Quit trying to “figure out the algorithm” and focus on creating mind-blowing content instead.
10 times out of 10 when I see someone saying that “the algorithm isn’t showing my posts” or “my reach is down again” I go and check out what they’re writing and… I see why. 😮
Here are a few common things I see (mistakes, you might say) that might result in people passing by your posts without noticing or engaging:
1) Writing content that doesn’t focus on a problem that your ideal client wants solved (or, conversely, a result that they want to get).
I saw a post the other day that went on and on about “the differences between content writing and copywriting.”
Huh? Who cares? How does that help me solve a PROBLEM?
For example, does content writing attract more leads/clients than copywriting? If yes, how/why so? Why aren’t you telling us that?
If you don’t connect your topic to a problem, it just sounds like an academic or theoretical exercise – something that only other academics (i.e. people in your field) would be interested in.
What if you started out your post saying, “Want to attract more leads? Make sure you’re doing content writing… not copywriting. One will attract leads, the other won’t.”
(I’m just making that up, obviously, because I don’t know if it’s true… but at least it’s connected to a problem now… “not attracting enough leads.”)
Same for a post that talks about “what are ‘boundaries’?”
Boundaries are awesome but that’s not a PROBLEM. Boundaries are the SOLUTION to a problem. Even those of us who’ve studied boundaries for years can’t always see how they apply to solve certain problems.
Try leading with something like, “Why you just told your sister ‘yes’ you’d babysit her kid once again when you really deep down felt like you couldn’t handle it.”
That catches people’s attention because that’s actually what they’re struggling with at a basic level. Then show how boundaries can solve that.
If you’re just talking about “boundaries” in isolation, again that just sounds academic – something people will either scroll right past or maybe comment to say, “Right on!” and then move on with their day.
They definitely won’t message you saying “OMG I now see that you can help me solve my problem with my sister.” Because you didn’t lead off your post with that problem (or any problem) so they’re not connecting the dots.
2) Second mistake is writing content that does focus on a problem, but that holds back the answer/insight/solution.
Some people do have the “problem” part nailed, but then their post doesn’t give any meaningful information about how to solve it.
Or they just give a one-sentence “teaser” like:
“Want to get more leads? You have to write more compelling content. Message me to learn how or get my free 15-steps checklist to learn how.”
Instead, what if you used your POST to tell us how? 😉
Proving that you actually know something before you expect us to take any action?
It’s a lot of effort for people to take the time to message you just to find out if you even have anything meaningful to say when they’re being marketed to from every which way by others who are saying the exact same thing you are.
Don’t expect many to do it.
Definitely don’t expect many high-ticket/high-income buyers to do it. (You know, the kind who has plenty of money and likes investing in expert help 😉 ) They’re usually busy with whatever career or business has them making that much money.
3) Third mistake is going on and on at the beginning of the post (or even for almost the entire post) DESCRIBING the problem.
Also known as trying to “connect with people’s pain.”
For example:
“You wake up at 5 a.m. thinking about what drudgery your day is going to be…
Meeting with clients who don’t excite you, feeling like you’d rather be anywhere else.
Feeling like your business has become this chain around your neck.
You never thought it would be this way when you started…”
Etc. etc. etc. for 5 more paragraphs.
Nope!
That does not work well in the context we’re working with (hoping to catch a stranger’s attention in the newsfeed).
It obviously does work well in other contexts (such as with direct mail, when someone is sitting with a letter in their hands, or on a sales page, when someone already familiar with you/your work intentionally clicked to learn more about an offer of yours that interests them – and they’re in the headspace to be able to digest it).
What you want to do is sum up the problem in one or two sentences and then IMMEDIATELY start giving the solution. (hint: this very post is an example 😉 )
Posts in the newsfeed are usually truncated with a “See More” after approximately 3-4 line breaks. So you want to already be getting into your mind-blowing insights about the problem before that point – otherwise people won’t be as likely to click to read the whole thing.
I have never worried about doing anything in particular to stimulate the algorithm. Truth be told, I know very little about how it works.
I occasionally engage very authentically with others’ posts in my feed – this means only if I truly enjoyed what they said or truly feel compelled to add something to the discussion.
And periodically I will do a review of my friends list and remove people who seem to be inactive on Facebook or haven’t engaged with me for months or years.
Other than that, I don’t worry about it.
I will tell you, though, that when I was constantly committing the three errors described in this post, I usually got a maximum of 3-4 people per month contacting me to say they were interested in working with me. Sometimes it was a lot less than that, even zero.
When I figured out how to fix my posts so that each one was free of the 3 above errors, I started getting (on average) at least 2-4 people per WEEK contacting me in Messenger with interest in working together.
(and they were also more pre-sold – mostly telling me they were pretty much ready to sign up and just had a question or two first, and didn’t even want to get on a phone call before paying my high-ticket fee)
This catapulted me from ~$30k/year to ~$300k/year – a tenfold increase. Cool, no?
I should also mention that in addition to fixing these three mistakes, I also started including very specific calls-to-action in my posts. And that’s the other ingredient that contributes to getting consistent reach-outs from your posts.
If you’re interested in getting my help to create content that gets consistent reach-outs from pre-sold ideal clients, that’s one of the main things I work on with folks in my 30-day private intensive.
We also work on refining/clarifying your high ticket offer (or creating one if you don’t have one yet) and the problem it solves, refining and simplifying your sales process (so you can sell over messenger like I do or cut down your phone calls to 15-20 minutes), and growing your audience.
It’s an awesome program that uplevels every area of your business – and makes sure that all the pieces (offer, lead generation, marketing, and sales) fit together well.
It’s the best fit for coaches, consultants or done-for-you service providers who have years or decades of experience with their subject matter and are already earning from their businesses and want to reach six or multiple six figures.
I’ve also had folks who were already at multiple-six or seven figures learn my content writing and enrollment methods to help them and their teams to scale higher with more ease than the methods they were already using.
Just send me a DM on Facebook if you’re interested and we will have a very quick chat to see if the program is a good fit for you and your business. If I feel I can help you, I’ll invite you to join and we can get you started in the program as soon as today!