by Bethany Jett, @BetJett

When we’re writing a novel or nonfiction book, article, or blog post, we have one audience in mind: Our own.

Yet the rules change when it comes to certain social media platforms…ahem, Twitter and Facebook. With those platforms, we need to consider what our audience’s audience wants. To execute our content well, we must become chess-thinkers…always a step or two (or six) ahead. Not only do we have to understand the needs of our people, we must be in tune with what our people share with their people.

I’m pretty aware of who my audience is for each social media network. Entrepreneurial content is king for me on Twitter and in certain Facebook groups, but not so much on Pinterest, Instagram, or my own personal Facebook page. Watch me spin around in my office chair and bump the desk, or catch my kids’ favorite breakfast being cooked step-by-step is great for Snapchat, but terrible for my audience on Twitter.

Your audiences are slightly different, too.

The purpose of each platform is different, as is the culture. What goes viral on one platform can remain stagnant on another. The rules about sharing great and valuable content work across each social media medium, but since I want to dive deep today, I’ll use my own Facebook author page as an example. Mostly because I kinda stink at it.

To be honest, I haven’t figured out what my audience wants there, which means I’m completely out of tune with what they share with their audiences.

While I spend a lot of time on my personal Facebook page and know exactly what does and doesn’t work there, Facebook business pages are a different ball game. And yet, while this isn’t a post specifically about Facebook business/author pages…

Do I need both a Facebook personal page and an author page? 

This is a question I get asked a lot, and my answer is always the same. It depends on your audience. Facebook personal pages work great for some people. Facebook business/author pages work great for others. It really depends on how much time you invest in deepening the relationships there. I don’t think there is a cut-and-dry, right-or-wrong answer here. For everyone who does terrible at a Facebook business page, there is someone who is doing great. You have to test drive what’s going to work for you.

What metric do you use to measure engagement?

Winning with social media is more about connecting to your audience than building a huge following. Of course, we all want huge numbers of people to like us and think we are amazing, but we have to build trust first. We must take the focus off of ourselves and think about our audience.

How do we connect with them?

We experiment.

For the last several months, I’ve tested the days, times, frequency of posts, and types of posts on that platform to see which ones create the most engagement. Initially, I was interested in the amount of “likes” a post had, but that really means nothing to me. It might help my algorithm to be bumped into other people’s newsfeeds, but it only takes a split second to “like” something.

I want comments.

The best way to get my audience to comment was to ask a question, so I tried sharing a story and asking for advice. I created a pretty images with a question or call-to-action (CTA). I shared a Pinterest “pin of the day” to elicit comments.

Some worked. Some didn’t.

In fact, most surprising to me was that the status that earned the most comments and engagement was a funny, off-beat question. “If your rap name is the last thing you ate with “lil” in front of it, what’s your rap name?”

Rapping has absolutely nothing to do with my brand, but it the voice of the question struck a nerve with my people. I loved all the answers they gave.

Not all questions are created equally, however.

The day before, I’d asked a more general question that resulted in much less engagement. 

In fact, the only “like” was from my aunt. Love you, Aunt Nancy!

After diving deep into the world of social media according to renowned expert Gary Vaynerchuk (@GaryVee), I’m now looking for something else.

What does my audience find worthy enough to share with theirs?

In his book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World, Gary Vee quotes world-renowned advertising executive Leo Burnett’s advice for making great content:

Make it simple.
Make it memorable.
Make it inviting to look at.
Make it fun to read.

This is my new filter.

I searched through my Facebook author posts to find one that people had shared. I scrolled down my timeline…

and scrolled…

and scrolled…

…and scrolled.

I had to go allllllllll the way back to June 2016 to find a post someone had shared.

It’s a pretty great quote, right?

But the presentation wasn’t worth even the one share.

I should have taken the time to add it to a pretty background. Images get shared way more than just text statuses.

I also could have added a little message above the newly created image, making myself more “human” by relating this quote to something happening in the world or the culture of my audience. Instead, I liked the quote, so I shared it. The amount of effort I put into it was minimal, and the lack of engagement proves it.

What does your audience share with their audience?

That’s a whole new ball game for content creation.

It means every piece of content that I use (on any social site) must be carefully thought out and planned, even if it’s deliberately “off the cuff.”

It means that I need to research my followers. What things do they like to share? Who are they connecting with on the platform that is similar to my field or niche?

When I share great content for my audience, we both win. When I share great content for my audience that they want to share with theirs, the winning increases exponentially.

The same will be true for you.

Why do you care about your author/business Facebook page when you see better engagement on your personal page? Just turn it off. 

Personally, I’m not ready to pull the plug.

After checking the analytics, less than half of my author page audience is engaged with me on my personal page. For whatever reason, they’ve not chosen to move over, and that’s okay. I may have ignored my author page for so long that I’ve become irrelevant to them, and that’s sad for me, but that’s what happens.

However, there are some amazing people who reach out and message me only through my Facebook author page, despite my constant activity on other platforms. I’m not going to leave them. Instead, I’m determined to serve my audience on every platform based on what they want. So I’m determined to provide a better service here.

Final thoughts…

Not every social media platform is for everyone. If a platform doesn’t work for you, it’s okay to move on. Each one of us has different reasons for using social media, so our needs and preferred platforms are going to be different. The main idea of this post isn’t to start using a Facebook business/author page, it was merely the example.

Rather, pay attention to what your audience pays attention to (on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest…) and deliver great value to them. Put in the time it takes to be awesome, and the rewards of a budding community will follow.

[reminder]Have you figured out what your audiences want on the various social media platforms? Share your tips![/reminder]

Bethany Jett is an award-winning author of The Cinderella Rule, speaker, ghostwriter, and founder of JETTsetter Ink, a consulting and editing company. She has written for numerous publications, created the My Moments Planner, Serious Writer Companion, and is the founder of Serious Writer Academy and the Build Your Brand Program. Her newest work, Through the Eyes of Hope is now available online and in retailers nationwide.

Bethany is a military wife and all-boys-mama who is addicted to suspense novels and all things girly. She writes on living a brilliant life at BethanyJett.com. Connect with her on Facebook, Pinterest,  Instagram (new profile), LinkedIn, and Twitter.