When it comes to social media, few things are worse than being boring.

When you’re boring, you may as well not exist.

This is why people do ridiculous, attention-grabbing things on social media – because they don’t want to disappear. To them, looking ridiculous is better than being boring.

Businesses, on the other hand, can’t afford to look ridiculous.

The integrity of your brand hinges on how you present yourself and your business on social media.

However, you can’t afford to be boring, either.

Because when you’re boring, you disappear.

And when you disappear, you can’t grow your business.

Look – it happens.

In the beginning, it’s all wonderful. You strategize, you execute, and you launch an exciting new social media campaign. At first, everything goes right, and you see dramatic spikes in engagement, likes, and follows.

And then something changes.

Maybe it takes a few weeks, or even a few months. Or maybe it will even blind sight you after a year of smooth sailing… but sooner or later, it will happen.

You’ll hit a plateau.

And then come the crickets.

It’s heartbreaking, right?

Don’t worry. Ease up on yourself. It happens to everyone, I assure you.

But you’re an entrepreneur, and all great entrepreneurs know the value of rolling with the punches.

The sooner you take action, the better.

Don’t waste your time in denial, or waiting for it to correct itself. Above all, don’t panic.

First and foremost, understand that stagnation on social media is not the beginning of the end, and it’s not because you’re not worthy or that your business doesn’t have something of value to offer.

Understand that hitting a plateau is the nature of the beast that is social media marketing.

You give, give, give and for a while, things will be great and then all of a sudden, people want more.

So – give it to them. Give them more.

Here’s how…

Keep your content spicy.

Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram will create algorithms that can wreak havoc on your social media presence if you are a business.

Remember, that this isn’t a personal attack or (entirely) a ploy to get you to pay for advertising. More than anything, it’s a means for social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to make sure that the content that gets seen the most is relevant and interesting, so that their users stay happy and stick around.

So what is a business owner to do?

The answer is simple. But the execution is difficult.

You must stay relevant and interesting.

You must create content that the right target audience is going to find useful. Don’t spam them or try to trick them into clicking on bait.

And be prepared to take your content to the next level as your audience evolves. If your content gets stagnant, your audience won’t stick around. Why would they?

Ask yourself this tough question – have you lost touch with your audience? Be honest.

Are you sure you know what it is your audience needs from you? Sometimes, we business owners get so caught up in the day-to-day, we forget to check in with the people who matter the most to our business – our audience.

A great way to touch base with them is to just ask them – point blank – what it is you can help them with.

Stay on top of social media trends.

You can’t really “hack” the Facebook algorithm, or outsmart the Instagram algorithm, or any other algorithm, but you can do things to make the algorithms work more in your favor.

One way to “beat the algorithms”, so to speak, is to stay on top of new social media trends, because algorithms tend to favor new features and trends.

For example, native video is a hot new social media trend right now, with all the major social media platforms encouraging users to upload videos directly to their platforms (hence keeping the video content “native” to that specific social media platform).

If your business uploads more videos, and keeps those videos native to their respective social media platforms, you will get more visibility and therefore (if your content is good) more engagement.

Revisit your brand.

If your content isn’t getting the reaction you want from the people you want, and if trying to stay on top of social media trends isn’t getting you results either, it may be time to revisit your branding.

One of the greatest things about social media is that it gives you a direct lifeline to your target audience. You should never take for granted what you know or think you know about them. There is always more to learn about them.

So don’t feel bad if you come to the realization that your messaging and content is off the mark. After all, if you hadn’t attempted to engage on social media, you never would have realized this and had the opportunity to rework your branding.

Honing your brand is an ongoing process. Be prepared to adapt and try new things when you’re promoting a business on social media.

Revisit post frequency and time.

Sometimes, a dip in your popularity on social media could be the result of something as basic as when you post and how often you post.

Experiment with post time and frequency, and observe when you get the most engagement and shares.

Optimal post time and frequency will vary from business to business, and it can change over the course of time, especially if the demographics and psychographics of your audience changes.

Facebook and Instagram give business owners FREE access to powerful analytics that can help you determine when the best times of day to post are for your business.

In order to have access to these analytics in Facebook, you will need a Facebook business page (not just a personal profile), with at least 100 followers.

For access to Instagram’s analytics, you need to upgrade your account to a business account (this is free to do) and you will require at least 100 followers.

Make sure you know how to use hashtags.

Hashtags are not a joke.

Okay, they kind of are, but they are also very useful if you’re trying to get seen on social media, especially Twitter and Instagram.

If you’re seeing less action on your social media, make sure you are using hashtags properly.

Don’t be afraid to try out new hashtags on Twitter and Instagram – in fact, it’s a good idea to shake things up every now and then.

Make sure the hashtags you are using are current and relevant to the audience you want to attract.

If you need to brush up on your Instagram hashtag skills, you can find a quick guide here.

And click here for a general guide to Twitter hashtags.

If your business presence on social media takes a sudden nose dive, do not panic. It’s just the nature of the beast that is social media marketing and there are many things you can do to get your engagement numbers up again. First and foremost, make sure your content is still relevant to your desired audience. Stay on top of social media trends so that the current algorithms don’t work against you. Revisit your branding, check in on your post times and post frequency, and make sure you know how to use hashtags properly.

 

If you’re ready to take your business blog to the next level, check out my FREE eBook, “How To Blog Like An Entrepreneur” here…