Social Media Engagement is the New Social Media Marketing

Social Media Engagement is the New Social Media Marketing: How to Do It Well Social Media is driven by the human experience, making social media engagement the core of your social marketing strategy.

Take a break and think about social media for a while – what started as a medium to connect with friends online has now evolved into a frequently used marketing channel by businesses. It has become a place for brands to provide their audience with a personalized human experience. 

In 2020, social media is just as much about engagement as it is about sharing content with your friends and audiences. It is now a vital part of any social media marketing strategy. Now, it’s your choice whether you want to use it to blast out your content only or to engage with your customers and leverage it to increase business leads as well. 

Remember, it all starts with a plan. So, let’s look at these nine strategies that you can use to increase your social media engagement. 

• Build Long Term Relationship with Customers

If you haven’t worked that out yet, social media is all about building healthy relationships with your audience. In fact, building a long-term relationship with your customers is crucial – through social media or otherwise. Be authentic, consistent, and listen to their needs.

Moreover, to build a long term relationship with your audience, you need to find THE time when your target market is online. Take help from marketing analytics to find out when your people are online. 

Reserve that time of your day to engage with your audience and stay proactive. You can also plan your day around that specific time to engage with your community and build a long-term business relationship with your customers. 

• Share Valuable Content

What you want to accomplish through your social media engagement depends widely on what your business offers to people. That’s where valuable content comes in. Clearly articulate your content and tell them what they gain from engaging with your brand. 

Consumers are more likely to favor your brand if they believe that they are gaining enough value from it. To guarantee social media engagement, the content you share on social media should address your audience’s needs and pain points. For example, a carpet cleaning business in the UK reports the areas where it provides cleaning services clearly on its social media. 

For instance, carpet cleaning Chislehurst, Carpet cleaning Windsor, and so on. This way, their clients have no trouble finding them.  

• Understand the Type of Content Consumers Want to Engage With

All networks are different in terms of what works the best on them – Pinterest is all about attractive images, Twitter is all about relevant content, and so on. It’s essential to understand the type of content people want to see. Statistics say about 60% of people want to engage in picture-based content. However, these statistics may vary according to your brand, so check your analytics to see what your customer wants. 

• Be Active in Responses

You can call it the biggest key to building a strong, long-term relationship with your audience. Replying to your audience once a day is not going to cut anymore. Facebook & Twitter are two platforms that everyone goes to when they are looking for customer support. It’s their top choice to seek help, so giving them the right response at the right time is crucial for your business and keeps people engaged in your content. 

If done well, an active response on social media can give a cascade effect, increase your organic reach on news feeds, and get you a bigger engagement than anything else. 

• Use Attractive Images

Over time, we have discovered one rule – visuals matter more than you think. An effortless but effective way to engage your audience is by using attractive images. Adding attractive visuals to your posts can give you two or sometimes three times the engagement, according to statistics. If you need some modern-looking images, you can check out Freepik for free sources or create your own at Canva. 

• Ask for Reviews

Striking a conversation with your audience is the answer to most of your questions about low social media engagement. Ask your followers to give you feedback or your product or service, and reply to them to build your credibility over time. 

Facebook does not allow Admins to delete negative comments from their page; however, they can turn off reviews altogether if they want to. Answering negative criticism also builds your credibility in the eyes of your customers and helps you improve your services as well.

• Add Call-to-Action

In this age of transparency, the audience knows when they have been baited into reading sponsored content. But there’s a takeaway in this; you can be as upfront with your audience as you want. Include clear CTAs in your posts without being vague. According to statistics, your audience is more likely to interact with your posts if you are asking for an action such as “Retweet,” “Share,” or “Follow.”

• Focus on User-Generated Content

Out of all the benefits of user-generated content, engagement is the most valid. Your fans will appreciate you recognizing their posts and reposting them. It is also a great way to engage your audience into a conversation and strength your community. Ask people to put your hashtags to get featured and look for people using/reviewing/wearing your product. 

•  Get Acquainted with Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a great way to determine how your consumers are engaging with your brand online. You can identify areas of improvement, identify new niches, and refocus your energies on efficient marketing strategies. 

Google’s new Data Hub Activity report shows how people are engaging with your content, Trackbacks show which sites are linked to your content, and so on. These analytics help you clear your head about your next strategy and build relationships with those who are frequently engaging with your business.

Wrapping it up

That’s it!

Do you post good content, but people are not engaging with it?

You are probably stuck with the same old strategies. Dive into the world of social media engagement using these nine up-to-date strategies we have jotted for you and figure out what works for you. Most importantly, remember, social media is continuously evolving, so learn to adapt your strategy at any time. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

by Chris London of Pixel Productions Inc. The Everything Design Company