7 Ways to Increase Your Social Media Engagement
Improving the level of engagement on your social media channels can be an ongoing and relentless task. Nevertheless, to achieve any real results with your social media strategy, establishing quality engagement is essential. If you want to get more out of your existing social efforts, then ensure you are actioning these six ways to revolutionize your social media engagement.
1. Love to Chat. Start a Conversation.
Start talking to people in your industry, connect genuinely with your own community of peers, reach out to businesses you have a crush on or admire, and most importantly, inspire your loyal customers.
When you start one-on-one conversations on social media and focus on the quality of these interactions, you will not only get more engagement with your own posts, you will have more fun too. You must never “batch and blast” your followers on social media in the hopes to build a quality channel or increase engagement. Studies have found that auto-postinq to Facebook, for example, decreases likes and comments by 70 percent.
2. Eye Candy. Make Your Posts More Visual.
Images and video are the most engaging type of content on social media, as they are quickly viewed and they emotionally connect with readers. As of April 2014, 87 percent of the most shared Facebook posts worldwide contained a photo. To increase the engagement of your posts, make sure there is always some type of creative visual element connected to the content.
3. Share the Love. Cross-Promote.
Establishing authentic relationships and connecting with key players in your industry is not only a great way to make new friends and boost credibility, but it also helps you to access a wider network of people and amplify your own message. Start following key influencers and share their articles and content with some of your own commentary.
4. Money Talks. Pay When Possible.
In most cases the paid options on social media networks are the most effective and engaging. In these cases you are paying to access a more targeted audience that will often have a stronger interest in your products or services. Exploring these opportunities will increase you social engagement but it can also enable you to get the most out of your online marketing budget.
5. Create Value. Follow The 80-20 Rule.
Adding value and developing community is a less popular underlying intention of many social media campaigns as most people are simply pushing self-promotion which does not foster a great basis for real engagement. Often this sort of communication lacks personality or value for those which it is reaching out to.
When companies neglect to be involved in a community of cross promotion, people sense they are being sold to, rather than ‘communicated with’ and quickly loose interest. Instead, follow the 80/20 rule.
Eighty percent of your posts should be socially focused:
- Talk about industry news
- Share articles from other people you admire
- Interact with comments and customers
- Discuss your community’s concerns and questions
- Showcase events you are attending or have attended
- Cross-promote with credible people of influence
- Share past and present posts from your business blog
In addition to this, 20 percent of your posts should be strictly promotional, talking about your products and services, with clear call to actions.
6. Power Of Suggestion. Always Include A Great Call-to-Action.
Be sure to tell your audience what you want them to do at the end of every post. Ask them a question that they can answer in the comments. Tell them to visit the link in your post. When you tell your audience what you want from them, they are more likely to act upon it.
7. Thoughtful Communication. Proof Read More Than Once.
When you are done crafting your perfect post, review it over and over again. Check for grammar and spelling errors. Click the link to check it works correctly. Make sure photos are good quality and not stretched or pixilated. Analyze the tone and wording to ensure it is in line with your brand personality and that it will not come off as negative or offend anyone. Once you’re happy with your post, hit send and get your engagement on!
Simply being active on social media with one-directional, broadcast posts is no longer enough, and honestly, unless you are engaging and building your social community, it’s likely to be time poorly spent. As more and more small businesses establish their social media channels, engagement must be front and center, taking time in establishing brand relationships will be the deciding factor in your message being heard, and social media having a positive impact on your business.