Being socially focused isn't just sharing your content on social media, in the hope someone will read it and show some appreciation. In fact, why should they, if they don't know you or have an interest in the subject of your posts?
So the true purpose of being socially focused is to get yourself noticed, become recognised as a thought leader in your niche, provide tangible and useful value within your content, and engage with other people regardless of who they are and what they represent.
One key method of going through the socially focused process is commenting. Something which is often overlooked or dismissed. You need to do a bit more than just share stuff. You need to start talking to others and showing appreciation of their work first.
Take a look at this infographic:
And here's some code you could paste into your own posts (via the text mode) if you want to share this Infographic with your readers.
Shows your personal interest
You come across a fantastic post, or read something you think is brilliant, or which totally reflects your own ideals. Obviously you may think it necessary to let the author of these posts know what you think about it.
What you have done is a necessary pursuit which many people undervalue. Going through your news or RSS feed, finding worthy posts, reading them properly and then commenting on them to show your appreciation. This activity is two fold: it lets the author know you have consumed their content, and it lets the algorithms know what you are interested in.
Now you could have done this more simply by offering a like, or even stretching as far as a share! But these activities are anonymous, distant and is a far cry from being socially focused. It is the word 'socially' I am focusing on here. Liking and sharing are nowhere near as being sociable as commenting.
Allows you to share your opinions
If you want your comments more likely to be read, they need to consist of interesting information, and contain added value, which could make a difference to whoever reads them. They need to be fuller, relevant and useful.
Of course this means you need to write a bit more than just 'Nice post'. A good comment will contain a proper beginning, which greets the author and acknowledges the subject, a middle which contains your observations or opinions, and an end which thanks the author or offers summarised closure.
By taking this opportunity to voice your point of view, you will have added your opinion to continue the conversation. This is essentially what a comment is, a chance to further what has already been said, with more beneficial content which adds to the post and makes it more interesting to others.
Attracts more attention to you
Certainly being more socially focused is essential if you want to get noticed via social media or blogs. This does mean being more active than just dumping the link to your latest post and then hoping someone might eventually see it.
The social aspect needs to come into play. You need to properly read other people's posts, either in your niche or industry, or which would be read by your ideal customers or readers. This means making the effort to understand what has been written or recorded, and retaining that information.
Then this new material needs to be reflected within your comments. Showing your enthusiasm, appreciation and even your personality, preferably in an entertaining way, will draw attention to you, hopefully for the right reasons, than if you had merely liked and passed on.
Connects you to more people
Choosing the most appropriate posts to comment on will place you in front of more suitable, and like-minded people, who will be more likely to read your comments. This is important if you want what you say to be fully understood, absorbed and acted upon.
Commenting without forethought, consideration or without being properly socially focused may be a fun thing to do, but this will not give you the results you crave to make a difference to your business or to your reputation or publicity.
Writing comments which are readable, entertaining, relevant and valuable will get you noticed if they are aimed at specific people, say what they want to read, offer really valuable material and are well written enough to entice them to visit your blog to learn more about you.
Boosts your reputation
With all the lovely knowledge and expertise you have at your fingertips about a particular subject, including this within a comment to a relevant post is perfect for enhancing your reputation and increasing your visibility.
However, I stress the relevance bit. If you start blurbing on about what you know and it bears no relation to the subject of the post, you are going to be seen as a nuisance, a spammer and most likely be dismissed, ignored or even deleted.
But if you are able to impart valuable information which enhances the post, continues the conversation (as I mentioned above) and communicates well with the author and other readers, and done consistently over a period of time, then your reputation will increase accordingly.
Builds trust with others
The idea of commenting to be socially focused is to create relationships with others within your niche, and build on the concept of getting to know, like and trust you. This is vital if you want to work on your authority as a thought-leader within your niche or industry.
The idea is to consistently present with added value, become welcomed as a good commenter with always something interesting to say, and be reliable enough for people to accept you whenever you contribute to their posts.
Socially focusing on these relationships may lead onto not only better business outcomes, but recommendations, referrals and advocacy for you, your work and your blog or business. Not to mention people commenting on your own posts whenever you paste their URLs into social media.
How socially focused are you when it comes to commenting?
Being socially focused is vital if you want to succeed in the online social world. It is so important to take full advantage of the social scene by communicating, commenting and making connections, rather than dumping your latest post's URL and leaving.
Sometimes you may have to comment on several posts before you get any recognition for your own work. This is what being socially focused is all about. You need to give before you can receive. Altruism is a vital element which everybody should be aware of who uses social media.
The best thing to do is to create a commenting marketing strategy. This is how you use commenting by understanding how it works, knowing exactly what to do and getting the best results. Then the concept of commenting will become more meaningful, practical and successful.
Let us know in the comments below your successes, and failures, about being socially focused. Please tell us about your tricks and tips, what to avoid or any techniques you would like to share. We would love to hear from you.
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As someone who tends to be quite ‘insular’ in how I consume content, this is really interesting.
I don;t naturally review, comment or interact and think it may be a good habit to develop.
Thanks Anna for your comment. Commenting conforms nicely with insular people, as we can happily communicate behind our keyboard keys without revealing too much of who we are. Though I think once you get to know the people you are talking to, and they with you, then you can start to come out of your shell.
I haven’t really been socially focused when it comes to commenting before reading your post, Alice. I am going to do it differently from now onwards. Thanks for pointing out the benefits.
Wow, thank you Ngozi for your comment. I’m so glad this post resonated with you. What are you going to do differently from now on?