Ever wonder if people are actually reading your status updates or tweets? Well if you’re not getting any sort of likes, comments, or shares, that’s probably an early warning sign. Or, in the case of Facebook, just check out your page’s insights! (Now available for any page with more than 30 likes.) How are your numbers compared to your fans? Maybe it’s not anything to do with how many fans you have, but with your message. If you feel like there has been a lack of engagement happening on your business’s social media accounts, it’s time to find out why.

Here are 6 reasons why your fans could be tuning you out:

Number 6: You’re a wall-flower. Well, in this case, you aren’t really being tuned out. You aren’t saying anything at all! What do you expect your fans to do? Go to your page on their own freewill and talk to you? That’s not going to happen very often. You need to show them you are an active member of social society. I would venture to say that it is better to not have a page at all, than to have a business page that looks like someone spent 1 day putting it together and never came back!

Number 5: You’re the opposite of a wall-flower, you’re an over-poster! Remember, social media is about being SOCIAL with everyone. Our short attention spans love being able to get a ton of information about other people’s lives in a short amount of time. We definitely don’t want a brand wasting our precious news feed with 20 posts within 20 minutes on their upcoming event, latest special, or sale.   That is one highly effective way to push someone’s button… right to the point of clicking your “UN-Like” button! Practice self-control. And if you can’t control yourself then at least set a habit to log in once in the morning and post no more than 3 consecutive posts and log in once again in the evening to repeat (try new posts though, of course).

Number 4: The Content isn’t Catchy: Are you posting about what people actually care to hear? Mix it up! You should post interesting articles and videos that aren’t directly about your business, but are in the same industry/arena. We call these “Lifestyle” posts. The majority of your followers are going to have some things in common (obviously, they like your brand.) So based on that knowledge, if you find it interesting, they probably will too! And if you can’t find anything interesting, just go find a funny cat picture to post.

Number 3: You’re the Overly-Eager Salesman:   If your only mission with social media is to make sales, then you’re setting yourself up for failure. Social media is not all about making sales. Yes, it’s a great way to let people know about specials and with Facebook ads and offers, there are many opportunities for sales conversions. But if you are constantly pushing sales, people are going to UN-friend/UN-like/UN-follow you if they aren’t immediately interested in making a purchase. Instead, try establishing yourself as an expert and grow that credibility so they’ll remember you when they actually are ready to make a purchase.

Number 2: You’re offensive, too political, or just unprofessional: I would think this one would be common sense, but sometimes we have to be careful not to allow our own personal opinions to alter your brand’s image in a negative way. As a business, you can have opinions, but always be respectful of others. Getting too vocal about the next election or other controversial issues could set you up for a drop in followers. Remember, they control the channel. If you start drawing lines in the sand when it comes to these type of issues, you’ll lose that ability for them to relate to you and make it very easy for them to “UN-Follow”!  

Number 1: You don’t connect with your followers: When you first started your page, I’m sure you asked all of your personal friends to like the page or follow you. But now, how are you connecting with potential customers that don’t personally know you? After a while, the friends who did you a favor by liking your page originally may in turn dislike your page because they just don’t connect with what your business is saying and don’t feel its relative anymore. You need to connect with people who care about your brand. It’s not always about the numbers. If you have just 25 people who really care about your brand and bring you business, that’s definitely a win over trying to connect with people who are not your customers at all.