How to Increase Engagement on Your Social Media Posts

In part one of this series we discussed what engagement on social media is and why it’s so important for companies to measure engagement rather than simply counting followers. In this post, we’re going to build on that knowledge and look at best practices for engagement and how to increase engagement with your posts.

Increasing Engagement

It’s important to note that there’s no magic formula for increasing engagement overnight. Engagement is a long game and you need to commit to working on it regularly.

1. Have Realistic Goals. Why are you on social media in the first place? Are you trying to create brand awareness? Looking to convert leads? Do you want to become a thought leader in your industry? Once you know what the goal of your social media is, it will be much easier to set up a plan to achieve your goal and increase engagement.
2. Post Regularly. This doesn’t mean that you need to post every Tuesday at exactly 2pm, but rather that you should be posting at least twice a week. If you can support daily posting that’s even better but many businesses can’t do that and it’s better to post two quality pieces of content a week than 6 pieces of not so great content just for the sake of posting something. Create a content calendar and schedule posts in advance so it’s not overwhelming.
3. Have a Consistent Voice. Do you want your brand to be more formal or more playful in tone? Will your brand use emojis to stand in for words or will it use them in addition to the written words? Once you define the tone and voice of your brand, make sure you use it in all of your posts.
4. Start a Conversation. Don’t simply ask people to like a post – instead ask them a question and get them to respond in the comments. Interact with the comments as well. Make sure the questions aren’t anything that could be construed as a phishing attempt (like first car, or name of high school) as that will make your followers wary.
5. Make Sure Your Content Is Relevant. The Majority of your content should relate to your business in some way. It’s fine to have the occasional post that is just for fun, but it should still sound like your brand’s voice.
6. Avoid Doing Too Many Hard Sells. People use social media to connect with friends and family, not to be sold to.
7. Take Advantage of Hashtags and Special Days. You’ve probably noticed there’s an international day for well, for just about everything. Find the ones that are connected to your brand and leverage them. The same principle also applies to hashtags – but be cautious about jumping on trending hashtags – you need to fully understand what the hashtag is about and be monitoring your social channels closely if you do this.

Best Practices for Engagement

In addition to the guidelines above, there are a couple of best practices for engaging with your audience on social media.

1. Engage With Positive AND Negative Comments. This doesn’t mean you need to get into a long debate on social media but ignoring customers who have a complaint will not work. Instead, apologize and steer the conversation off of social media (to a call center, an email, or a direct message).
2. Check For Spam Regularly. There are all sorts of spam comments and trolls on social media – delete their comments as soon as you see them appear.
3. Be Adaptable. The only real rule for social media engagement is that the rules are always changing. Keep abreast of any changes to the algorithm and adjust your plan accordingly.

By posting quality content, on a regular basis, that leverages hashtags and special days, and sparks conversation, you’ll find that your engagement rate on social media will rise and your customers will become more invested in your brand. If you need help creating a social media strategy, Y can help. Simply contact us.