Why Doesn’t Anyone Share my Posts?

What Posts Do YOU Share?

A client once expressed frustration that no one was sharing her social media posts about her new business. The first basic truth was that she didn’t share the posts from other businesses either. The second basic truth is that people rarely share without a reason to do so. What she missed is that it’s not about her. It’s about the person doing the sharing.

Mostly, people share to get attention, just like the reason for the original post, just a different person. There are some people who will share for goodness sake. There are some people who will share for information sake. Most will only share if it’s cute or funny, a “gotcha” for their favorite thing or because it’s titillating. They are sharing to get likes, comments and shares.

In the long run, a post that is overly heavy on “me” will not be shared very often, unless it has other factors that will reward the person sharing. I shared the airport post because I had recently been on a flight and wondered the same thing. The larger market here is anyone who has been in an airport.

Do You Respond?

What do you do if someone posts about your company? How would you even find out if someone wrote a post about your company? If someone shares one of your posts, it’s easier because Facebook will notify you (if you have your settings set up for it.)

But, what if I make mention of you in a post? Generally, I email the company that I have posted about, in case I have an error of fact or spelling. But, even with an email, some companies do not follow through with a response, either to the email or two the post.

Sharing Posts Is a Curated Action

People who are fans of your business or organization may share it, if you give them a good reason to share. Yes, I will  share the cute or witty or art or history post. But, mostly, I’m likely to share a small business, food, local or small producer post, or a post from a person I am well acquainted with.  I am very unlikely to share a mean or snarky or political post of any kind.

The key here is to know your market! What do they like? What do they share? If what they share is a genre or topic that you don’t care for, you have to decide whether you will switch or not. I have a Facebook page, with a friend, that is for serious Foodies and people who like to entertain. It’s not about cute. It’s not about quick food. But, it has been very tempting to change genres to sassy and snarky and go for the clicks. That is, change our genre to a type of post that I would never share. But, chasing that market means hurting our goal of getting attention from serious small producers.

How Do Social Media Algorithms Affect Sharing?

Part of the reason that your posts might not be shared is that people may not be seeing them. And, they may not be seeing them because Facebook isn’t showing them. Facebook is behavior driven. That means that it shows people what it thinks they want to see, based on their previous behavior.

Here are some algorithm reasons

1. You don’t post very often. This is like the person who occasionally or rarely goes to a networking meeting, but expects others to recommend them.
2. You only interact with other people when you have something to sell or tell. This is the person who monopolizes the conversation at the networking meeting.
3. Your posts don’t have a preview image or video.
4. You don’t have clear preview titles or descriptions.

How Can I Be More Effective in Working with Social Media Algorithms?

1. 

   Add a preview image or video to your posts and your website.
   Today, I tried to share a link to this fine chocolate factory, but their website has no preview image. So, I removed my post.

2. Add a title and a description that is more than your domain name.
3. Make sure that the image, title and description match the text at the top of the post.
4. Look at other people’s posts and respond.
5. Respond with more than a like. Respond with a story or a well-thought-out comment of several sentences.

What Does Preview Code Look Like

The site without the preview image actually does have some preview tags. They are the tags that produce the name, title and description below where the image is supposed to be. That code looks like this:

<meta property=”og:type” content=”website”>

<meta property=”og:title” content=”Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate”>

<meta property=”og:url” content=”https://dicktaylorchocolate.com“>

<meta property=”og:description” content=”Small batch bean to bar craft chocolate makers specializing in single origin two ingredient chocolate. All of our chocolate is made in our factory in California”>

<meta property=”og:site_name” content=”Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate “>

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