Social Media and its stratospheric rise into an integral part of modern life has provided businesses, both big and small, the opportunity to connect and engage directly with their current and potential customer base in a way that was never possible a couple of decades ago.
Did you know that 74% of all consumers rely primarily on Social Media for their retail therapy and purchasing choices?! That’s a lot of people on Social Media who are actively looking to spend money and your business needs to be in front of all those eyes.
But therein lies the problem, with so many businesses on Social Media, how do you get seen and how do you build a presence with so much competition.
What is Social Media Engagement?
Social Media Engagement is two distinct things wrapped up under one overarching name.
- Social Media Engagement is the measure of the interactions that your followers, subscribers, customers and clients are undertaking on your Social Media content. Each Like, Share, Comment, Retweet, Mention, Clink-Through, DM, Save, etc, goes into the pot that results in your Social Media engagement rate.
Every business on Social Media wants to rack up the followers or subscribers, which is understandable, from a social proof perspective those metrics make your business appear more reputable, regardless of what anyone says. However, they are not the only metric to focus on and certainly not the most important one.
Social Media Engagement is actually one of the greatest measures of the success for your Social Media. Having a quality audience that is engaged with your content results in more growth. Engaged followers are more likely to become ambassadors for your business and then it is like having a mini army of marketers that are doing the groundwork for you.
It’s also important to realise that the higher your engagement rate, the more reach your content receives. Social Media platforms want audiences that are engaged and stay on the platform for longer. If your content is something that helps them towards that goal, they will actively push that content out to more people.
- Social Media Engagement is also an active process. Above is the side of Social Media Engagement that is out with your hands once you have published the content however there are many things that you are responsible for undertaking to actively improve your Social Media Engagement.
Imagine you host a Dinner Party! You have cooked a delicious meal, bought fantastic wine, deep cleaned the house, then everyone shows up on time and then there is no conversation around the table. What do you do?
Do you just sit back and wait for someone else to start the conversation?
Of course, you don’t, you are the host, you start a conversation, ask questions, you highlight interesting facts about topics that are of interest to the guest at your party.
THAT is Social Media Engagement as an active process.
You are responsible as the business to engage your audience by actively participating in social conversation and activity. It’s called “Social” Media, so you need to become “Social” as your business.
Becoming an active social brand or business on Social Media builds a positive brand experience, and develops meaningful relationships with new and potential customers or clients while developing a community that people want to be a part of.
Why is Social Media Engagement Important?
Recently I went out with my partner to a bar for some food and drinks (non-alcoholic, neither of are alcohol drinkers, makes for a hangover free life which we both enjoy). When we were there we bumped into an old friend that we had lost touch with. As with most people, life gets in the way, and you end up years later and realise that there are people that have just vanished out of your life for no specific reason.
We all sat together and had a lovely afternoon, soaking up the sun, enjoyed some food and generally caught up. After this, we have been in constant contact again and are already arranging another meet-up.
I’m not telling you this to promote my wonderful social life in the sun. I’m telling you it to demonstrate why Social Media Engagement is important.
Making connections and nurturing those relationships means that those followers, customers or clients will return to you again and again and again. They will keep coming back because they like you, enjoy your personality, and generally want to get to know about you and what you have to offer them.
Remember, every time a follower or customer engages with your Social Media content it demonstrates that they are interested in what your business has to say. This result in greater advocacy, increased brand awareness, increased word-of-mouth referrals, better brand loyalty and ultimately results in more sales.
And that’s the point right?
10 Hot Tips to Increase your Social Media Engagement
So, now that you understand what Social Media Engagement is, and what your responsibility is as an active business in the Social Media space, here are 10 Hot tips to increase your Social Media Engagement.
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BE WELCOMING
Would you allow a friend to introduce you to a new person and then not say Hello, Nice to meet you, etc? No, you wouldn’t, and if you would pop up to the internet search bar and type “How to have manners”
You want clients and you want to use Social Media to provide them so nurture each and every one of those customer. Send then a direct message when they follow to thank them and welcome them to your Social Media.
Not only is it “good form” but it opens the door to start a quality and genuine conversation. I personally send a quick welcome video as I find it is much more engaging than just writing text, but whatever works for you.
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GET PERSONAL
Okay, you are a business on Social Media but no one wants to be actively sold to. Use elements of your Social Media to take the opportunity to share your life. Give personal examples to situations, show behind the scenes content, do things that your followers can connect to.
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KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
Very simply put, it is hard to engage in a genuine fashion if you don’t know who it is that you are talking to. Your use of language and tone can be vastly different depending on the demographics that you are reaching. So you need to know who those people are.
After all, you are going to communicate in a very different way with a 18 year old college student than you are with a 45 years old divorcee with mounting debt.
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CREATE QUALITY CONTENT
People say Content is King, and they are right. If your content is not aesthetically pleasing and engaging, then your audience is simply not going to hit the like and share buttons. That is engagement that you are missing out on. It’s that simple.
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GIVE VALUE
If your audience leaves your content feeling enriched and better off in some way than they were when they came to your feed then you have added value to their day/life. That feeling invokes action, share, comment, etc.
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ASK QUESTIONS
There is no better way to invoke a response from your audience than to ask them something. Seems obvious but you’d be surprised how often this simple trick is not taken advantage of.
There is one condition to ensure that you get the best quality engagement that you can and that is to only ask open-ended questions. Traditionally, those that start with What, Where, When, How & Why. That way your audience has to respond in a way that avoids a simple yes or no response and opens up the opportunity for a deeper discussion.
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BE CONSISTENT
To get the best engagement out of your Social Media it is important that you are consistent in your posting and engagement. Being a consistent presence on social media helps you develop genuine connections with your audience.
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STEP OUT YOUR COMFORT ZONE
When it comes to using Social Media for your business and increasing your engagement, nothing is more effective than standing out from the crowd. It’s always a good idea to experiment a bit and try different strategies and content to see which your audience finds the most educational, inspirational, and entertaining.
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BE PROACTIVE
When it comes to Social Media Engagement it is important that you don’t just sit back and wait for engagement opportunities to presence themselves. Get out into the social space and find the places where your ideal target clients are and start engaging with them in a proactive way.
And don’t wait for your current followers to start a conversation with you, take some time and start a conversation with them. Go out there and actively build a community around your brand.
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MONITOR YOUR SUCCESS
When you are running your Social Media it is really important to know what is working and where changes need to be made. So make sure you use your analytics and insights to find out which types of post are getting the most engagement and which are most popular among your audience, customers and clients.
Whatever is doing best, make more of that.
Conclusion
The truth is that Social Media Engagement is not hard. It is a process that needs to be factored into your schedule and it does take time and effort. But so does anything that is worth doing.
The joy about Social Media Engagement is that it is genuinely fun. You get to socialise with a wonderful range of people, who will potentially bring money into your business and get to know them better in the process.
And just remember that without Social Media Engagement your content and your online presence is simple never going to give you the results that you want. It will take time for you to understand your own tone and style of engagement but once you do it will truly pay off.
If you need some guidance on developing a social media engagement strategy that will give you the growth and results that you want to see then I’m here to help you get started!
