What the heck are engagement pods?
No peas here. In social media terms, a pod is a group of people who exchange likes, comments and follows, usually on Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin. Engagement pods vary from a small group of people to thousands of members.
There will be rules to join and rules of engagement based on industry, the number of followers you have and how quickly you must engage with others content. Pods tend to be operated via an app or a messenger group.
What are the benefits of joining a pod?
When you open a social media app, you do not see posts in chronological order. The average user follows so many accounts that you cannot possibly see every post shared by everyone you follow.
Because of this Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin, each have complex algorithms to determine which content you see. in your feed.
And before you ask how the algorithms work – NO-ONE knows!
What we DO know is that when your posts receive a high level of likes/ reactions/ comments/ shares, the algorithm sees that your content is interesting and shows it to more people. Engagement pods aim to get your content that engagement quickly to get your content in front of more people.
Sounds like a winner right? Well… not necessarily.
In my experience, any attempt to “Beat the algorithm” brings short-lived benefits.
When people try to trick their way to better results, software developers become aware of it, and the algorithm is altered accordingly.
More on the algorithm later, here are more tangible downsides to pods…
They are a real drain on time.
You will spend hours engaging on posts you have no interest in. That time would be better spent engaging with your ideal client.
Nurturing relationships with people who will love and pay you for the product or service you provide.
Your effort isn’t always reciprocated.
Quality comments that provoke meaningful discussion are beneficial and take some work.
Imagine putting that much time and effort into someone else’s engagement, only to receive a quick emoji or nothing at all on your posts in return.
Conversations I’ve had with members of various engagement pods have reported this situation multiple times.
Not only is there little return on the time invested in terms of sales, the quantity and quality of interaction received deteriorates rapidly as people can’t keep up with the demands of the pod, or have no intention of doing so.
One business owner told me of a pod full of “leeches”, sucking everyone else dry and giving nothing in return, and it’s not an uncommon story.
It messes with the algorithm
Told you I’d come back to it 😉 Whilst pod creators cite the extra engagement as a way to “beat the algorithm”, what you will do is confuse it.
The algorithm sees who is interested in your content and shows it to more people like them.
By using engagement pods, you are not allowing your chosen social media platform to learn who is genuinely engaged with your work.
If the people in the pod are not your ideal client, your content will ultimately be seen by less of the people who will pay you for what you do!
Lastly, engagement pods won’t help you reach your business goals.
Your posts are unlikely to be interesting to members of a pod. They don’t want your product or service. They just want your interaction on their posts.
And really, that doesn’t help anyone.
Whatever your business goal for social media is vanity metrics are not the answer, because you might get more followers if you join a pod, but follower counts don’t pay your bills.
Growing your followers and increasing your reach on Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin can feel like hard work.
Pods offer an apparent shortcut. And I can see why that might appeal to you. But there are better ways to reach your ideal client on social media. To grow your community, get more leads and make more sales.
Social media marketing at its best is about building connections with people who have problems you can solve. Growing a community of people who trust you, like what you do and will ultimately pay you for your product or service.
