

Repeat this! Engagement Matters.
Here’s what I know for sure. If you have an account with a thousand active and super engaged followers, then you are just as powerful or maybe even more so, than someone who has ten thousand followers who passively scroll by their images without engaging.
Numbers don't matter. Engagement does. (I know, I'm all about the repetition because I want it to sink in.)

Firstly, let’s talk about the algorithm for a second, the thing that all of us depend on to get seen. We like to blame it when things don’t seem to be going our way but the algorithm is simply math. And it’s hyper democratic. The algorithm looks at your stuff and says: Are people engaging? Are they commenting? Are they sharing? Are they reposting because if they are, the algorithm gets hot and sweaty and says: “We’re gonna show it to more people!” The better and more authentic your stories are to your tribe, the more they will be seen by them and others and the more engagement you’ll get.
Let me give you a personal example.
Our principal social media platforms are Facebook and Instagram and on each of them, we’ve built a following through storytelling, unique captioning and images. Our followers respond to what is posted and they share our content. We are always hyper-focused on being consistent with our storytelling. In fact, there is seldom a day that goes by that we don’t post something on the top 2 platforms.
On Facebook we connect with close to 40,000, on Instagram, it’s close to 6,000 and on our subscribers’ list we have about 4, 000 followers. These are solid numbers, I am proud of what we have accomplished in three years but they are not by any means massive numbers and we’re fine with that.

"...my number one concern is loyalty, not popularity."
Here’s the thing you should know about the Forward Forty brand. From the outset when the first FF community was started on Facebook, (Instagram came two years later) our number one concern was building loyalty, not growing popularity. We wanted through the stories and posts we shared to build a cadre of awesome loyalists who would stick with the brand, who would be inspired by our posts, who would tell their friends about the stories we shared.
Three years later, as we get ready to launch Forward Forty Digital in two phases, the goal is still not popularity, its profitability. The intention is to serve our followers and loyalists in a highly profitable way that is meaningful to them and the things they care about. In turn, they will amp up our business, hopefully; support our products and in the long-term drive our profitability ratio numbers up year after year. Why are we betting on this? It’s simple. We’ve been able to discern through authentic storytelling, the things that matter to our tribe and what will add value to their lives.
So If you had to choose popularity over profitability (yes you can have both, of course, that’s the ultimate goal), choose profitability and serving your niche in a targeted way, in a way that matters to them.
"Listen up please! Likes won't pay your bills. Neither will other people's opinions of you, for that matters."
If you’re growing an online presence with the purpose of selling your gifts and talents with the world then focus on growing your brand through authentic storytelling. The right content, the right stories will get you traction. Oh, and the right mindset too. Every single morning, you have to tell yourself with a deep and utter belief that you belong; you belong on Instagram and on Facebook as the leading voice of your brand. Know that your voice matters that you’re on these platforms not just to occupy a seat at the social media table and to make a real difference to the people you inspire. No matter what your numbers and no matter what your growth, you’re as powerful as the rest of them.

Thanks for reading! 🙂
If you enjoyed this article, say hello on
PRODUCTS FOR YOUR SUCCESS
MORE PLACES TO FIND FORWARD FORTY


A Creative Rut Can Suck But There Are Ways You Can Overcome It
A Creative Rut Can Suck But There A...
The worse thing for any entrepreneur is to be in a creative rut and feel as if you can never work your way around it. More terrible is when your business depends on your creativity, and you have to ei...
The worse thing for any entrepreneur is to be in a creative ...


The Confidence You Have In Yourself Will Make You Good Enough To Take ...
The Confidence You Have In Yourself...
I wasn’t the skinniest, the brightest, the prettiest or the richest girl in high school. In fact, I spent the years between 12-17 not being the best of anything at all. But there was one thing I w...
I wasn’t the skinniest, the brightest, the prettiest or ...


Tools To Help You Create Content With Ease And Speed In 2021
Tools To Help You Create Content Wi...
I swear content planning is not hard but it can feel like that way once you’re dealing with a ton of other stuff, like, errrr, running a business. That’s when social media starts to feel lik...
I swear content planning is not hard but it can feel l...


5 Wellness Trends To Prioritise In 2021
5 Wellness Trends To Prioritise In ...
Who’s with me in not wanting to look in the rearview mirror as we welcome this spanking new year? Never could we have imagined that the past 10 months we would have been forced to live largely insid...
Who’s with me in not wanting to look in the rearview mirro...
MORE PLACES TO FIND FORWARD FORTY
INSTAGRAM IS
MY JAM
@ForwardForty
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins
Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.
Log in as an administrator and view the Instagram Feed settings page for more details.
4 Comments. Leave new
thanks judette and team!
I needed that shot in the social media arm
Those shots are necessary and we’re happy the insights are getting you to see or think about things differently
EXCELLENT Article judette. Am so glad that you laId it on the table. Likes do not matter. Relational content leads to Engagement abd that’s what matters
Yes I agree, we get caught up in the likes but my belief is that engagement is the most important thing and if you’re measuring between 1.6 -3.8 per cent conversion /engagement then you’re doing fine, regardless of the likes.