Not getting the traction you thought you would on social media?
The first issue is probably that you’re doing too much selling with your social media posts.
Most businesses make that mistake.
So what can you do instead?
You can answer the questions people are asking on social media. You can also answer the questions people are asking in their head when they’re browsing social media.
Here are a few tips for identifying the questions and for providing the answers.
Tip #1. Look For Questions Via Hashtags
Hashtags open up a whole new world of people. People all following or interested in specific topics. Let’s say you’re a dentist. Search the hashtag #Dentist and see what people are talking about. Some of it won’t apply to you, but there will be regular people asking questions.
When you find hashtags that are full of good questions you can save them or bookmark them or whatever and come back regularly.
Here is one big benefit of answering questions on social media. When you answer by replying to someone, say someone that used a hashtag, you’re talking directly to them, but also to everyone that follows you and that follows the hashtag.
That exposure alone will help bring more questions your way.
Tip #2. Ask For Questions Using Hashtags
If you’re not finding recent questions on hashtags that have been good in the past then use those hashtags to ask the followers if they have any questions.
This is a good way to find people with questions if you don’t have a lot of followers yet. Because you can ask your own followers for questions, but nobody will see, obviously, if you don’t have anyone following you.
It could be something as simple as:
Does anybody have any questions for a #dentist?
Tip #3. Use Questions From Real Life & Other Media
If you’re still not seeing questions on social media then you can still provide answers on those channels. You just use the questions you get in real life or in other media.
For example, say that your customers have been asking you a specific question over and over. You keep providing the same answer over and over.
Share that answer on social media. You can bet that if your customers are asking it in person that many more people are thinking and asking the same question when they’re on social media.
Talk to your customer service department. Talk to your sales department. See what people have been asking them. If you watch TV or YouTube and see people asking questions in comments or maybe in forums then use those questions to give you answers to provide on social media.
Tip #4. Share Stories & Experiences
Another good way to answer questions without directly answering them is to share stories and experiences. People like stories because they can come up with their own takeaways, which work as answers to questions they have.
For example, you could tell the story about a customer that needed a root canal. Maybe don’t share their personal information, but share the story.
For one person that reads or listens via social media the story might answer their question about what a root canal is. For another it might answer their question about tooth pain. For another it might answer the question about fear of dentists.
Tip #5. Hold Q&As and AMAs (As You Start To Grow)
As you start getting bigger you can start holding Q&As and AMAs (ask me anything). Some people on social media with large followings will do these regularly. Maybe once a month. When people know that you’re holding Q&As they often set aside the time on their calendar so they can be there when you’re live.
But it’s also worthwhile to always pay attention to your comments and replies. It’s a lot of work, but you want to strive to answer every non-derogatory question that people ask. If you aren’t answering questions that people are directly asking then you’re not really in the right game anyway.
Bonus: Guest Q&As
A little bonus tip is to look for guest Q&A opportunities. I see this in the golf world sometimes. Probably because I’m interested in golf. I’m sure it happens in lots of industries.
Say you’re the local dentist again. Ask your local tv station if you can hold a Q&A using their social account. You “takeover”. The followers ask questions and you provide the answers in real time.
Exposure for you. Great content for the tv station and for their followers.
Final Thought
Q&A is one of the most basic forms of social media content. If you’re struggling to publish enough content on your social accounts then a good place to start is with Q&A. The tips above should get you started and they should even hold you into the long-term.