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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Makers Page
Same. I keep it. I treat flops as drafts shipped in public. I log why it missed (hook? timing? thumbnail) and rerun the idea with 1 variable changed. Sometimes I add a comment edit with a stronger lead and it revives. Worst case, it becomes a newsletter/FAQ later.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@alexcloudstar Just out of curiosity, was there a post that underperformed and you changed something, and the post went suddenly viral after the change? What was the post about? (If you have a link, I would like to read before/after) :)
Scade.pro
great rules, Nika!
I am for repurposing content. I prefer posting one piece on different platforms. And it performs differently on them.
I write articles mainly I perfectly know that an article may not get thousands of views, but it can still bring you a huge b2b deal (or a couple of them). So I never underestimate a content that didn't go viral.
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@nastassia_k Which platforms are you active on and which bring you the best results?
I usually either optimize the content after analysing the impressions, clicks, avg position and ctr, or do a full update by filtering out the content gap, checking SERPs and LLMs for what can be improved, test and experiment with probably images, alt tags and other elements.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@tania_j I also tag people, but do not do alt texts. Do you see any positive results with that?
OMG, I used to do the same in 2021, when I started creating content on LinkedIn.
Any post that used to tank would give me this subtle embarrassment, thinking my friends would see it and laugh… and I would delete it. But later, I did one thing, I blocked my friends on LinkedIn. And after that, I never feared low engagement, because who cares? If I look back now, I laugh at my silly actions, but I feel blocking my friends in the initial stage gave me a kind of freedom.
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@rashiaroraofficial But what if your friends supported you? But this is true... the people I know – I am more embarrassed to show them my work.
@busmark_w_nika Maybe. But I feel, friends know our old versions showing them your work feels like exposing a new self.
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@rashiaroraofficial and maybe it is progress over time ;)
minimalist phone: creating folders
@george_esther Do you do these things only for LinkedIn? Or are you also on other platforms?