During a Creative AF Livecast in my Food Blogging, Photography & Videography group, newb food blogger, Rachel from Rustic Foodie Girl asked how she can get more engagement on her social media posts.
After 10 years in the biz, I know how frustrating it can be to follow the algorithms, stand out of the crowd, and make your posts matter. Good news! You can make waves and move humans to click + share with 5 very simple techniques.
Since using these on my own channel, I've seen engagement more than DOUBLE, starting with the very first post! You don't have to wait forever to see these 5 tricks work.
A note to you: If after reading through this list, you feel like following the method will leave your posts feeling fake and forced, it CAN take a while to find your own flow. But stick with it, and soon this will be like reflex. You won't even have to think about it, and you'll absolutely see the results. Give these 5 effective techniques a try!
1. TITLE FIRST. MAKE IT ALL CAPS.
Start your post with a catchy title. Treat it like a title. It should be clear, catchy, specific & interesting to your fans. Tell them what they will get by reading your post. Use a number if you can. Let them know you understand a specific problem, or have a solution they are looking for:
- THE BEST LENS FOR FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY
- 3 THINGS EVERY FOOD BLOGGER SHOULD KNOW
- YES, I DOUBLED MY INCOME LAST MONTH. HERE’S HOW...
2. START WITH A STORY
Paragraph 1 Invites readers in with a story that will intrigue, excite or interest them. Keep it quick, short simple sentences. Move it along quickly. You only have one paragraph. And most importantly, start at the most exciting part of the story.
- SHE GRABBED MY CAMERA AND THREW IT ON THE FLOOR...
- I PACKED EVERYTHING IN A BROWN BOX, WALKED OUT THE FRONT DOOR...
- IT’S 5:15 PM AND THERE YOU ARE, ABOUT TO BUY A ROTISSERIE CHICKEN AGAIN...
3. TELL THEM. SUCCINCTLY.
Time to tie it all together. Tell them what you want them to know. Better yet, TELL THEM WHAT THEY WANT TO KNOW. Give answers. Be clear & specific. Use short sentences here, and add spaces between ideas. This will draw readers into your post and make it easy for them to scan the idea, while still digesting your words. Instead of bullet points, start related ideas with ellipses...
- ...PULL THOSE SKINNY JEANS FROM THE CLOSET
- ...BUY AN ITTY-BITTY BIKINI. OR TWO.
- ...THIS 1-WEEK KETO MEAL PLAN WILL KICKSTART YOUR SUMMER BOD!
4. MAKE THE SELL
Every post should be tied to an action. But first, you've got to give your reader ample motivation to take that action. This is called MAKING THE SELL.
Now that they know a bit about you & you’ve shown you understand them, invite them in to watch your video, share your post, comment, leave and emoji. etc. Quickly explain the ACTION THAT YOU WANT THEM TO DO.
5. GIVE THEM AN ACTION
Never again should you end a post without giving your reader SOMETHING TO DO.
Drop a link. Share your website, or an affiliate link. Invite them to watch and share. Or subscribe. Whatever it is, tell them what you want them to do. THEN, PROVIDE AN EASY WAY TO TAKE THE ACTION YOU WANT THEM TO TAKE.
There's nothing worse than getting to the bottom of a post, and not knowing what to do next, where to click, how to keep feeling those feelings, how to show that this thing you just read meant something to you. ADD AN ACTION AT THE END OF EVERY POST & you'll get your readers to engage. It's that easy.
MEMORIZE THESE 5 STEPS
Ready for YOUR NEXT ACTION? Scroll on down to the bottom of this post, and grab these 5 ideas as a FREE PRINTABLE. Keep them by your desk as a quick reminder of how to write better, more effective, and more engaging Facebook and Instagram posts. It'll all become reflex soon enough, but until you've committed it to memory, let this printable be your guide!
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