August 15, 2025 • 9 mins
Don't stress about low social media engagement—it's a widespread trend reflecting changing user behavior rather than poor content quality. Looking at impressions instead of likes gives you a more accurate picture of your content's reach and effectiveness.
• Most people have become passive scrollers who rarely like, comment, or share content
• The habit of enthusiastic engagement from early social media days has dramatically changed
• Focus on impression analytics rather than engagement metrics
• Create engaging content through behind-the-scenes videos, blooper reels, and time-lapses
• Utilize Stories, which often get more views than regular posts
• Be more engaging with others' content—you reap what you sow
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Marketing Happy Hour podcast.
I'm your host, shelby McFarlane, founder of the Marketing
Broker.
Join us as we dive intomarketing tips, business
insights and creative strategiesto help your brand stand out,
whether you're an entrepreneuror a marketing pro.
Grab your drink and let's makemarketing fun and effective.
This is the Marketing HappyHour podcast.
(00:21):
Let's get started.
Hey guys, what's up?
It's Shelby here with theMarketing Broker.
I'm so excited that you decidedto tune in again with the
Marketing Happy Hour podcast.
This is a platform that I getto share all of my information
that I've learned, the skillsthat I've learned over the last
10 years in digital marketing,and maybe you can apply it to
(00:43):
yourself or even your clients,if that's something you do as
well.
Today, we are going to talkabout why you're not getting
engagement on social media.
This is the number one questionthat I get from my clients.
Actually, I take that back.
This is the second question Iget from my clients.
The first one is why didn't Iget five clients off of one post
(01:03):
that you did, but that's foranother podcast episode.
So why are we not gettingengagement on social media?
We're staying consistent, right?
We've got our three posts aweek.
We've got our engagingsupposedly engaging of photos
and videos.
We're out here trying to createcaptions.
We're using AI, we're usingchat, gpt.
(01:25):
Our photos are real people, notjust clip art.
We have educational stuff.
We're doing all the things weneed to do that we've been told
we need to do over the last 10years and now we've seen our
engagement really drop.
If you've seen this and you areworried about it, please do not
be worried.
I see this amongst all of myclients and all the pages that I
(01:48):
manage, even my own page.
So think about your clientele.
Who are you trying to reach andwho are the people that follow
you?
Are those people normallyengaging on social media?
I can tell you that myclientele are usually not on
social media.
So if they're going to hire mefor digital marketing, they may
go and Google me and look at meon social media, but they're not
(02:10):
just going to find me asthey're scrolling through their
feed because they aren'tinterested in social media.
So let's flip the script.
Let's say that you are aplumber or an electrician and
you're looking for the everydayperson that has a toilet, that
has a freaking outlet.
Hello, we all have those twothings right.
So those are everybody that'sscrolling on social media.
(02:30):
Are your future clients orpotential clients in your area?
So why are those people notengaging with your stuff?
Let's go back to 10 years ago,whenever social media came
around, when fan pages werestarting all of that.
It was all about posting once aweek, or posting once a day or,
(02:51):
honestly, if you just posted atall, you were already way ahead
of your competition.
Back then it was so easybecause we were new to social
media.
We were new to seeingbusinesses and we were always
like, like, like, like, share.
We're gonna comment, we'regonna um, show this to our
friends, we're gonna tag our uh,our people that we want to send
(03:12):
people to, we're gonna tag ourfavorite businesses.
So that's really what we didback in social media to the
beginning of social media days.
So I want you to think back towhat you did 10 years ago on
social media.
Now let's think about what youdo as a person that's consuming
social media content.
What are your habits on socialmedia?
I'm just going to tell you whatmy habits are.
(03:34):
I scroll, scroll, scroll,scroll.
Never hit the like button.
I never hit the share button.
I usually never comment, unlessit's just something that I am
extremely passionate about, orit's somebody that I know, or
maybe somebody's birthday, maybesome of my girlfriends that
(03:56):
look good.
I'm like, hey, queen, how youdoing?
You know something like that,but I am not one to engage on
social media, so I am seeingthis as a habit being formed by
most people on social media.
So when my clients come up with, well, we're not getting
engagement, we're not gettingshares or likes or comments, and
(04:17):
I'm like, well, what are yourhabits on social media?
And they usually say the samething, like, well, I guess
you're right, I don't actuallyshare or comment or like
anything on social media as well.
So what analytic do we need tolook at?
So, since the engagement's downand we're kind of curious of
like, do people see our stuff?
(04:37):
Do they not see our stuff?
What analytic do we need tolook at to make sure what we're
posting is actually working?
Do we need to look at to makesure what we're posting is
actually working?
So when I am sending overanalytics to my clients, I want
to make sure that I have theimpressions on there.
The impressions analytics onMeta is all about how many
people have actually seen yourcontent post.
(05:00):
So if you have one post and yousee that there's 400
impressions, there's two peoplethat engaged with it and then
you, if your views on your pageare also increasing, then that
means people are seeing yourstuff.
So let's take our eyes off ofthe engagement part and then
let's put our eyes onto theimpressions and how many people
(05:21):
are actually seeing your stuff.
Now, yes, sometimes oneimpression or, I'm sorry, two
impressions can come from oneperson, but that means that
person has seen your stuff twiceand that counts as two touches
for your marketing.
So I think that's a win win.
So when you're looking at youranalytics, make sure you look at
those impressions versuslooking at the engagement.
(05:41):
So let's talk about how can wemake our stuff more engaging,
right?
What are different strategiesthat we can use that maybe
people would actually comment,like or share our stuff?
Now let's think if you're aninsurance person so an insurance
person you're putting outsocial media posts.
People don't really care aboutyou, no offense.
So let's try to get creativewith your stuff.
(06:03):
Let's make some cute reels.
Let's do some funny behind thescenes with the ladies and guys
that work at your office.
Let's do some blooper reelsfrom maybe some of the videos
that you have put together forsocial media.
If you are someone okay, likeme with my sign shop, I always
make sure to do behind thescenes photos, behind the scenes
(06:24):
videos, time lapses of installs, befores and afters, because
people like to see results inthat way.
So your company or your contentor whatever you do may not be
interesting to people.
Okay, we're not all out herelike selling the coolest product
.
We're not all out here sellingthe latest trendy outfit or
(06:44):
shirt or accessory, so it may bea little bit harder to post
engaging stuff.
So let's think outside the box,let's really lean into the
reels, let's lean into thevideos, because people are
swiping through reels or swipingthrough the videos.
And I also want you to stay onyour story.
I have a really bad habit ofgoing to Instagram story story,
(07:08):
story, story story.
I just keep tapping, tapping,tapping, tapping, tapping, never
even scroll the actual feed.
So anything that I post outthere for my business or even my
personal stuff, I make sure toput in a story, because that's
gonna reach even more people andit's actually easier for them
to engage with it.
I get a lot of hearts.
You'll get a lot of like swipeups to DM.
(07:30):
I've even gotten some businessoff of my personal.
I was writing some content for awebsite, like at nine o'clock
at night in my bed, and so Iposted a picture like hey,
working on a client content orwebsite copy and because of that
, somebody scrolled up and theysaid, hey, how much is this
service?
And I sent them the link, theymade an appointment with me and
(07:52):
now I have them as a client.
So it's all about how are wegoing to be able to reach those
people and getting out of ournormal stuff with social media
to make it more engaging.
All in all, I do not want youto feel like you are failing.
If that engagement bar ornumber is so low.
It's not you, it's them.
(08:13):
You know, like, just like, ifyou break up with someone, right
, it's not me, it's you, ofcourse.
And so just make sure that youare focusing on those
impressions and going throughyour analytics to make sure like
oh, okay, so this piece ofcontent actually got engagement.
So, if that's the case, okay,so this piece of content
actually got engagement.
So, if that's the case, makemore of those type of content
posts.
Or you know what, this onereally didn't get a lot of
(08:34):
impressions, or this time that Iposted this actually worked.
So let's do it at this timemore and more and more again,
because that's also important.
So focus on your content.
Focus on how you can getoutside of your box when it
comes to creating content andreally helping with the
engagement, and also, lastly,preaching to the choir right now
(08:58):
.
This is for me too.
We have to start being moreengaging with our people on
social media, because that'swhat we want back right and I
was raised conservative and mymama always said you reap what
you sow, shelby.
So let's start sowing thosegood seeds of engaging and
liking and commenting andsharing, so maybe people will
(09:19):
actually start doing that withour stuff.
All right, I'll catch you onthe next episode.
Welcome to the Marketing Happy Hour podcast.
I'm your host, shelby McFarlane, founder of the Marketing
Broker.
Join us as we dive intomarketing tips, business
insights and creative strategiesto help your brand stand out,
whether you're an entrepreneuror a marketing pro.
Grab your drink and let's makemarketing fun and effective.
This is the Marketing HappyHour podcast.
(00:21):
Let's get started.
Hey guys, what's up?
It's Shelby here with theMarketing Broker.
I'm so excited that you decidedto tune in again with the
Marketing Happy Hour podcast.
This is a platform that I getto share all of my information
that I've learned, the skillsthat I've learned over the last
10 years in digital marketing,and maybe you can apply it to
(00:43):
yourself or even your clients,if that's something you do as
well.
Today, we are going to talkabout why you're not getting
engagement on social media.
This is the number one questionthat I get from my clients.
Actually, I take that back.
This is the second question Iget from my clients.
The first one is why didn't Iget five clients off of one post
(01:03):
that you did, but that's foranother podcast episode.
So why are we not gettingengagement on social media?
We're staying consistent, right?
We've got our three posts aweek.
We've got our engagingsupposedly engaging of photos
and videos.
We're out here trying to createcaptions.
We're using AI, we're usingchat, gpt.
(01:25):
Our photos are real people, notjust clip art.
We have educational stuff.
We're doing all the things weneed to do that we've been told
we need to do over the last 10years and now we've seen our
engagement really drop.
If you've seen this and you areworried about it, please do not
be worried.
I see this amongst all of myclients and all the pages that I
(01:48):
manage, even my own page.
So think about your clientele.
Who are you trying to reach andwho are the people that follow
you?
Are those people normallyengaging on social media?
I can tell you that myclientele are usually not on
social media.
So if they're going to hire mefor digital marketing, they may
go and Google me and look at meon social media, but they're not
(02:10):
just going to find me asthey're scrolling through their
feed because they aren'tinterested in social media.
So let's flip the script.
Let's say that you are aplumber or an electrician and
you're looking for the everydayperson that has a toilet, that
has a freaking outlet.
Hello, we all have those twothings right.
So those are everybody that'sscrolling on social media.
(02:30):
Are your future clients orpotential clients in your area?
So why are those people notengaging with your stuff?
Let's go back to 10 years ago,whenever social media came
around, when fan pages werestarting all of that.
It was all about posting once aweek, or posting once a day or,
(02:51):
honestly, if you just posted atall, you were already way ahead
of your competition.
Back then it was so easybecause we were new to social
media.
We were new to seeingbusinesses and we were always
like, like, like, like, share.
We're gonna comment, we'regonna um, show this to our
friends, we're gonna tag our uh,our people that we want to send
(03:12):
people to, we're gonna tag ourfavorite businesses.
So that's really what we didback in social media to the
beginning of social media days.
So I want you to think back towhat you did 10 years ago on
social media.
Now let's think about what youdo as a person that's consuming
social media content.
What are your habits on socialmedia?
I'm just going to tell you whatmy habits are.
(03:34):
I scroll, scroll, scroll,scroll.
Never hit the like button.
I never hit the share button.
I usually never comment, unlessit's just something that I am
extremely passionate about, orit's somebody that I know, or
maybe somebody's birthday, maybesome of my girlfriends that
(03:56):
look good.
I'm like, hey, queen, how youdoing?
You know something like that,but I am not one to engage on
social media, so I am seeingthis as a habit being formed by
most people on social media.
So when my clients come up with, well, we're not getting
engagement, we're not gettingshares or likes or comments, and
(04:17):
I'm like, well, what are yourhabits on social media?
And they usually say the samething, like, well, I guess
you're right, I don't actuallyshare or comment or like
anything on social media as well.
So what analytic do we need tolook at?
So, since the engagement's downand we're kind of curious of
like, do people see our stuff?
(04:37):
Do they not see our stuff?
What analytic do we need tolook at to make sure what we're
posting is actually working?
Do we need to look at to makesure what we're posting is
actually working?
So when I am sending overanalytics to my clients, I want
to make sure that I have theimpressions on there.
The impressions analytics onMeta is all about how many
people have actually seen yourcontent post.
(05:00):
So if you have one post and yousee that there's 400
impressions, there's two peoplethat engaged with it and then
you, if your views on your pageare also increasing, then that
means people are seeing yourstuff.
So let's take our eyes off ofthe engagement part and then
let's put our eyes onto theimpressions and how many people
(05:21):
are actually seeing your stuff.
Now, yes, sometimes oneimpression or, I'm sorry, two
impressions can come from oneperson, but that means that
person has seen your stuff twiceand that counts as two touches
for your marketing.
So I think that's a win win.
So when you're looking at youranalytics, make sure you look at
those impressions versuslooking at the engagement.
(05:41):
So let's talk about how can wemake our stuff more engaging,
right?
What are different strategiesthat we can use that maybe
people would actually comment,like or share our stuff?
Now let's think if you're aninsurance person so an insurance
person you're putting outsocial media posts.
People don't really care aboutyou, no offense.
So let's try to get creativewith your stuff.
(06:03):
Let's make some cute reels.
Let's do some funny behind thescenes with the ladies and guys
that work at your office.
Let's do some blooper reelsfrom maybe some of the videos
that you have put together forsocial media.
If you are someone okay, likeme with my sign shop, I always
make sure to do behind thescenes photos, behind the scenes
(06:24):
videos, time lapses of installs, befores and afters, because
people like to see results inthat way.
So your company or your contentor whatever you do may not be
interesting to people.
Okay, we're not all out herelike selling the coolest product
.
We're not all out here sellingthe latest trendy outfit or
(06:44):
shirt or accessory, so it may bea little bit harder to post
engaging stuff.
So let's think outside the box,let's really lean into the
reels, let's lean into thevideos, because people are
swiping through reels or swipingthrough the videos.
And I also want you to stay onyour story.
I have a really bad habit ofgoing to Instagram story story,
(07:08):
story, story story.
I just keep tapping, tapping,tapping, tapping, tapping, never
even scroll the actual feed.
So anything that I post outthere for my business or even my
personal stuff, I make sure toput in a story, because that's
gonna reach even more people andit's actually easier for them
to engage with it.
I get a lot of hearts.
You'll get a lot of like swipeups to DM.
(07:30):
I've even gotten some businessoff of my personal.
I was writing some content for awebsite, like at nine o'clock
at night in my bed, and so Iposted a picture like hey,
working on a client content orwebsite copy and because of that
, somebody scrolled up and theysaid, hey, how much is this
service?
And I sent them the link, theymade an appointment with me and
(07:52):
now I have them as a client.
So it's all about how are wegoing to be able to reach those
people and getting out of ournormal stuff with social media
to make it more engaging.
All in all, I do not want youto feel like you are failing.
If that engagement bar ornumber is so low.
It's not you, it's them.
(08:13):
You know, like, just like, ifyou break up with someone, right
, it's not me, it's you, ofcourse.
And so just make sure that youare focusing on those
impressions and going throughyour analytics to make sure like
oh, okay, so this piece ofcontent actually got engagement.
So, if that's the case, okay,so this piece of content
actually got engagement.
So, if that's the case, makemore of those type of content
posts.
Or you know what, this onereally didn't get a lot of
(08:34):
impressions, or this time that Iposted this actually worked.
So let's do it at this timemore and more and more again,
because that's also important.
So focus on your content.
Focus on how you can getoutside of your box when it
comes to creating content andreally helping with the
engagement, and also, lastly,preaching to the choir right now
(08:58):
.
This is for me too.
We have to start being moreengaging with our people on
social media, because that'swhat we want back right and I
was raised conservative and mymama always said you reap what
you sow, shelby.
So let's start sowing thosegood seeds of engaging and
liking and commenting andsharing, so maybe people will
(09:19):
actually start doing that withour stuff.
All right, I'll catch you onthe next episode.
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