Why prioritizing your comments and DMs is a winning strategy
+how to optimize your LinkedIn content and the cultural moments | news that caught our attention this week
quick summary ⚡️
Your digital strategy isn’t done when you hit “publish.” Here’s why you should follow up with your work by responding to your audience.
🎙️Programming notes: Scroll down for two opportunities to learn digital strategy first-hand from Melissa on 2/29 [a broader Q&A and a focused, executive level FREE masterclass]
TikTok’s fascinating “Who TF did I marry?” saga, the internet loves Skims ads and more in the cultural moments and news that caught our attention this week
Breaking down the best performing content on LinkedIn
social media engagement: why prioritizing your comments and DMs is a winning strategy
Kait Richmond is a writer, producer and contributor to the M.T. Deco Blog
When it comes to digital strategy, you’ve probably heard some people say that content is king. We don’t disagree, but we also don’t think enough people consider what comes after you hit “publish.” The conversation that follows in the comments and DMs is what completes the content circle.
To win at that last piece, you have to be engaging with your audience. It’s a two-way street: if you want people to engage with your content, and build a meaningful connection with you or your brand, they have to know someone on the other side is listening [and, when it applies, willing to help].
Gone are the days when brands and creators could ignore the comment section. Social media is officially part of our daily lives, and to have success, it’s time to meet the customers where they are. Research from Sprout Social shows that it’s what people want, but that not many are succeeding:
Sprout’s 2024 Social Media Trends: “Consumers aren’t just coming to social media for fast customer service—70% of them expect personalized responses to their customer service needs.”
Sprout’s report on social media’s role in modern customer service: “63% of consumers agree that their loyalty to a brand is significantly influenced by the quality of customer support they provide on social media.”
“Only 20% of brands have well-defined and comprehensive social customer care strategies.”
There are plenty of tips and tricks to get started, but let’s be honest: engagement needs to be prioritized on a consistent basis. Unless you have the budget to hire a community manager, it might take some reassessing of priorities. But those numbers above show that you’ll have a big competitive advantage if you commit to doing it well.
Let’s get into some ways you can get started:
Time blocking – Choose one or two 20-minute time blocks each week that will be dedicated to going through your comments and inbox. You’ll find yourself getting into a rhythm and able to get through more messages over time, and from there you can adjust your schedule.
Draft common responses – Start a document with FAQs so you can easily pull the responses you use the most, leaving room to make them personal to each person reaching out.
Collaborate with other teams – If you’re working for a brand, collaborating with the Customer Service or Sales teams to identify the best tools for customer success and even sharing the work can have a big impact, especially if part of the problem you’re facing is volume.
Use the UGC as content – Why not accomplish two goals at once? There are plenty of content opportunities to be found when mining the comments and DMs.
We take a lot of inspiration from Tinx, who's been a top creator since 2020 and is especially good at that last point on UGC, which we’ll get into in a second. But what’s especially important to know about Tinx is that her audience is her mission [AKA her North Star].
“I had no concept that you could actually care so much about people that you’ve never met,” she told Glamour. “I had no concept I could have such a connection with these women. And I am utterly obsessed with them. Everything I do is for them. And that is the most fulfilling aspect of my life, period.”
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Because of that, Tinx has made engagement part of her content strategy. It’s not a follow up to the work, it is the work. You can see that the most on her Instagram Stories, where she regularly shares screenshots of conversations happening with followers in her DMs, and does AMA [Ask Me Anything] question boxes, at least once a week but sometimes more.
Tinx is the master at engagement, but there are brands who do it right, too. Everyone always talks about Duolingo, whose impressive social strategy has earned the team tons of accolades, but most don’t have the time [or let’s be honest, the humor] for that kind of execution. If your priority is being reliable for your customers, we suggest taking a look at Nike.
Instead of mixing customer service with its marketing messaging, Nike maintains the @NikeService Twitter account for customers who need assistance. A quick browse through the feed shows that the account is timely [they responded to this tweet in less than 10 minutes] and conversational [“Hey there, we're bummed to hear this. Mind meeting us in DM with when and where you purchased those shoes?”]. Customers don’t need witty; they just want a fix for their sneakers.
The right ways to engage with your followers is an ever-evolving conversation, but these basic tips are evergreen and will start you on the road to success. Do you have a favorite brand or creator who is engagement #inspo and #goals? Let us know in the comments!
more on the MTD blog
next week
Two unique opportunities to learn digital strategy firsthand from Melissa next week:
🎙️2/29, 8:30am ET: the first is a conversation on digital strategy for your personal brand + business ownership / consulting tips with Melissa’s first boss at nbc Bill Hartnett (❗️)- now at AMC - through his Social TV Meetup group that’s been going for over a decade. The $5 entry fees will go to benefit the Greenport chapter of Rotary International. Come to this for casual q&a and in fact, send Melissa any questions ahead of time. RSVP here.
🎙️2/29, noon ET: the second is an hour-long masterclass titled Your Personal Brand - Digital Brand Strategy for Executives that Melissa is doing with The WIE Suite , a membership community for female leaders. This FREE class is open to anyone and will be focused on what your digital strategy should look like as a working professional on an exec / leadership track. RSVP here.
💎cultural gems💎
The cultural moments and news that caught our attention this week:
Teen subcultures are fading. Pity the poor kids (NY Times Magazine). “Gorgeous, abundant visuals are just pale imitations of what young people used to have: an actual scene.”
An extremely thorough guide to ‘Who TF did I marry?’ (The Cut). In case you don’t have the time to watch the 52-part series taking over TikTok, The Cut has you covered.
How Tom Sandoval became the most hated man in America (NY Times Magazine). And the hits just keep coming. If you’re in need of a Scandoval refresher, check out our breakdown
Are Skims campaigns the new Vogue covers? (Vox). “The internet loves Kim Kardashian’s shapewear company. But it loves its ads even more.”
breaking down the LinkedIn algorithm
The LinkedIn algorithm can often feel like a mystery. Is it turning into another Facebook or is it staying strictly professional? Luckily, we’ve found a cheatsheet curtesy of Michael Batko, CEO of Startmate ⬇️
The moral of the story? Optimize your content with polls and image carousels. Polls are a great, low-lift way to engage your audience and optimize a post. More engagement = higher reach. Image carousels catch the eye as people are scrolling in the feed and offer even more value to audiences.