What to Do When Nothing is Working Pt. 1

PRESENTED BY THE AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION

Join the Essential Community For Marketers

Stay ahead of the curve and join the thousands of marketers shaping the future of marketing with the American Marketing Association. As the largest community-based marketing organization, you’ll find award-winning content, professional certifications (PCM®), industry-leading training events, and vibrant local chapters. Members get access to an abundance of resources, on-demand courses, and the most essential community in marketing.

Get exclusive benefits when you become a member today!

DEEP DIVE

Below is an expanded list of tactics for when nothing feels like it’s working on social media. I tried to tackle as many issues as possible.

#1 Low Engagement

Few likes, comments, shares, or interactions on your posts?

Do this

• If the platform you’re using introduced a new format, sticker, or any new functionality: START USING IT ASAP!

• Use polls, and ask questions that people want to weigh in on

• If you create videos, make sure you use an attractive hook in the first 2 seconds of the video.

• Comment and like other accounts in your niche. Try to comment with opinions/valuable info, not just emojis

• Increase your IG Stories to around 3 per day

#2 No New Followers

Difficulty in attracting new followers and growing your account.

Do this

• Use formats that reach non-followers, these are:

  • TikToks (vertical videos)

  • Reels (vertical videos)

  • IG feed posts (video + images)

• Do not focus on IG Stories because they only reach people who already follow you

• Increase your posting cadence:

  • 1-3 posts per week if you’re starting out

  • 5-7 posts per week for the pros

#3 Algorithm Changes

Platforms frequently changing algorithms, affecting reach and visibility.

Do this

• Know that these changes are ALWAYS happening, whether platforms announce them or not. Platforms always test new features and changes on small pools of users, assume that you’re in a test group at any point in time 😅 

• Follow @mosseri (Head of Instagram, usually very vocal about algo changes on the platform) and @creators for updates. Also @instagramforbusiness is good for ads and small biz

• If the algo changes to favor a certain format or genre, pivot your content strategy as quickly as possible. The algo rewards early adopters

• Bonus: You’re reading this newsletter, so you’re good 😉 

#4 Content Saturation

Competition with a large volume of content makes it hard to stand out.

Do this

• This one is tough, but one word: diversify

• These days platforms prefer content with a human in them (think: green screen commentary, or ‘story time’ type of videos, anything you can [safely] shoot in a car, etc.)

• Increase your video content: make sure it’s vertical and that it occupies the entire screen (no square videos or black bars on top/bottom BS)

• People love stories. Give it to them!

• Don’t be afraid of longer videos. Remember Reesa Teesa from earlier this year? she posted 50 hours worth of video and people ate it up

• Faceless accounts have it a bit more difficult: try engagement tactics from point #1 above

#5 Inconsistent Posting

Struggling to maintain a regular posting schedule.

Do this

• The algo punishes inconsistency. If you’re not consistent, your reach will suffer and it will take a few weeks (5+) to get it back on track, but algos are like muscles, they need to be reminded over and over again

• Use a content calendar setup to organize posts ahead of time (a lot of these templates are free online)

• Batch create. Carve an hour or so a week to come up with post ideas for the entire week/month. Create all at once

• Use ChatGPT to help come up with content ideas. Make sure you feed it with as many details as possible, let it give you a long list of ideas, then cherry-pick

• One word: discipline 🫤 

• A ‘healthy’ posting cadence looks something like this (mileage may vary):

  • Feed posts: 1-3 per week

  • Stories: 1-3 per day

  • Reels/TikToks: 1-4 per week

How Long Should I Do This?

Always give any change 6 weeks to pick up. If you’re changing anything, starting or changing anything, do it consistently for 6 weeks.

6 weeks. It’s the golden standard.

Anything Else I Missed?

Is there a pain point you’d like me to tackle in future editions?

Hit ‘Reply’ to this email and share it with me.

📲 This Week’s Social Updates

• Meta Verified for Business has new tiers (Read)

• Instagram told creators to keep videos less than 90 seconds (Read)

• Meta introduced enhanced AI tools for ads (Read)

• Publisher referrals from Facebook declined by 50% (Read)

• TikTok will tag AI-created content (Read)