PS: I Know You Liked Your Post

“Focus on how to be social, not do social.”

Jay Baer

Here is the audio version of this post. Thank you so much for listening.

So I asked a very simple question last week on Facebook and Instagram, thinking I would get a pretty straightforward answer. “Is it OK to like our own posts on Facebook, Instagram or any other social platforms?” I applaud all those who courageously shared their thoughts. Thank you!

Now I could have been more clear, I was speaking about business pages and posts, not personal. So this post is about business pages and my professional view is based on countless hours of engaging myself, reading, researching, following respected leaders in the space, and watching my own and my clients behaviors and analytics.

The short answer
No, there is no need for your business to like its own posts. And if people are paying attention, it looks kinda lame and desperate.

The longer answer
Why Are We Even There?
The purpose of engaging on social platforms for business is to share, engage, listen, build relationships and create connections. Based on the objectives of the business being on a social platform, those actions could result in increased traffic to your website, referrals and revenue.

How Can We Create More Engagement?
1. Sharing your business posts to your personal pages (if the target audience is similar) can increase engagement on Facebook, since personal pages seem to show up more in the news feed than business pages.

2. Creating a content strategy that creates value for your followers.

3. Posting consistently and often. How often? It depends on your audience. And only trying different approaches and measuring them will give you that answer.

In the end, the goal is not to try to game the system, the goal is to create relevant, meaningful content that adds value to your community. Whether its on Facebook, Instagram, a blog or e-newsletter.

We move towards what we focus on. So instead of focusing on likes or being seen, I say we focus on how we can be of service to the humans that choose to follow us and listen to us. And liking your own post just does not fit into that.

What are your thoughts? Please share your comments below, or on Facebook, and of course, you can always inbox me. I’m listening.

(shared with LOVE from Nina)