FOLLOW YOUR SHOT 🏀 (Let me explain…)

Last week I was part of a LIVE Q&A talking all-things #socialmediamarketing w/ @dippidimarketing co-founder, @t_auerbacher.

A question came up about whether using a third-party publishing apps (like Hootsuite) might be algorithmically responsible for poor post performance.

Short answer: NO. There’s been an ongoing debate about this issue but, candidly, the platforms themselves (Facebook, Instagram, and others) supply the APIs to the apps. Why on earth would they double-back and penalize those apps for using APIs they provided?

The trick is, when you post on a given platform, like Instagram, as an example—you’ve gotta, quote-unquote, “WORK THE POST.” For instance, reply to comments right away, share said post to your Stories, DM it to key influencer contacts, add hashtags via a comment to try and spark a conversation!

You’ve got to follow your shot, so to speak 🏀

Algorithmically speaking, a post is virtually make-or-break in its first 10 minutes and up to an hour (give or take). So if folks start commenting and engaging—and you don’t reciprocate—on platforms like IG, for instance, that’s a signal to slow or stop the distribution of that post. After all, it’s a social network!

Creators relying on scheduled posts or third-party publishing apps should avoid posting w/o a game-plan to trail that post and effectively work it—to, quote-unquote, follow the shot.