No Engagement? 5 Things to Consider as an Entrepreneur

Sarah Brumley

Sarah Brumley

There’s nothing like that sinking feeling when you’ve put a lot of work into a blog post, podcast episode, or social media story and then…crickets. Like you hear nothing at all. It’s a common theme and something that I hear from a LOT of mama business owners – so if you find yourself in this situation, just know you aren’t alone. Today we’re taking a look at why you might be facing low engagement in business and what you can do about it. Sound like something you need? Then, let’s get started.

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Low or No Engagement in Business? 5 Things to Consider as a Busy Entrepreneur

Well, hey there and welcome back to another episode of the Mama Business Podcast. I’m Sarah and I’m so glad to have you here with me today.

Before we jump into this juicy topic, though – I’d love to ask if you’d take a moment to review this podcast on Apple Podcasts. All you have to do is click on the Mama Business podcast, scroll to the bottom, click 5 stars and then the leave a review button right below it. I spend a lot of time each week putting out this FREE content for you, and I’d LOVE to know what you are loving about the podcast so that I can continue to share the topics and strategies that you need the most. Plus, each review helps the podcast gain traction on the Apple Podcast platform, which means it’s shown to more business mamas just like you – allowing them to achieve their dreams as well – without sacrificing their families.

It’ll only take a minute, so click pause right now and do so!

Did you do it? Thank you so much. I can’t wait to read what you wrote. And mama, I read EACH and EVERY review.

And now, let’s get to the meat and potatoes of this episode and talk about engagement which is really a hot topic across every platform no matter where you find yourself in the business journey.

First, what is engagement?

On a blog post, it could include someone sharing that post to their social media feed, sending it to a friend, or doing whatever you’ve asked them to do in your call to action. It also could include purchasing something through an affiliate link or clicking through to a related post.

For podcasts, all of the same things as a blog post can apply, but it can also include leaving a review and rating (like I asked you to do at the beginning), subscribing to the podcast so that you can receive new episodes as they come out, or clicking through to the show notes to look at any additional recommendations.

On social media, it probably looks like someone liking, commenting, or sharing your post, but ideally it should be someone following through on whatever your call to action is.

So, when do we start to get concerned about engagement. And…hehe…this is kinda a stupid question almost (although I always do say that there are no stupid questions…) but the truth is, it’s pretty much whenever we put something new out into the world.

Because we are looking for a reaction, right?

  • Do people like this?
  • Is it hitting home with them?
  • Do they like me?
  • Have I completely failed?

Those are only a few of the many doubting questions that quickly go through our heads.

Today, I want to challenge us to take a look at 5 things to consider when you are seeing low or no engagement across your different platforms. Because nine times out of ten – what you see isn’t necessarily a reflection of the value you provide to your clients or customers.

So…let’s jump in.

Consider the Season

The first thing I want you to consider when you are seeing low or no engagement is the season. When I started off in business I worked with clients a lot with their social media. I cannot tell you how many times I’d get a call from a client who was super irritated that their engagement had just dropped.

My first question: is this a season that your ideal clients are busy or take vacation or other time off?

Almost 100% of the time, they’d sigh and the next words would be…”Oh yeah, that makes sense.”

So, if you are seeing your a significant drop off in engagement, this is the first thing to think about.

Almost all businesses see a drop off around the holiday season (from right before Thanksgiving to New Years Day) and then again over the summer when people are spending time at the lake and the beach and they don’t want to be distracted by their technology. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you can anticipate it ahead of time. AND it might be a good time frame for you to take a little R&R as well.

And, as I mentioned, there might be specific times that your industry sees a decrease in engagement. If everyone heads to the big conference out of state every years, then that’s not the best time for you to think that they will be engaging with your content. Right?

So, the first thing to do is to consider the season.

Consider People Might Be Watching

The second thing to think about is the idea that people might be watching and just not engaging for now.

This is a hard one for a lot of content creators who know that engagement is what leads to business growth, right? The more people engage with our things means the more people see our things… And yet, there are a lot of people out there that really enjoy what you post or share, but they just don’t interact. That doesn’t mean that they won’t be your biggest client in the future, but for now, they are just absorbing.

That’s okay.

It also could be that they don’t engage on the specific platform you are posting on, but when you get ready to sell a product or service, they click through that link and are ready to purchase.

So, don’t undervalue a post or a video or a podcast episode just because you didn’t get the engagement you thought you wanted. It could very well be that you planted a small seed with that piece of content that will grow a big tree in the future.

Consider Calls to Action

The third thing to consider is your calls to action. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this because I spoke about it a lot in detail in episode 21, so if you missed that one, you’ll want to check it out. But…if you are seeing little to no engagement, it could very well be that people just don’t know what to do.

  • Are you being clear that you’d like them to share the post?
  • Are you being clear that you’d like them to give you a review or click through to your paid offer?

Whatever you want your engagement to look like – be clear about it in your calls to action. Give them direction and it’s a lot more likely they’ll take it.

Consider Your Audience’s Needs

The next thing to consider is your audience’s needs as it relates to the content you are creating and publishing.

Are you meeting the need of the person that you are talking to? If not, they aren’t going to engage.

Do you really understand what their pain points are and how you solve them? And, I mean – really understand them. Because if you don’t, your content won’t resonate with them.

And then, is what you are sharing actually valuable to them? Are they able to get a small result, put a smile on their face, find entertainment, or know exactly what product or service to buy from you so they can get the result they want?

People tune out the unnecessary. So if you want to see increased engagement all year round, you need to stick out above the noise.

Do that by creating value.

Do that by knowing their pain points.

Do that by addressing their specific need.

Consider the Platform

Okay the last thing I want us to consider today is the platform you are showing up on that’s not getting the engagement you want to see.

I talked about this a lot in episode 31 related to social media so if you haven’t listened to that episode – definitely something to consider.

The thing about differing platforms is that everyone goes to them because they are – wait for it!!! – different. That means that if someone is seeking out a podcast episode, they are not looking for video content. If someone is looking for video – they don’t want to have to read a lot. And…if someone is scrolling their Instagram feed, they are likely looking for small bites to consume quickly because they are going to scroll on by.

This goes even deeper with the type of content people look for on each platform, so…if you’re engagement has suddenly fallen off, then consider what might have changed with regard to your content. Have you changed your delivery method? Are you creating a lot more video and a lot less blog-type content? Or vice versa?

Whatever it might be…if you’ve made changes that don’t resonate with the followers you have on a specific platform, it might be time to consider that as the cause for your decrease in engagement.

Take Action to Eliminate Low Engagement in Business

Alrighty, quick recap. The five things to consider when you are seeing low engagement are:

  1. What season is it?
  2. Are people watching and just not engaging?
  3. Do you have clear calls to action?
  4. Are you offering what your audience needs?
  5. Are you using the platform in a way that best serves your follower?

And that brings us to the action part of this episode and I include this in every episode of the Mama Business podcast because action is where the dreams turn into the reality.

Today’s action is this: If you are struggling with your engagement, I’d love for you to take the time to walk through these five things. Start at the top of the list because it does work in a progression and then work your way through each question.

Then, implement whatever you find. If you’re in a season where people just aren’t engaging, then take a step back and rest easy knowing that it’s not YOU, it’s them. If that’s no the issue but you find you don’t have clear calls to action in your posts or aren’t offering what your audience needs, then make adjustments.

It’s so much better to do this sooner rather than later, so that you don’t waste time creating content that doesn’t hit home with the people that need it most.

Now, I know from personal experience that I am more likely to accomplish what I set out to do if I am accountable to someone. So DM me on Instagram and let me know what your engagement challenges are so that I can cheer you on throughout the process. Because, mama, I am cheering you on.

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