How To Increase Engagement On Social Media
The key that opens the door to success and keeps it open on social media, is determined by the level of engagement with your audience. The more that you can increase engagement on social media the greater your overall success will be.
So why is social media engagement important? Consistent engagement at a high level generates:
- Followers, resulting in…
- Loyal followers, who become…
- Customers / clients who become…
- Your brand ambassadors.
Here are 9 tips to help you increase engagement on social media and build awareness about your brand.
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1.Talk About Your Topic (Not Just Your Brand)
Involving yourself in groups that are relevant to your business will increase your chances of reaching your target audience and will get your name known by potential customers. You can also create your own groups. In fact, you can create multiple groups on your social media platforms. You can then invite key influencers and prospective customers to join and weigh in on topics posted in the group’s discussions.
Involvement on social media groups is one of the smartest ways to increase engagement. But remember, if you only promote your own brand, it will create a bad impression. Groups and forums aren’t there to talk only about yourself. It’s best to initiate different group members to lead various discussions and talk about the latest trends or happenings in an industry or area of interest that’s relevant to your brand. Doing this will make customers see you as a useful and valuable source of useful information which will build loyalty and increase your number of followers.
2. Join Question and Answer Sessions
Joining Q&A answer sessions are great social engagement activities that result in you being viewed as an all-around helpful brand. On top of that, if you can offer relevant answers to customer queries and spark discussions with your prospective customers, all before your competitors, you will become the go-to seller of choice.
If you are the first to reply to queries, it will help you to be seen as someone who cares about customers beyond that of your competitors. However, remember that if the content you provide isn’t of use to customers, you run the risk of damaging your reputation and brand image.
3. Share Other People’s Content
If someone other than yourself can provide better answers to a query, use their expertise. If your social media feed can provide them with relevant information, whether it’s yours or someone else’s, they will be attracted to your brand and hence will be encouraged to follow you.
Keeping your content diverse (yet relevant), and from a variety of contributors, will keep customers interested. Sometimes hearing the same person talk about the same stuff, day in day out, can become a little boring.
4. Make Your Customers Feel Engaged
Not only is it a good idea to share your customers’ posts, but if you really want to make them feel engaged, try giving them a direct response (reply) to their content.
Responding to every customer post that doesn’t just directly address the brand but perhaps mentions it through a specific hashtag, is great for ensuring each customer feels like they are valued by you and your business.
5. Make Your Posts Visual
Just like emoticons (which are popular), images and videos are great additions to add to your social media posts and marketing content in general.
These act to create a more appealing post that users will want to read, but it also caters to those of different browsing styles who may disregard plain text posts altogether. Including an image, GIF or short video into your social posts can make it attractive to all types of users and also increase the accessibility of the posts.
6. Create Polls and Surveys
Another excellent way to create engaging social media posts is through the use of polls and surveys. Social media polls and surveys are super-simple for obtaining customer feedback quickly.
7. Run Contests and Giveaways
Running a simple contest that gets users engaging with your brand is a great way to attract more customers and raise brand awareness. Offering your customers something in return for tweeting with a specific hashtag, retweeting or sharing your content – or better yet, becoming a follower, is a great way to reward and acknowledge engagement.
People, in general, are more than happy to get involved with a brand if it means they will get something from the business. That could be social media engagement games, a freebie, discount code or perhaps a cheaper membership.
8. Post Frequently and at Optimal Times
Keeping your social media channels active is critical if you want to show your audience you are up to date and on top of the latest trends and breaking news. Frequent posts on a regular basis (once a month isn’t going to cut it anymore) can not only keep your followers following you, but also keeps them loyal. If you don’t post regularly, you may lose followers.
Social media channels move fast. This means once you have posted, it’s unlikely that a user will see it a week or even a few days after it’s published. Publishing posts at times when your target customers are most likely active is one of the best ways to ensure your followers will see your content, giving you the best chance of generating engagement.
9. Use Analytics Tools to Monitor Engagement
The analytics tools provided on your social media platforms are really helpful in monitoring the levels of engagement on social media, websites and more. You can obtain valuable insights from your data that is perfect for making those needed campaign changes for improvements. These range from tracking the number of views and the number of link or image clicks, to discovering the optimal times to post.
Free Checklist: How To Run Successful Facebook Ads
A paid and organic social media strategy will increase engagement on social media. Although everything about Facebook isn’t perfect, the truth is that with more than two billion users per month, Facebook advertising strategies still work. Yes, they do make changes to their Facebook advertising guidelines without notice which can be frustrating. But if you remain diligent and watch your ad spend and results carefully, you’ll get a good return on your investment.
For more social media engagement ideas, download my free checklist How To Run Successful Facebook Ads and make the best use of your social media marketing.