How engagement creates momentum
Social media success can often be exponential. You can post for a while seeing very little results, but as soon as you get one good post, your results can snowball. The reason for this feeling of momentum is through engagements. Engagement impacts content visibility and understanding this is important to maximize your social media presence.
At the core of every social media platform is an algorithm designed to deliver relevant and engaging content to users. These algorithms have many factors on what they promote, and engagement is one of the key components to it. Engagements are likes, comments, shares, views, and other platform-specific actions such as reposting or remixing. The more engagements there are, such as likes and comments, increases a post’s chance of appearing in users’ feeds, enhancing its visibility and opportunity for more engagements. This causes a virality cycle. The more engagement on a post the more visibility it will have, which in turn causes more engagement and more visibility.
For example, if two users had the exact same following and posted at the exact same time, but one post got higher engagement, that post would be prioritized and shown to more users. Even though these two users had the exact same following to start, having a more engaging post to users drives more engagement. Higher visibility means it will be shown to more users on their following feeds, as well as appear in discover or “for you” pages.
Consistent engagement over time leads to social media momentum. Each post gains increased visibility due to accumulated engagement from previous posts. This is particularly true on platforms where user interaction with previous content influences what they will see in the future, such as on TikTok or X. Leveraging this with a consistent posting schedule and well-timed social media posts increases the changes of immediate engagement, which is favored by algorithms.
Paid promotion can also play a role in increased visibility. Boosting a post can cause initial engagement which algorithms value so heavily. Running an ad or re-targeting campaign on an already successful post can cause it to reach even more eyes, as well as turn it into evergreen content as it will be consistently getting your page more engagement over a prolonged period.
However, at the very heart of this, you must consider what gets a post more engagement. Earlier in the article we mentioned a thought experiment where two different users with the exact same following post at the same time, but one gets more engagement and snowballs. Why did that user get more engagement? By creating authentic and user-first content.
Users want to relate to what they see on a screen. When they do, they’re more likely to interact with your content. Know your audience and their pain points. What do they care about? What excites them? When you understand that, you can create content that is tailored to their interests while being authentic and true to the voice of your brand. People love to interact with the human side of a brand, so feel free to tap into that. Good social media is about fostering a genuine connection with your audience that resonates and leaves a lasting impression with them. Creating authentic and engaging content is the first step to building your page’s momentum, and the benefits do not stop at higher engagement.
Engagement is most likely the primary driver of visibility on social media. By understanding the way likes, comments, and quality content influence the algorithm, you can more effectively build momentum and snowball your social media presence. At the very heart of this is to create content that resonates with your audience and encourages interaction with your brand. Engagement drives visibility, and visibility opens the door to higher engagement to skyrocket your presence online.
