You log in and scroll your social media channels and occasionally tap to like or leave a comment. That’s the general behavior that we all exhibit when it comes to social media, but what about all of the transactions that are happening behind the scenes of that? People are using social media for all kinds of reasons. Some are looking for adoration and admiration from friends and family. Other’s are looking for business advances. Many are looking to share and exchange ideas and happenings. Nevertheless, people are using social media to ultimately connect with not just one person, but many at the same time in one publish of a post. That’s the gist of it and how fast it happens.
Social media’s metrics have made liking and commenting into something we refer to as engagement. If you’re on the business side of things, you want this to be a relatively high number. You need people to like or react, leave comments and share your content. It ultimately helps your business. Furthermore, it introduces you to a vast audience that you couldn’t possibly reach unless you had some celebrity. This concept doesn’t stop the everyday individual from seeking to introduce themselves or their businesses to new people via social media.
So, I asked people why they used social media, and I received various responses along the lines of those above. Responses included: marketing, keeping up with friends, building a brand, sharing my story, a means to be creative, making connections and more. We can all agree that we are seeking to be engaged with one another. However, the problem is, there are barriers to reaching our people or better yet, the people who share an interest in us and vice versa. The age-old question becomes how do I find my audience if it only consists of people I already know and they aren’t readily supportive. The truth is most of our social media communities are made up of family and friends. Some of which have continuously and often times, exhaustively supported the ventures that we post about. Others don’t have a proclivity to it at all. With these serving as your barriers, there’s really only one way to reach new audiences. Get your people to share your content.
Imagine you’ve been invited by a friend to an after-work networking event where he or she is familiar with most everyone there. You come prepared, dressed the part and speaking the part and ready to work the room. Your friend is simply the catalyst to doing so. After a few hours, you’ve managed to connect with a whole new group of individuals that you seemingly will create lasting relationships with when you leave the event. Social media networking should be done in the same way! I tried it out, and I was about to make over 1k connections between the influencers that I shared with my audience. Based on this, I am proving to you that there is power in sharing.
Essentially, we can all help each other connect, make business exchanges, share ideas, be creative and more. Stop worrying about if you like it or not. Share someone’s content because they’ve presented it well and someone in your audience may benefit from it. Make the connection.
As an active member of society on social media, help to bridge the potential transactions that could take place. Ultimately, in the digital landscape that we are currently living in, we hold the keys to each other’s networks and advances.
Below you will see screenshots of what happened when I shared fellow bloggers and influencers content on my own social media. Many of them received over 100 sticker taps. What this means is that people were interested in that particular person that I shared. Imagine if we were all sharing even more! The power of sharing is very real. So, what I’m saying to you is be willing to introduce someone else’s content, their business or whatever it is. Your audience may consist of individuals looking for something or someone new. Give them that chance.
Lastly, you’ll notice that some received more sticker taps than others. One connection can change someone’s life. Don’t let the numbers trick you into thinking anything otherwise.
