The Biggest Myth Influencers Must Stop Believing To Build Authority…
Your total follower count means little to social algorithms today. Engagement is now the gold standard to get seen and grow.
TikTok forced everyone to focus on engagement over followers. Here’s why…
The game changed when creators on TikTok started seeing their videos going viral even if they only had a few hundred or thousand followers. TikTok has democratized reach by rewarding creators who make engaging content instead of only those who already have a large following.
TikTok’s platform is built a little differently than what we’re used to…
Videos play immediately, so your choice is to watch or scroll. This gives immediate engagement feedback (watch time), leading to better predictions- based solely on engagement. Better predictions mean more users are spending more time on the platform.
This has caused an explosion in TikTok’s active users and quickly became the dominant social platform today. The old guard is taking notice and started prioritizing Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts to recapture those users, and they’re all focusing on engagement over follower count.
This new focus on engagement levels the playing field for creators and influencers trying to become the authority in their space. The problem is that creating content that gets people to engage is difficult.
How you can take advantage of the monumental shift happening on social media today
The engagement your content gets is a direct reflection of how valuable your audience thinks your idea is. If you aren’t getting engagement, it means people don’t care about the topic.
To get people to engage, you must post about topics and ideas that solve an immediate problem your audience has. Find out what those topics are and talk about them in as many different ways as you can until you find what resonates best.
If you’re not talking about topics your audience cares about, nothing else matters. Figure this out first and do it by asking your audience and posting regularly. The data will tell you if you’re on the right track.
Follow the right people for inspiration
Find out what’s working now by looking at other influencers who are getting massive engagement. Now adapt those frameworks and ideas to your content.
A word of caution… Many influencers (especially crypto) game the system to create fake engagement. We’ve audited thousands of Twitter accounts and see this happening often.
By artificially boosting early engagement, they can trick the algorithm into showing their content to real people to create virality. Without that initial coordination, the post wouldn’t have ever taken off.
If you start following these accounts to guide your own content creation, you’ll never be able to repeat their success because their content isn’t actually what people want.
If you’re ever unsure about an influencer’s authenticity, you can use Mainline to audit their following and engagement.
Give the platforms what they want.
When your efforts align with what a social platform wants, they reward you exponentially. These platforms want people to scroll more so they can show them more ads. That’s how they make money.
If your content solves a major problem your audience is facing, they’ll want to consume everything you have, keeping them on the platform longer. There are no other secrets, tricks, or hacks people keep looking for them because it’s hard to produce content people want to engage with.
When you create binge-worthy content that solves an immediate need, you’ll be rewarded by the platforms and by creating more trust and connection with your audience while positioning you as the authority in your niche.
Get Better.
The harsh reality is most content isn’t very good. And that’s ok because it’s a skill that takes time to develop. The only way to get better is to produce more content.
This can be difficult when post after post isn’t getting engagement. Keep going. Figure out the most significant problems your audience is facing and find different ways to help them solve those problems.
People need to be reminded more than they need to be taught, so find different ways to talk about their problems until you find a way that resonates with your audience.
Knowing who the authority figures are in your market and looking at their content for ideas and frameworks will give you a great starting point to add your unique angle.
Skip most viral trends.
The latest dance trend won’t get you the engagement you want. Picking up 10,000 followers who don’t care about BSC-Defi-stablecoin-staking won’t build your authority and could hurt your engagement/growth later.
Once that trend dies off, you’ll be left with a bunch of followers who don’t care about the problems you know how to solve. When you appear in their feed next time, they’ll quickly scroll past, alerting the algorithm your content isn’t worth engaging with.
You’re also making it difficult for your true fans to find your content that solves their problem. No one is going to scroll through your profile, hoping to find the content they’re looking for. They’ll simply go to someone else who made it obvious they can help.
Taking Action
Here’s how you can start creating better content right now that will grow your influence and authority without having to game the algorithms.
- Find out the most significant problem your audience is facing that you solve better than anyone else. If you’re not sure, ask your customers.
- Find the real authorities in your industry to see how they create content that resonates with a similar audience. Beware of those creating fake engagement.
- You can use Mainline to quickly and easily see who’s engagement is real and who’s isn’t.
- Start creating content focused on helping solve these problems. Repeat every day.
