Why am I getting no engagement?

Putting effort into posting content and then getting f*ck all engagement is one of the most demoralising feelings ever.

As much as I'd love to say, I just moved on and said to myself "oh well, that didn't quite land" after writing about 8,000 posts, I still feel it. It feels like rejection.

I know, I'm a grown up and should get over it, but it does.

I've mastered LinkedIn and that works, but if you meet me on Instagram 😭.

As much as I'd like to blame the algorithm (and to some extent is is unfair, as it favours people who already have engagement) - the honest truth is - my content isn't interesting enough for the audience.

I have recently done an experiment on a Facebook page, posting the same type of content on the same topic. The content are short clips from a niche within a niche - science fiction space ship battles.

It has blown up. I've gained over 5k followers and 8m views in 90 days. 

So what can we learn from this?

• Social media algorithms show you more of what you've consumed. If I watch a funny clip about cats, my feed will adapt to show me more funny cats. This is true on LinkedIn - currently I am enraged by people preaching how Claude is going to kill businesses or you can build a one person billion dollar business with Claude. Because it creates a strong reaction, guess what? LinkedIn gives me more of it - even though I hate it.  Lesson: You need to create a strong reaction, love, hate, agree disagree (that doesn't have to be rage bait).
• Feed appeal is real. I can spot a post about LinkedIn a mile off when I'm scrolling. My subconscious mind can pick up logos and topics that I talk about and think about. A bit like the red car effect. You buy a red car, you now see red cars. So, in the visual or hook copy, make sure what the audience wants is really clear. That will stop them scrolling. Algorithms want us to spend as much time as possible on their platform, so how long people spend on posts matter.
• Visualisation matters too. Not the woo woo version. If people can picture what you're talking about, they'll more likely engage and the message will stick. Elephant 🐘- see what I mean? We create pictures in our mind. Here is where I go wrong on Instagram - I speak too much about concepts and not specifics. I talk about winning clients and not, a client paying you $5k today from a post. One is more specific. They can image it, the other is a concept - they want both, but the specific is more powerful. Conceptual language often requires more thought, more left brain and so people skip it.

I know this, maybe you know this too, but for some reason on Instagram, I totally forget this and don't take my own advice.

I think part of it is, I feel out of sorts there, my principles can be applied to Instagram, but because I don't live there, it feels off.

I'll get better at that and the 3 points above.