We know that delivering engaging content to our follower’s feeds is what we all strive for, yet like many of us, if creating content is not your superpower, it can be difficult to churn out deeply profound and engaging posts every single day.

The next best thing is to wait until inspiration strikes us – or worse – we force out a Frankenstiened post that feels stiff and doesn’t quite get that engagement that we so effortlessly pictured in our heads.

But it can be less stressful, and surprisingly, more successful by using a little relationship psychology hack:

Enter: The Pug Strategy.

Simply, the “Pug Strategy” as we like to call it, capitalizes on your audience’s base level of participation and commitment to your brand. Instead of setting the expectation that robust, thought-provoking content deserves equally passionate engagement, give yourself (and your audience) a break, and post a few lighthearted images, designs, (or even cute pug images) to break up the content fatigue.

The Pug Strategy is loosely based on the participation strategy theory called The Ladder of Engagement, which suggests that all brands and organizations have audience participation at various levels of passion and commitment. When each new audience member begins their relationship with your brand, they begin on the first step with easy actions – such as following you because of your awesome Pug meme – and progress their relationship towards deeper, meaningful, actions, like starting a conversation on your feed or becoming a customer.

The Pug Strategy may seem counterintuitive at first. Sure, we want to be committed to delivering real value to our audience, but people don’t become die-hard fans overnight. Oftentimes, the simplest gesture of trust from someone is the content that’s the easiest to engage with, and that builds the first rung of a ladder towards a more engaged and deeply connected digital community.

If you’re interested in learning more about On Tap, you can connect with us on our socials or send us a message anytime. 👁‍🗨