resource of information. Experts will turn to your social accounts to get information. Readers will follow you as you find content to share that interests them. Bloggers will turn to you as someone willing to network and partner with others.
Sharing other people’s content grows your social following. Don’t be afraid to share an article. If someone leaves your page because of it, then they were never your person anyhow.
Need more Facebook engagement? Grab my FREE Strategy Guide!
You’ve got a group or a page but it’s crickets. Find out what you can do to get more people talking and engaged with your content!