How do you treat content that doesn’t take off? (+ My rules)
Ten years ago, if a Facebook post didn’t receive enough reactions, I would delete it immediately.
Yep, 18-year-old Nika was terrified that people would notice her “failure.” Reality check: when a post flops, almost nobody sees it anyway. The only person who actually suffers from the low engagement is the original poster.
My current guidelines are clear:
Never delete content that doesn’t take off.
Because:
It’s practice – every post levels up your skill.
You instantly see what doesn’t work.
It still earns a few impressions and keeps your daily posting streak alive.
Some “flops” randomly blow up weeks or even months later.
What about you?
How do you handle content that doesn’t perform?
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MultiDrive
I think it’s mostly a fear of rejection by society. I still have that fear too, but I’ve realized it actually holds me back from growing. So I post anyway - not as often as I’d like, but I do it despite the fear. :)
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@tetianai I recommend posting in this way to anybody. How can you improve when you don't take steps? :)
I'm leaving it as a reminder of how fast I'm growing😃!
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@panichev_tihon yeah, and try to link this post to your email and schedule the email 6 months later. Totally different person :D
I feel a bit demotivated, but we need to understand that sometimes it's just the wrong platform or bad timing. You need to carefully analyze what the problem is.
It could be the content itself, the platform, or even just rotten luck with the timing of your post.
I personally sometimes archive or delete content to post it again and see what happens.
I don't like to feel disappointed. But it happens, and it's part of the game.
It's like they say, "Don't hate the player, hate the game."
And in this case, the player is low engagement. LoL
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@tuliosousapro :D at least, you have as many tries as you want (or you are willing to dedicate) :D
@busmark_w_nika Yeah, that's for sure a good point.
@busmark_w_nika For me, consistency matters more than correctness. Most people stop posting way before they learn anything. Algorithms and audiences are unpredictable. The only way to understand what works is to keep showing up
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@atique_bandukwala1 That reminds me this:
@busmark_w_nika True that!
I analyze performance data, identify gaps, test new angles, update distribution, repurpose strong elements, and iterate quickly, viewing underperforming content as feedback rather than failure to improve future results consistently.
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@sgrcatering How long does it take you to do the whole process you described? Because, e.g. on LinkedIn, some posts started showing in other people's feeds after one week.
WOV
Just like how it went unnoticed to the world, I would leave it to go unnoticed to me also.
The initial lesson of marketing is to accepts the zeroes and the unviewed posts - and let it sink.
That's how you do what you want to do and what you should say - instead of expecting numbers alone.
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@indu_thangamuthu Next posts will be better ;)
IXORD
I remember that when I made a post on LinkedIn and it was not successful, I left it. I believe this adds a sense of humanity to the account.
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@ixord I appreciate more posts that are trully yours (even when underperforming) than some AI fluff. ;)
It's true; even I used to delete content that didn't work. Eventually, I realized this takes time and patience. Then I did a few analyses on how to post and when to post, and then my content really did perform!
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@stella_samuel and what were the findings? Open to know what works/what doesn't work :)
@busmark_w_nika For Instagram mainly, I realised that scheduling trial reels have helped me a lot and instead of posting long-format reels, I tend to stick to shorter reels. Once they have reached a good number of audience, I post the reel on my feed. Eg. I schedule all my trial reels over the weekend so i don't have to do much on weekdays except clicking on the 'share to everyone' button.
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@stella_samuel Aaaa, so you use their "new" feature for testing. I tried it once and since the video wasn't doing well, I haven't tried it again since then :D
Agreed. Deleting posts usually helps my ego more than my growth. Leaving them up has made it easier to see patterns and improve over time.
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@syed_hassan9 It is a learning "hard way" :D
@busmark_w_nika Totally 😄 Painful at first, but it sticks much better that way.
hahha, thats a funny fun fact.
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@benjamin_bailey1 It is painful, but true, that's a fact :D