Writing for applause, not buyers

Writing for applause, not buyers

Everyone says: "Post insider takes — the engagement proves you're an authority."

The claim: high engagement equals business results, so chase the reactions.

What's actually true: insider hot-takes get liked by your peers and competitors, who will never buy from you. The mistake is optimizing for the applause of people in your own job. A post that gets 30 reactions from your exact buyer is worth more than 500 from fellow marketers. Tested fix: before publishing, ask 'who reacts to this?' If the honest answer is 'people who do what I do,' rewrite it for the person with the problem you solve — plainer language, their pain, their words. Lower reaction count, higher reply-from-prospects count. Track the second number.

It's not low engagement that's the problem. It's high engagement from the wrong room.