Why your engagement is slipping and how to fix it

Author

Jessica Smalley
January 27, 2025

In partnership with

Hey Creator,

It’s been a little bit of a rollercoaster for our US friends saying bye to TikTok for 14 hours and hello to a new President.

How social will react over the next few weeks will undoubtedly shift social media in a new direction.

There’s been plenty of chatter about why this is a teachable moment for diversifying your content (myself included).

But it’s not as straightforward as just walking away from what you’ve built and reconstructing it elsewhere.

You need to be cautious not to overextend yourself or risk diluting your message.

When you attempt to do everything, you end up mastering nothing.

Building an audience requires time and focus.

It’s better to own one platform and cultivate your community there before moving on to the next one.

Be effective, not everywhere.

Here’s what you can expect in today’s newsletter:

  • Keep up to date with what’s happening in Quick Fire!

  • Tackling Engagement Decline

  • Social media Updates for this week

  • Check out my READ, LISTEN + WATCH recommendations for this week

    🫒by Jess Smalley

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"Build a system, not a goal." – Justin Welsh, founder of Solopreneur.

CREATOR NEWS

🧨QUICK FIRE

TACKLING ENGAGEMENT DECLINE

Have you noticed your engagement is down?

You’re not the only one experiencing this.

As more algorithmically tailored content fills our feeds, we’re becoming less inclined to engage with it [backed up with data].

Social media platforms report a decline in engagement rates:

But here’s the funny thing. Your audience is present, lurking around your content and looking at your stuff.

There is a new measurement for success.

Instagram announced last year that view sends are the platform’s priority and no longer values public metrics like follower and comment counts.

This is how you can adjust and react to the silent engagement:

  • Prioritise DMs: Automation tools like ManyChat allow you to interact with your audience efficiently and in mass. It means you can immediately meet someone where they are at

  • Community Engagement: Do you have a private community where your audience can interact with you, such as Discord, Broadcast IG, or even FB Groups? Users prefer intimate spaces where they can interact with you more freely.

  • Invite Opinion: Learn about your audience by creating something that compels them to share their opinion in a comment.

SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES

Meta

  • Meta announced a new CapCut rival called Edits.

Instagram

  • Reels can be 3 minutes long now.

  • will implement a taller grid on your profile. You can also customise thumbnails to your liking.

  • is enticing TikTok creators with financial incentives and additional perks to share Reels.

  • Adam Mosseri breaks down how your content is ranked depending on Watch Time, Likes and Sends.

YouTube 

  • added a new ‘Start a Q&A’ sticker for vertical live streams.

  • Premium will now offer more perks, including high-quality audio & accelerated playback mode.

THE DIG

READ: Justin Moore is a sponsorship coach for creators, and he just released his book, Sponsorship Magnet. This is such an important resource for anyone who needs help negotiating deals in the creator space.

LISTEN: It’s another Diary Of A CEO recommendation, and I promise it’s worth it. Daniel Priestley returns to the show with tonnes of info on how to 10x your income, the 90-day side hustle formula, the secret marketing hack Google uses, and how to survive AI taking your job.

WATCH: Colin and Samir, the creators for creators, were among the many victims of the LA fires who watched their houses burn down. In the same breath, they share their story and announce that both of their wives are pregnant. Show your support by watching their story. 

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please consider sharing it with someone else who might also enjoy it.

Have a great week 🙂 

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