Many of us struggle with social media, not because our content isn’t great, but because we’re fighting to get noticed among competitors and tricky algorithms.
It’s important you produce great content, but ultimately, if you want to grow your business or brand, you need to maximize engagement in the form of followers, likes, and shares. The more you harness these key factors, the more likely the algorithms will put your content out into the universe — which is what you want!
Over the past decade, social media has skyrocketed to the forefront of the digital marketing world thanks to its power and influence in growing brands. Not only has it been super powerful in growing brand awareness, but it also can really help boost sales in all aspects of your business. So, while it’s important to have a presence on social channels, the key driver in all of this is engagement.
On social media, engagement comes down to actions such as:
- Likes
- Comments
- Shares or retweets
- Followers and audience growth
- Click-throughs
- Mentions (either tagged or untagged)
Any time someone interacts with your account using one of these actions, it helps grow your brand. The more engagement, the larger the audience you will ultimately cultivate over time.
7 tips for increasing your engagement on social media.
1. Analyze your Content
Analyzing your content is one of the best ways to improve your engagement. This means considering your current followers and average number of likes/comments/shares, etc., per post. Once you have an idea of your average numbers, take a look at the posts that outperform and underperform your average metrics.
Focus on creating content that is similar to what performs the best and stray away from what doesn’t resonate. Over time, you’ll better understand your brand and the type of content that works best.
2. Understand Your Audience
Each business attracts a unique audience; thus, your messaging should reflect that. A men’s streetwear company will differ from a bespoke jewelry line, so make sure that your messaging aligns with your product, no matter your business.
When you understand your audience, you can tailor your content, the social media platforms you use, the type of content to publish, your brand voice, and even when to post.
3. Share Content that Forces Engagement
This may sound obvious, but you want to focus on sharing content encouraging engagement. Here are a few ways you can do that:
- Ask your audience questions
- Get your audience to ask YOU questions (such as an “ask me anything” on Instagram)
- Use fun quizzes to test their knowledge
- Leverage contests that force your audience to like, share, and repost your content
- Spotlight customers
By utilizing these tactics, you can ensure more engagement— people love to know that their voice matters!
4. Collaborate
Collaborate with different but adjacent brands to help you grow your audience. For example, if your business sells hair accessories, you could collaborate with a brand that sells hair extensions. While the businesses themselves are different, the audiences won’t be totally dissimilar.
By collaborating with like-minded brands, you can expand your audience and reach people you might not have been able to otherwise.
5. Reply to All Comments
If you want your followers to engage, you have to engage, too! Not only should you reply to each comment, but it’s also helpful to scroll your feed and throw out likes and comments.
Replying to comments is a great way to engage with your customers and remind them of your brand.
6. Always Add a CTA
No matter what you’re posting about, always add a Call-to-Action (CTA). Maybe ask your audience a question or tell them to check out another of your posts for more information. No matter what it is, make it easy for your audience to engage by giving them some prompts.
Don’t be shy — people are more likely to comment, share, and like if you ask them to!
7. Increase Your Number of Posts
This may seem already apparent, but the best way to increase engagement is to stay at the forefront of everyone’s minds — and the best way to do that is to up the number of times you post in a week.
Ideally, you should post stories on Instagram and Facebook daily, and actual posts 3-5 times per week. It may seem like a lot, but it can be quite manageable if you create posts ahead of time in batches.
At the end of the day, you don’t have to be stuck in a rut with your followers because there are TONS of ways you can work to increase the engagement of your community. From adding CTA’s to collaborating with likeminded brands, if you utilize the tips in this guide, you can really start to increase your audience engagement no matter the platform you’re using.
Resources
Join The Storytellers Café – My free training community to help you create an impact through your story
Enrol in The 5-Day Content Experience – Learn how to repurpose your content like a pro…in 5 minutes a day!
Email: catherine@catherinenikkel.com
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