I’ve done socials for massive accounts and mini accounts, triple A and indie. Rather than put out a singular tweet like this, let’s talk about it for a quick second.

Thread? THREAD! https://twitter.com/mattshotcha/status/1303837868792729600

There’s overlap for accounts that reach a certain level of following combined with a certain level of generality in a scene, subculture, geekdom, etc.

Once your account reaches that level of prevalence, usually indicated by following, you have to be cautious of saturation.

The people following you are also following similar accounts that have reached that level of prevalence.

So if your posts are too general and too broad, they need to be the first to the eyeballs otherwise you run the risk of being repetitive to them.

With social platforms constantly fucking with the timeline, it’s not that simple anymore. Because “first” is a lost concept when nothing is chronological even when you set it to chronological and the platform goes “nah, here’s top tweets again.”

With brands that are even slightly specified, the answer is always “How does this post uniquely relate to the greater brand?”

Example: Horror Birthday of an actor in your game? Relative uniquely to your account.

The exception to the rule is news sites. They’re the whole genre they’re covering. So while they can still try and find something unique to hang their posts on and stand out, it’s expected to be broader strokes.

But even then, if you’re the 700th account to say the same thing, followers might just trim the following.

Let’s talk about hollow engagements now. We all know certain posts get engagements, it’s visible to all. But it’s a flawed KPI at times.

If you post something generic and it gets solid engagements, ask yourself if any of those engagements led users to your greater brand or business in any way. Did that motivate them to follow you? Motivate them to engage with other posts of yours?

Because like all KPIs, the I is key. It’s an indicator, not the end all. Tracking KPIs is only relevant to the performance they indicate and is not solely the KPI itself.

Example: Controversial opinions. People interact with them, but those are mostly hollow engagements.

So, if you’re a bigger account, recognize that a lot of your followers follow others like you and they’re there for the YOU account.

Make sure there is brand identity in your post that makes it something unique to your account, even if similar to others.

If you’re a smaller account, and trying to grow, recognize that your account is the easiest unfollow if too samesy.

Tie your post back to your content and trust that your content will either grip the audience or won’t.

And watch your timeline! If you see 750 happy birthday posts about the same public figure, maybe adjust on the fly.

Tie that Birthday back to an article on them, or a podcast episode about them, or just abort and hit a different key note that day.

Or think about personalizing in other ways. Make your “This Day” post schedule drafted by a different team member each time. They’ll naturally make it something particular to their taste and provide a unique insight into your group.

And make sure you’re thinking about your engagements as an increment to a larger measurement.

Hollow engagements are a thing.