How to Get More Engagement on Social Media

Social Media Series - Part 5 of 6

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While advertising your product is a good start, you need to give customers a reason to care about your brand--not just see you as another online business. Researching the impact of psychoanalysis on advertising tells you how to cultivate a desire within your customers. Afterward, learn how to get more engagement on social media to connect with your followers and show them that you care about their needs.

What is Social Media Engagement?

Social media engagement is the way that followers interact with your posts. On a basic level, visitors follow you, "like" your posts, and see them on their feeds while they're scrolling. Advanced engagement includes commenting on your posts, sharing your content, watching videos, and participating in live chats.

When followers engage with your brand, they remember you over your competitors, making them more likely to work with you in the future. They build a positive relationship with you and recommend you to others. As you gain more followers, your business looks increasingly legitimate. Who would you prefer to work with--a business with a dozen followers or a business with ten thousand?

Running a successful social media campaign means earning as much engagement as possible. This means inspiring customers to "like" and share your content, comment on your posts, watch videos and follow your account for more. While followers need a push in the right direction, they'll start to interact on their own when they see that you're a friendly, established business.

How Do You Get More Social Media Engagement?

Earning more engagement means impressing your customers, grabbing their attention, and fulfilling their need to be heard. Once you've mastered this, you'll start racking up thousands of followers.

Collaborate with Influencers

You might not have a high follower count yet, but influencers have thousands, tens of thousands, or millions of followers. They reach a massive audience that you don't currently have access to. Reach out to influencers to see if they'll promote your products in exchange for a fee or free products. You could also collaborate on giveaways, projects, and live videos.

An influencers' followers trust their opinions on new products, services, and trends. When they recommend your business, you'll gain hundreds of followers, see increased engagement on your posts and earn more website traffic. You'll also build credibility because you have the time and money to work with a major influencer.

Stick to a Theme

People follow your account because they expect a certain theme. If you post a bright, cheery video one day and a dark, creepy video the next, they don't know what to expect from your brand. While you can mix it up once in a while to keep your content fresh, maintain consistency across your posts.

Offer similar themes, content, and branding on every social media account. For example, if you sell makeup, you could post product photos, makeup tips, pictures of models, and news about upcoming sales, all with a consistent color palette. This strengthens brand recognition and encourages viewers to follow your story.

Host Giveaways

No one passes up the opportunity to win a free product or service. Even if they don't follow you, visitors will sign up for your giveaway just because it's free. For the cost of one product, you could gain thousands of followers that show up for the giveaway and stay for engaging content.

Host giveaways to delight your audience and build a reputation as a friendly, generous business. Just make sure it's easy to sign up--even customers who love free products will give up if they have to fill out lengthy forms. Afterward, encourage the winner to show off their winnings on social media, which is another advertisement for you.

You can also hold contests that encourage followers to dress up, make a craft, or write an essay. You'll need to provide strong incentives--followers won't go through all that effort if you don't have a cash prize, extensive free services, valuable promotion, or product assortment. Be prepared to spend some money, but take advantage of the promotion that you'll enjoy on social media.

Interact with Your Followers

When you check a business's Instagram, you see that they never respond to comments, not even compliments, and friendly greetings. They don't answer questions or respond to reviews. In fact, this business never interacts with followers at all--they simply show up, advertise their product and leave. Would this inspire you to work with this business?

Interacting with your followers means taking a personal interest in your customers and showing them that they're more than a number. Keep a professional distance from your followers--you don't have to become their best friend. However, respond to their comments, ask questions, host polls and Instagram lives, and reply to negative reviews so you know how to improve.

Use Images

As you scroll through Twitter and Facebook, text posts start to blend together. You keep scrolling until you find the next image that catches your eye. If your social media posts don't have images, followers scroll past without stopping, limiting your visibility and decreasing engagement rates.

When you post on Twitter or Facebook, include an image with most of your updates. This could be a product photo, a snapshot of your team, a brand illustration, or a sale announcement. Some platforms allow you to share GIFs that reach out to younger audiences. Mix up your photos with video content, and keep the images engaging and relevant--don't merely attach your logo to every post.

Post on a Schedule

Post consistently to maintain your followers' attention. If you post once a month, they'll unfollow you due to inactivity--or won't follow you, to begin with. If you essentially abandon the account, they'll assume that the business is closed. You'll also lose out on the opportunity to promote yourself.

Schedule daily posts with text and images, and use dynamic content like videos or live chats at least once a week. Don't overwhelm your followers with a dozen posts in one day, but provide a steady stream of content that entertains and informs your audience. Use a content calendar to schedule your posts and plan ahead of time so you're never scrambling at the last minute.

Post Quality Content

Even if they like your product, people won't follow your account if you post low-quality content with grainy images, poor graphic design, and spelling errors. Mediocre content looks unprofessional and makes a bad first impression, turning off potential clients. You'll have more trouble securing collaborations, advertisements, and partnerships with influencers and brands.

Post high-quality content that's more than just an advertisement--it's part of the conversation. Share behind-the-scenes photos, talk about upcoming products, discuss your design process, share tips and advice, and post the occasional long-form blog that educates your followers. You'll earn visitors that follow you just because of your content, which later inspires them to place an order.

Utilize Hashtags

You can have great content, but nobody's going to follow your account if they can't reach you. Hashtags increase your visibility. For example, if you use the tag "#makeuptutorials" on a video that shares makeup tips, viewers find your post when they scroll through that hashtag. They'll "like" the post, follow your account and potentially visit your website.

Don't use irrelevant hashtags--you'll reach the wrong people and make a bad impression. Instead, focus on a mixture of broad and specific hashtags that have relevancy for your business. Similarly, make your own hashtag and encourage followers to use this tag to spread the word. They won't use the tag for no reason, but they'll use the tag if you provide an incentive, like a giveaway entry.

Track Trends and Social Issues

Followers want to know that you're on top of trends and social issues. When you join the conversation, you show your followers that you pay attention to what's going on in the world. You'll stay relevant, show your support for important issues and encourage dialogue with your followers.

You don't have to comment on every single issue or turn your account into a news feed, but acknowledge major events and discuss what you're doing to help. Donate to a relevant charity, and ask your followers to do the same. Similarly, note the trending topics and styles and incorporate these into your content.

Include Questions and Calls to Action

While a few followers comment on your posts, most followers passively "like" your content and keep scrolling because they don't have a reason to leave a comment. A full comments section shows that you and your customers engage with each other and build a relationship. When other visitors see this dynamic, they'll follow you and contribute their own comments.

Inspire followers to interact with your posts by asking questions, like "What's your daily skincare routine?" or "What inspires you to start journaling?" Get customers to think with more complex questions, like "What would make you want to start jogging more often?" This shows followers that you're actively listening to your audience.

Conclusion

Now that you've learned how to get more engagement on social media, take it a step further with E-Marketing Associates Listing Sync Software. Maintain your local listings by generating listings, fixing inaccurate listings, and protecting how your business is listed across the web with consistent, accurate information.

In addition to local listings, E-Marketing Associates offers solutions for reputation management, social media marketing, visitor tracking, web design, and SEO. Start with a free business report, then talk to E-Marketing Associates about boosting your visibility.