When I run social media workshops or deliver talks about how to use social media in the best possible way, I often get asked why we should not write long social media posts. So many people write long social media posts, and they really are such wasted opportunities.
Let’s consider how social media works
The dreaded word ‘algorithms’ come up in social media conversations. This simply means that the platforms decide who sees your posts and for how long. When we create a post, it drops down the feed quite quickly. On platforms like Twitter, a post lasts a few minutes (in the main feed).
The platforms do ‘reward’ the creator of the post if there is engagement. Your post may last a bit longer if you get comments and shares. Reactions are good, but not as effective as people taking the time to comment and reply to comments on your post.
How we engage with content
We are increasingly short on time. Life is full and spending time scrolling through social media is not as it was during the pandemic of 2020/2021. If people have to click on ‘see more’ or ‘read more’, they probably won’t. We have become so lazy and we generally can’t be bothered.
Most people will support those in their feed with at least a ‘like’, but that does not mean they have actually read your post. I know I give a long post a ‘love’ (because I know they have spent time writing it), even if I have not read it.
What should we do instead?
If you have something you want to share, put it on your website as a blog post. Your ideas need to be more visible and will be so much more effective.
- Google will love you. Regular content will feature higher in a Google search. Is this not where people look for you? And research what you do.
- When you spend time thinking about content and crafting it carefully, you want it to last longer. It clearly has value. On your website, it will be there forever, rather than drop down the feed in a couple of hours.
- As we are increasingly lazier, less is more. Use your social post to drive traffic to your website. Again, Google will love this and you will start to see more benefits.
- Use your social media channels to build relationships, not to broadcast. Showcase your skills and expertise, support others in your community and highlight why people need to find out more about you on your website.
- Each item on your website can have a ‘call to action’. These can include ‘buy my book here’ or ‘sign up for my email list’ or ‘read this other blog by me’. You want people to send time on your website, not on the social media platform. Why give them the traffic?
- Content on a website can convert to sales. Content on a social media platform will only convert to sales if you pay for advertising.
You control the content on your website. On social media, you have no say and no control!
Take the power back and make yourself more visible using your own website.
