Social media is one of the most popular sources of information for customers. About 55% of people learn about brands and companies on social networks, so you definitely need to use this opportunity and tell users about your product or service out loud.
However, it’s not that easy anymore. With constantly growing competition, it becomes more and more challenging for brands to increase user engagement on social media. We have analyzed a breadth of data from marketers and have outlined the most useful tips to increase user engagement on social networks below.
The Importance of Social Media Engagement for Your Business
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can help you build strong connections with customers. Each time a user likes, comments, or interacts with your posts, it demonstrates their interest in your company and in what you are sharing. This, in turn, can increase word-of-mouth referrals, raise brand loyalty, and boost sales.
The importance of social media marketing is also due, in part, to the unique opportunity it presents to improve communication with users. Customer engagement can provide valuable insight into the quality of your content and how well it resonates with users. With the information you gather from this constant feedback loop, you can optimize posts in order to draw more attention, thus increasing user engagement.
Moreover, 54% of people surfing social media are doing so to find information on certain products, and over 60% decide to purchase a product after seeing it advertised on social media. Thus, Instagram and other channels can play a powerful role in generating more leads and sales.
In summary, establishing a social media presence, building a follower base, and effectively engaging users with high quality content can have a variety of benefits for a brand. By taking advantage of the incredible capabilities of apps available to marketers, as well as tailoring the following tips to best fit your brand and your consumer base, you can quickly enhance your social media engagement.
5 Tips to Increase Social Media Engagement
While you can simply post content on social media in hopes that your followers interact with and share it on their own, chances are, they may need a little extra push. For this reason, we have provided some tips you can implement immediately to increase engagement with your social media content.
Before we move on, let me introduce you to the bonus tip. Just like you send a personal welcome message to new subscribers, consider sending a “Welcome-to-our-network” message to your new social media followers! Receiving a direct message could make your users feel compelled to respond, which is a strong first step in engaging customers to interact with your brand.
1. Develop a Content Plan and Post Regularly
What is the foundation of a social media content plan? It’s to figure out the ideal ratio for the content that you share. For example, look at your last 10 Facebook posts, how many of them are shared from your blog and from partners’ blogs? What is the balance of promotional content?
There are many theories as to how much of each kind of content you should post, but let me tell you about the golden ratio. It says that 30% of your content should be owned, 60% of posts must be curated, and no more than 10% can be purely promotional.
Once you have the general framework for the content plan figured out, you can decide on the frequency of your posts. The ideal frequency is entirely dependent upon on your specific product and audience. That being said, research has shown the following ranges to be most effective:
Post to Instagram: 3-7x per week
Post to Facebook: 1-2x per day
Post to Twitter: 1-5x per day
Post to LinkedIn: 1-5x per day
2. Interact with the Audience
Social media is about connection and communication, so instead of endlessly talking about only your brand, take some time to interact with your audience. There are plenty of ways to do that, but an easy and effective option is to start by joining discussions to engage with consumers more directly.
For instance, become a member of a Facebook group where people talk about topics relevant to your business, ask questions, answer others’ queries, comment, and share your opinion. Let people notice your valuable insights on the subject. Also, consider creating such a Facebook group of your own where you can not only discuss questions but also freely share promotional posts from time to time.
Another essential step is to respond to comments and direct mentions on all social platforms. When doing this, you have to be consistent and quick. If a customer shared a good review on their social media and mentioned you, go to the comments section, say thank you, and point out what a pleasure it is to have such a great user among your customers. This strategy can also lead to more unique comments, which can boost user engagement.
If someone shared a bad review, reacting to it is even more critical. Comment and say that you are terribly sorry, offer a special promotion or other benefits to ease a tense situation.
Each interaction increases brand awareness and builds a general brand image in the eyes of customers and potential users, so don’t waste this opportunity to build brand equity.
3. Add a Little Humor
Evoking emotions is one of the most effective ways to market. People feel good when they are laughing, as it relaxes the body, releases endorphins, improves the immune system, and allows stress relief. In short, if you want your customers to be happy and associate good feelings with your company, make them laugh.
Being funny on social media is harder than it seems, as a bad joke can spread just as quickly as a good one. Something that you may consider funny, others may see as offensive. That’s why it’s important to check the joke with a diverse array of people you can trust before posting it online. Generally, the better you know your audience, the more successful you can be in making them laugh.
How do you come up with humorous content? Start with exploring current funny trends, and then make them unique to your brand. It will show that your company is relevant and committed to closely connecting with their audience . The brand Charmin executed this perfectly with this social media post:
4. Run Contests and Quizzes
Contests are another fun way to boost your engagement and make people interact with your social channels. Instagram, Facebook, and many other popular social platforms have features that allow you to create interactive elements, such as quizzes, that you can share on your profile or within a story. Think about topics that help people feel like they have real influence or even partial ownership of your brand, like voting on a new feature, website design, or flavor choice.
You can also hold contests on your social media platforms to initiate good-natured competition among users. Ask a question, and offer a special prize to those who are first to answer correctly. Telling followers to invite friends to join the contest for the chance to win can help to expand the audience even further.
5. Collaborate with Influencers
Collaborating with influencers can massively increase your number of followers and encourage them to engage with your brand. It can also be a refreshing change of pace for your existing followers, as collaboration with different influencers keeps your feed fresh and diversified, breaking up your typical promotional posts.
Pick the right platform to manage influencers, select people who have many potential leads for your brand among their follower base, and organize a mutually beneficial collaboration. One popular way to do this is to host an influencer takeover. Letting an influencer take over your social media account for a day is a commonly used tactic on Snapchat and Instagram and can significantly increase your social media engagement.
Maximizing exposure on social media is important, as many consumers use Instagram as a shopping platform. It is critical for marketers to leverage this opportunity and make their accounts look attractive with stunning photos and influencer collaborations.
Other effective ways to collaborate with influencers include featuring influencer content on your own social media page, sharing videos in which you interview bloggers, or having bloggers create an overview of your product or service to share on their channels.
Here is how Revlon Professional is doing it on Instagram:
Conclusion
Attracting followers and compelling them to interact with your social media content is no simple task. However, by implementing a few of these key strategies, you can take advantage of these rapidly growing platforms to sharpen your brand image and increase brand awareness. By using
tips from expert marketers, as well as Twitter marketing agencies, that have consistently proven successful, you can increase user engagement on social media, boost organic traffic to your site, generate more leads, and improve sales.
