BySocial media is pretty much about engagement with other people. If you can’t get people to engage with you on social media, you won’t be able to benefit from all that social media has to offer. And this applies to any business, regardless of the size, type, or niche.
But while we know that social media engagement is a vital part of any social media marketing strategy, getting the much-desired engagement is not always easy. The following tips are here to help you craft a social media marketing strategy that drives more engagement.
#1 Use Images in Every Post
According to Buffer, tweets that include images tend to gain 150% more retweets than tweets that don’t include them. Images capture more attention when scrolling through newsfeeds than just plain text. Adding relevant images to your post will help encourage more social media engagement.
Image credit: instagram
#2 Post Multiple Times Daily
To increase social media engagement, you’ll need to post regularly on your pages. On average, 2-3 posts per platform per day will help you build an engaged audience. If you post too much, you may annoy your audience, which can result in unfollowers.
But, you’ll also want to post at the best times. So keep reading the next tip.
#3 Find Out Who Is Talking about You
In this current age, it is vital to know what people are saying about you on social media. This is as important for brands, as it is for influencers, and indeed ordinary people.
In the case of businesses, you want to find out about genuine organic mentions of your brand – both positive and negative. This is particularly important when somebody complains about your brand online. You can’t remedy a problem if you don’t know of its existence.
For you to react with speed, you first need to know when people are talking about you and the easiest way to do so is to track brand mentions going to your company. Often all it takes to make somebody happy is a reply, where you recognize his or her concern. The problem with social media is that people are now accustomed to an almost instantaneous reply
Only 9% of tweets mentioning companies start with@. Which means that 91% of people are talking about you, not to you. To find all the 91% of mentions and people talking about you or your brand you can use a tool like Brand Mentions. Because you wouldn’t want to miss anything tasty or, well, sour in regard to your brand.
#4 Schedule Your Posts for the Right Timing
Social media users aren’t online all the time. So if you happen to post something while most of your followers are inactive, you could potentially lose out on engagement opportunities.
To increase social media engagement, find out when your followers are most likely to be online and then schedule your posts accordingly. The goal is to have them see your posts and possibly like, comment, and/or share the posts.
You can use tools like Piktochart and Canva to create unique visuals that will engage your social media audience.
#5 Share Content That’s Relevant to Your Audience
Who are your customers? What are their interests? What types of posts do they prefer? How do they consume information? Would they prefer videos, blog content, or image posts? Focus on creating content your customers would enjoy. You’ll likely need to experiment with different types of content to see which gets the most engagement. If you notice that videos perform well on your fan pages, then create more video content.
Make sure you pay close attention to your analytics to understand what content is working for you.
Another way you can track performance is by using a URL shortener like Rebrandly. It makes it easy to create branded shortened URLs and tracks the number of clicks.
You can also attach your ad pixels to these links so you can retarget these people with ads from your account, even if they don’t visit your website.
#6 Start Using Trending Hashtags
Based on how you use them, hashtags can dramatically increase social media engagement. While your posts may already reach your existing followers, hashtags help you engage people who aren’t already following you. When you use relevant and trending hashtags in your Instagram and Twitter posts, you improve the chances of users finding your content.
You can use tools like Twitonomy to find trending hashtags in the relevant niche. Or you can use Hashtagify.me to stay updated with the latest hashtag trends. This research will help you participate in trending social media conversations. And it makes it easier for relevant users to discover your content, which can help increase social media engagement.
#7 Host a Giveaway Contest
Another excellent way to increase social media engagement is by hosting a giveaway contest. This tactic drives engagement mainly because people have a chance of receiving something. This could compel them to engage with your brand or influencer content on social media.
And based on how you execute the contest, you could also boost the amount of user-generated content for your brand. For instance, requiring participants to share their photos using a unique branded hashtag will create more UGC.
By hosting a giveaway contest, you’ll increase social media engagement among your existing followers. For instance, maybe they’ll need to like the post, and tag their friends in the comments in order to participate.
#8 Go Live
With the introduction of Instagram Live and Facebook Live, brands have new options to increase social media engagement. You can make the most of these options to engage fans on a real-time basis.
Try live streaming your launch event, a milestone celebration, or an industry event. Or you could also go live on a weekly basis to update and entertain your social media followers. You could even live stream the creation and brainstorming process of your upcoming product launch to build hype.
#9 Stay Topical
Ann Handley, a digital marketing expert, put it best in her book Everybody Writes: “Content moments are everywhere; you just have to know to look for them. Sometimes that means being part of breaking news. But it also means tapping into broader trends […] That means looking at the news cycle for opportunities to become part of developing trends and events. Timing is key here.”
By jumping on big, current trends, you’re able to instantly connect with your audience since those events are likely at the top of their minds already. This can include things like trending hashtags, sporting events, pop culture news, and holidays.
#10 Ask Questions
Ask your customers for their opinion, and they’ll be happy to give it to you. You can even include polls on Facebook, giving your customers multiple choices. On Twitter, ask your customers to RT for one option, and favorite for another. The RTs will almost always win (RT’s will spread to other people’s feeds where favorites won’t) so it isn’t scientific, but it will certainly help increase your engagement and help you identify leads.
If you’d rather not use an actual poll, you can also create photos and graphics with multiple options and ask your followers what they prefer. You should share your customers’ answers and engage with the conversation that ensues.
These are just a few ways to get your community more engaged and keep them engaged. We’re sure there are many great methods to grow your business and we’d be more than happy to hear from your own success stories. What do you do to keep your audience engaged?
About Steve Conway
Steve Conway is a content marketing professional and inbound marketing expert. Previously, Steve worked as a marketing manager for a tech software start-up. He is passionate about discovering new software that will that will advance his already well-honed digital marketing techniques.