← Social Media Decoded
Social Media Decoded
Why Your Social Media Content is Flopping (And How to Fix It!) with Kaelyn Urena
00:21:08
In this episode of Social Media Decoded, host Michelle Thames sits down with Kaelyn Urena, Founder & CEO of Socially Smooth, to break down why your content might not be hitting the mark—and exactly how to fix it. Kaelyn shares her proven strategies for creating actionable content, boosting engagement, and building a thriving online community. From understanding what the algorithm really wants to turning your followers into superfans, this episode is packed with practical, relatable advice for content creators, entrepreneurs, and social media managers alike.
Loading summary
Transcript67 lines
- [00:00]
Customer
Morning. One sausage McMuffin with egg, please.
- [00:03]
Cashier
Okay, your total is.
- [00:04]
Customer
Wait. Let's negotiate. How's about you throw in hash browns for a dollar?
- [00:09]
Cashier
Well, yes, sir. That price is already a dollar.
- [00:12]
Customer
Take it or leave it.
- [00:14]
Podcast Host
Take it, I guess.
- [00:17]
Cashier
Buy one, add one for a dollar on Sausage McMuffin with egg, hash browns, and more with McValue. Most locations open 5am or earlier. Price and participation may vary. Limited time only. Valid for item of equal or lesser value. Ba da ba ba ba.
- [00:33]
Michelle
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the social media Decoded podcast, The number one podcast to help you understand social media better so that you grow your business, get more clients, and monetize. And you already know I am in this excited season because we are having so many amazing special guests, and today we're talking about something that we all struggle with. Okay. At some point, creating content that actually gets engagement. Right. You know, the kind of content that makes you stop the scroll, right? Drop a comment and dare I say, share with that little share arrow. So if your posts have been getting more crickets than comments, then buckle up, because today's guest, K, the genius behind Socially Smooth, is here with me today to fix all of that. Okay? She's a social media strategist who knows exactly how to turn passive scrollers into. Into raving engaged communities. And isn't that what you want, friend? So, Kalen, welcome to the show. I'm so excited to chat today.
- [01:32]
Kalen
Thank you for having me, Michelle. I'm super excited to share all the gems. So let's get into it.
- [01:37]
Michelle
Yes. But before we dive in, tell us, what's one social media ick that you wish brands would stop doing asap? Let's start there.
- [01:44]
Kalen
Honestly, I think for me, it's the. The notion that people think that if you post it, your audience is just going to find it and come to you. It don't work that way anymore. It doesn't. You have to make sure that you're posting content that guarantees, like, engagement. In reality, it's not. It's about strategy. It's about storytelling. It's about creating the content that will nurture your audience at the end of the day. And, like, you can't just expect them to show up.
- [02:06]
Michelle
Oh, that's a good one. That's a good one. So I really want to know, how did you get started with social media? I know there's so many people. And you see, you all know I bring on a lot of social media specialists, marketing specialists, SEO. There's so many. So many different areas. But I Would really love to know. How did you get started with social media?
- [02:21]
Kalen
It's a great question, and I will tell you the truth. I fell into it by accident. So I've been in marketing for about eight years now, and I. My business is now four years old, so I've moved into the business world as many people did in 2020 when Covid hit. But I worked in multiple spaces. I worked in corporate spaces. But I, you know, I graduated from college and I met this person. He was like, yo, I need a social media Internet. Do you want to do that? And initially I was like, nah, I just graduated from school. I want money. Like, I don't need an internship. I need. I need actual money to come to me because I live in New York. It's a little expensive over here. But, you know, time went on and I bit the. I bit it and I was just like, let me just try it. Let me fall into it. Let me see what happens. Truthfully, it was. It just happened by accident. I started working with a startup company and started nurturing their audience, creating their social media from scratch. We started with like 20 followers and ended up with 2000. And then I left them and, you know, and I got hired by dkny and I said, oh my gosh, I worked for a big corporate company. Let's go. And then 2020 hit. And they said, no, sis, it's a joke. You don't work here anymore. So, you know, I really created my own opportunity in 2020 and utilizing the skills and the things that I Learned over past 8 years of my life and understanding that marketing is something everyone needs, but not everyone does it like me, you know, and like you mentioned, there's so many people in this world that do social media that, you know, have the SEO specialist and you have this and you have that, but no one's me. So I just put my own spin on it. And I've been able to cultivate a lot of different relationships through networking and building different partnerships and been able to keep my business afloat. So I really fell into it by accident, but it was a happy accident at the end of the day.
- [04:07]
Michelle
That and everyone listening. You know, I love stories like this because you don't have to have a background in social media marketing. You can actually learn this skill. And you also have skills that you already possess that you may have worked at a 9 to 5. You have skills, right? You can leverage those skills and guess what?
- [04:25]
Kalen
Get paid.
- [04:26]
Michelle
Like.
- [04:26]
Kalen
Like leverage them for sure and shoot your shot. I will always say that. Shoot Your shot.
- [04:32]
Michelle
So let's start with the hot take. Another hot take. What is the biggest social media myth that people are still believing out here in these streets in 2025?
- [04:40]
Kalen
Hmm. I think it's definitely posting every single day without any intention or any strategy behind it. We are constantly on our phones, we're constantly consuming content, and people think that because we're on those devices that we need to be fulfilling that need. We need to constantly be on the screen. On the screen. When really it's quality over quantity, right? It's posting something that gives your audience value, that will keep bringing them back for more. Instead of posting every day without a plan, keep this note, people. Pro tip. Post for quality, not for quantity. Because the most important thing that you're going to be doing with your audience to nurture them is to provide them value and want to give them something to come back to.
- [05:25]
Michelle
That's good. Do not post without a purpose. Okay. Be out here throwing things at the wall. That was really good. And as you all know, I always say, I hope you have your pins and notepads. I don't think I said that today. I'm saying it now. Get your pins and notepads out, because that was a gem that was just dropped. Okay, so if you had to describe the perfect, engaging post in three words, what would they be?
- [05:47]
Kalen
For me, I would definitely say be authentic, be relatable, and make sure your content is interactive. You know, authenticity makes people trust you. That's the main thing that you're trying to get right. When you have a brand, you want people to trust you. You want to be credible. You know, you also want to be relatable. You want to feel connected. When we interact with these brands, we interact with them because we feel something. We feel a connection, right? And then most importantly, interactivity that sparks engagement. That's the key thing now on any social media platform is creating engagement. Because without these three things, your posts.
- [06:19]
Podcast Host
Are not going to work.
- [06:20]
Michelle
It's not going to work, period. Like, that's the sentence. We put a period at the end of that sentence. It's not going to work. It's not going to work. So let's talk about your business. You run socially smooth and you help brands get. I like this. A smooth ride to social success. That is. That's a bar. That's a bar.
- [06:38]
Kalen
Okay, thank you.
- [06:39]
Michelle
What has been one of the biggest content wins that you've seen from a client? I'm sure you've seen so many things, but tell us about a win that you're super proud of.
- [06:47]
Kalen
Yeah, absolutely. You know, we ensure smooth rides of social success here. So it takes a lot of intentionality and a lot of planning. And we worked with various industries and one of my biggest, most recent wins, I will say is, you know, we had a client in the real estate industry. They worked for Cold Web Banker at the time. When we first partnered with them. We were hired to create content for them and manage their social. They struggled with consistency, they struggled with growth, they struggled with engagement. And after refining their messaging and implementing an engagement focused content plan where we were telling more stories, we were utilizing the tools Instagram gives us, we were, you know, using polls in the stories, maybe we were even creating captions that had call to actions. You know, in over three months, we were able to scale them. I think we 3x their engagement. If I'm putting a number to it, we were able to scale them from 5,000 followers to 10,000 followers. So that was a big, big jump there. And that was just over three months. We ended up working with them for a period of a year. And, you know, one of the biggest wins there is they started with Coldwell Banker and ended up with Sirhan. If you guys are not familiar, Sirhan also has a reality TV show on now on Netflix, but he's one of the biggest real estate names in New York City and he acquired them as a team because of their consistent social media presence. So, I mean, we could toot my own horn, but I'm a toot it because we built their social media presence where there was times where they were just, they were more consistent. Right. And we didn't just broadcast what their listings were. We started creating conversation pieces, we started telling more stories, we started showing who they were behind the real estate, if that makes sense. You're on mute.
- [08:33]
Michelle
Congratulations. That is amazing. And so, girl, yes, toot your own horn because those are results. Okay. Real results. So let's talk about the thing that, you know, it's the elephant in the room. Everybody talks about the engagement. Okay. What are brands and entrepreneurs getting wrong when it comes to. To creating content that actually sparks conversation? Because I see a lot of content that doesn't get any comments. It doesn't get anything. No shares, nothing.
- [09:02]
Kalen
Yeah. You know, for me, one of the things we live by at Socially Smooth is creating actionable content.
- [09:08]
Podcast Host
Right.
- [09:08]
Kalen
So cac, we're creating actionable content and most brands tend to treat their social media like a billboard. Right? There's no two way conversation. They're just, here's the post and that's it. And I think that's where people go wrong, right. You're posting generic promotional content without asking questions or encouraging discussion. So. And then there's multiple other things, right. Like many are inconsistent. You're posting multiple times a week and then you go ghost and then there's no real plan behind it.
- [09:37]
Podcast Host
Right.
- [09:38]
Kalen
So when we're creating actual actionable content, that means that your content prompts your audience to take specific actions. So you need to create content that really engages your audience and tells them to do something at the end of.
- [09:52]
Michelle
The day, tells them to do something. Having a call to action. Yes. Yes. Because we want them to do stuff, right. We don't want them to just go to one place. You have to lead them through the funnel, through the customer experience.
- [10:04]
Kalen
Right.
- [10:04]
Michelle
So let's talk about one thing that I know is trends. Okay. A lot of people like to hop on trends. Some of us may not need to hop on some of these trends that are going around. So with creating long form sustainable engagement, how do you balance trend hopping in.
- [10:19]
Podcast Host
Terms of trend hopping? Right. Like when creating long term content and also main making sure that we're having sustainable, like engagement trends go one or two ways. Right. Trends equal short term visibility. Your core content is what equals long term credibility. So we want to make sure we're using something that I use typically with a lot of my clients is a 70, 30 rule. Right. So 70% of our content is evergreen, where we're always telling our brand story. We're sharing valuable content. What's value driven. Right. And 30% is trend driven. So that means we're capitalizing on timely engagement. So like you mentioned, not everybody needs to be hopping on trends and sometimes they don't fit you and that's okay. Make sure that you're, make sure that you're customizing these trends to fit your niche instead of just copying what's viral. And you know, sometimes it just doesn't work for you and your brand. Trends are for visibility. Make it work for you. Trends are literally the place where it's just placement. It's somewhere where you can see but share your message through utilizing the trend. But please know not everybody needs to be dancing and pointing at the screen and telling me X, Y and Z. It doesn't, it doesn't work that way. So. So make sure you think about it for your brand and make it work for you.
- [11:37]
Michelle
Yes, we do all, we all don't need to be dancing and doing all the things you might not need to do that. So thank you for Saying that. And let's talk about another dreaded thing now. You may be listening and you're like, oh, this algorithm, I'm tired of it. I know you are. We're all tired of the algorithm, but it's always changing. And so what's your strategy for really staying ahead and keeping the engagement high? Because we want the engagement to be high, right?
- [12:00]
Podcast Host
Yeah, that's a, that's a really good question. And algorithms are annoying. They will always be annoying because every day is not the same on social media. But what I will always encourage people to do is to focus on human behavior. Right? Don't focus on just the algorithm because platforms are evolving. But at the end of the day, you're building your brand and engagement is always going to be about conversation, connection, and building your community. You know, experiment with new formats, making things more interactive in your videos. I started implementing something in my client content where we, we included multi layered hooks. So the attention span of people now are between 2.5 to 3 seconds. 3 seconds is crazy. So the goal is how do we keep them on the screen past those first three seconds? So creating those multilayered hooks where it's visual, audio and also, you know, something else on the screen. So maybe there's a graphic, there's a text. So creating multi layered hooks to add something else to your content, you know, make sure that you're stay. Also stay flexible because what worked last month might not work today. So make sure that we're always testing our content and we're able to pivot and be open to the pivot.
- [13:11]
Michelle
Ooh, that's the most important thing you just said be open to the pivot. Okay. Because you might have to pivot. You just might have. Those are some really good points. Again, I hope you all are taking notes. If you're loving this podcast episode, make sure you tag me on Instagram ichellthames And also he social media decoded pod. Okay, let's talk about community, which I love. This is like my jam. But a lot of brands that I know, and I know you know this too, they struggle with community building. What are the must have for turning followers into an engaged tribe and dare I say, like raving fans.
- [13:45]
Podcast Host
Yes, dare you say it and say it right, because you want to build your community out. You know, that's one thing that Instagram is prioritizing. TikTok is prioritizing is your community and how you have a committed community. Right? So treat them like real people. They're not just numbers. They are real people. Reply to your comments, reply to your DMS in a way that sparks conversation. Don't just throw emojis on the screen. Don't put three clapping hands. Like, engage with them. Give your audience a role, right? Name your community. Have some inside jokes. Highlight your biggest supporters. You know a great brand that does this, that I'm actively, like, involved in as a fan, dare I say, is Raven Ross's Pilates community. I don't know if you're familiar with Love is Blind, but Raven Ross was the Pilates girl, and she has a community, and we're known as the Pilates body hotties, okay? It makes your audience feel a part of something. You feel connected. It gives them someone to turn to on their fitness journey. Just as an example, give your audience a role. Don't just treat them as one follower at the end of the day, because they're the people who are going to invest in your brand. So treat them like real people, not just a number.
- [14:56]
Michelle
Yes. You got to name the community. You got to name the community. It's important. So, like, like you said, they want to feel like they're a part of something. Okay, that was a good example. And I. I don't. I haven't watched Love is Blind. Like. Like I should, y'. All. I used. I used to watch all the reality TV, but in these. In these days of my 30s and plus, I have not. But I will check that out because I want to check out her community. I think that's cool. So let's talk about the wildest engagement hack that you ever tried. What's something that's like, wow. And did it. Did it work?
- [15:25]
Podcast Host
Yeah. You know, engagement hacks are funny because, like you said, do they work? Do they not work? Isn't gonna hit. And that's where we struggle as people on social media. It's like, you know, we gotta try, and if we try it, great. So for me, you know, one of the things we did was a comment to win, right? So I don't know, you've probably seen it a couple different times, but instead of like a basic giveaway, we ran like, Best Comment Wins, right? Where it's a challenge where people had to leave the most creative, funny, insightful content comment underneath a piece of content.
- [15:56]
Kalen
So we.
- [15:57]
Podcast Host
What it did was it worked because it triggered competition. People always like to win because if you win, you get the pinned comment, and then people, that's the first thing you're going to see on the post. You know, it triggered creativity. It triggered some humor behind it because it'll make your comment section go crazy, right? You have people that'll actively start invol, like, nah, this wasn't funny. Let me, let me put this in here. And people engage more when there's a game element, you know, it feels fun. It feels like something different. It's not just your normal call to action.
- [16:25]
Kalen
So it did work.
- [16:26]
Podcast Host
We did it for a client of ours that we have where we had a bunch of comments flood the. The section where then we got to pin at least three. And they like, you know, you take away bragging rights. People love bragging rights sometimes. Sometimes you don't even need a physical thing to give away. They just love to be like, yo, I was, I was number one on here and I was funny.
- [16:44]
Michelle
So, yeah, and pinning comments and all that stuff like you said, that works. People love that type of stuff, you know, so that was, that was a good tip. Now the juicy topic of the day that everybody has been talking about. And sometimes I get so tired of people talking about this AI and automation and social media. Now I am a chatgpt queen girl. I love it so much. I'm gonna use it every day. I don't care whoever thinks, whatever, because it does help your business. It can help you grow. Okay, you're talk. People are talking about, oh, everybody sounds the same. Not me. I don't know what type of prompts you all are using. Not the right ones. But can you use it while still keeping things personal and real? That's where I was getting to.
- [17:23]
Podcast Host
Yeah. No, My personal assistant is ChatGPT. She's my girl. She's a she to me. I don't know about you.
- [17:29]
Kalen
She's a she.
- [17:30]
Michelle
She's my girl.
- [17:31]
Podcast Host
I believe that AI is a great tool, but it is not the answer. Tell my clients, I tell everybody I work with. AI is not the answer. It is an outline. Because like you mentioned, you can sound the same if you live by what they're saying on the screen. If you live by, you know, just what the outline and then you copy and paste it. That's not real life. Because then you lose your voice. Don't let it take over your voice.
- [17:56]
Kalen
Right?
- [17:57]
Podcast Host
Use it to enhance, not replace. Because at the end of the day, we live in a place where human connection is real. You know, I think people get lost in thinking that AI is going to replace us all when no human connection is still where the human still exists. We're not replaced by robots, we're not replaced by all that. So utilize it as an outline. But human connection at the end of the day is what is what is going to connect you to your community in real time and talking with a live person. So I believe you can use it to your advantage. Don't let it take over and don't let it replace you, because you have the option of putting your voice in there and being able to use it for stuff like batching, for repurposing, for scheduling. We're using a tool right now that allows us to integrate AI effectively where it puts less work on us, you know, So I believe it's a great tool. Don't knock it till you try it.
- [18:50]
Michelle
Don't knock it till you tried it. Absolutely. And yes, chat is my girl. Me and Chad. We're here. We're here. So this has been a really good episode. And I have one final question, a juicy question for us to end on. If you had to start your social media brand from scratch today, what. What is the first thing that you would do?
- [19:09]
Podcast Host
The first thing I would do would be to lean into more video content. I'm a really strong graphic designer. I will graphic you down into the ground. Like I love to build a carousel. I can build you a still graphic. But one thing that I know that accelerates trust faster than anything else is video. And that's one thing that my partner, my business partner has been trying to drill into my brain. We've had the business for four years, and I'm just now getting in front of the camera and really utilizing video to propel my business. So I would definitely be using video first, but most importantly, I'd be telling my story. You know, one thing that we help our brands do is amplify themselves through visual content. But most importantly, telling your story, because there's always someone out there that can relate to you, right? Everyone has a different journey, you know, doesn't go through the same thing. So share your story, share how you built your business, share why you built your business, because that's what's gonna draw in the audience that you need and give you the clients that you deserve at the end of the day.
- [20:13]
Kalen
Ooh.
- [20:14]
Michelle
So good. This has been a really great episode. Thank you so much for coming on and dropping all of these gems. Where can people connect with you to learn more about you and get more of your social media magic? Let us know where we can find you.
- [20:28]
Podcast Host
Yeah, absolutely. Please feel free to follow me at my company's page socially. Smooth on Instagram.
- [20:35]
Michelle
Woo. You dropped so many gems. And if you did not take notes, I need you to go back and replay because this episode was a masterclass on engagement. Okay? Make sure you follow Kalen at K A e L Y Nicoleenocially Smooth and OwlbotMedia, and we'll have all that in the show notes. When I tell you, I'm gonna give you all the links, okay? So you can get all of this social media magic. And don't forget to check out her website. We'll have that down there in the show notes as well. And if you love today's episode, do me a favor. Screenshot it, take a, you know, a picture, whatever you need to do, and say what gym you got from today. Cause I know you got a gym. All right? There were too many gems for you not to get one. Share it on your Instagram stories and tag me and Kalen. Okay, so let us know what your biggest takeaway was from today. Until next time, you all keep showing up, keep creating, and get that engagement right. Okay? Remember, it's not about the numbers. It's about the community. All right, I will talk to y' all in the next one.
- [21:40]
Podcast Host
Peace.
- [21:41]
Customer
Morning. One sausage McMuffin with eggplace.
- [21:44]
Cashier
Okay, your total is.
- [21:45]
Customer
Wait. Let's negotiate. How's about you throw in hash browns for a dollar?
- [21:50]
Cashier
Well, yes, sir, that price is already a dollar.
- [21:53]
Customer
Take it or leave it.
- [21:55]
Podcast Host
Take it, I guess.
- [21:58]
Cashier
Buy one, add one for a dollar on sausage McMuffin with egg, half hash browns and more with MC value. Most locations open 5am or earlier. Price and participation may vary. Limited time only. Valid for item of equal or lesser value.