What to Do When Social Media Usage is Down

There seems to be an underground uprising happening.

I see it in myself.

People are increasingly turning off social media. They’re deleting apps.

This isn’t surprising. And here’s the thing - chances are, you as a business owner probably don’t spend much time on social either. When I’m not working or checking in on client accounts, I try not to be on my phone unless I’m reading on the Kindle app (which I do. Often.)

So what do you do?

You need to diversify your marketing. You don’t control the algorithms. We’ve talked about this before. Facebook could shut down tomorrow, and if a handful of lawmakers have their way, TikTok will also be banned from the app stores. Your space online is rented and you need to make sure you’re getting the most out of your marketing efforts. Below are some ways to get more on social and off to make your marketing go further.

1. Increase your budget

   Are you not investing in social media advertising but relying on social media as a key component for your marketing strategy? Add in $100-200 per month and see what kind of visibility you get. It’s no secret that these habits coupled with the pay-to-play model for brands are impacting social media metrics across the board. We know that the average reach of an organic Facebook post hovers around 5.20%. This means if you want that Facebook (or even Instagram) post seen, you might need to consider boosting that budget to get more eyeballs on your content (companies that run ads, also generally tend to see higher organic reach as well, something worth noting.)

2. Get your team involved
   Customers consistently trust employees more than a CEO, advertiser or any journalist. Getting your team involved in sharing content is a great way to improve your organic reach. Not to mention, your team should already be championing your brand so getting them to share content on social or comment on it, is an easy win!

3. Be consistent
   Consistency is key to success on ANY social media platform. Whether you’re posting 1x per week or 1x per day 7x per week - show up consistently, at the right time to build and maintain your presence. Quality always trumps quantity so keep that in mind if you’re posting every day but not getting great engagement. This is also why having a content calendar and content pillars is key to creating that consistent, high-quality content.

4. Know Your Algorithms

   Each platform operates differently in its algorithms - early engagement is a key indicator across the board, as is video. But knowing what each platform prioritizes and how they determine which content gets served up (read about Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin here), is helpful. Most algorithms will prioritize posts that are “most likely” to generate high engagement. Posts that use videos, images, and GIFs are often favored… this is why video is “the star” of social content. This is why knowing what your audience enjoys and what content they value (always be adding value!), is key to creating content that will resonate and perform well.

5. Utilize video
   It’s no secret video performs better across the board - it gets more engagement and is favored highly in any of the algorithms. HubSpot noted that “79% of people say they’ve been convinced to purchase an app or piece of software because of a video.” If you worry that video is too difficult (especially if you’re doing your own social media! It can be daunting I know!), a strategy session might help you map out some options and help get the creative juices flowing. Showing up online is HARD sometimes, especially if you worry about doing it well. But the beauty of social media is in the imperfections.

6. Collaborate

   Are there influencers in your community you could work with? Utilizing ways to collaborate with other accounts. I have a client who has a “Woman-Owned Wednesday” series that highlights a woman-owned business and has helped catapult her Facebook metrics as we’re tagging other businesses and they get high engagement. Not to mention, it’s always fun featuring other businesses to tap into new audiences.

7. Diversify your marketing
   You own your email list. The people that sign up for your email list are people who WANT to hear from you. Unlike social media, you control when and how often they hear from you. Utilize that list. Collect customer emails, and utilize a lead magnet to grow that list consistently. If you haven’t been putting the word out off-line to your network or joined other networking groups, now may be the time to do so. Social media is rented space so tap into the areas where YOU control how frequently people hear from you: your email list, your website, and your offline network are easy ways to diversify that deliver results.

If you want to get more organized with planning your social media content, download our FREE content planner to help you plan and repurpose your content to build a consistent presence online.