7 Effective Ways to Increase Social Engagement

Social media has evolved from a simple means of communication to become an integral part of everyday business. “ 90% of marketers consider social media marketing to be important to their overall marketing strategy,” says expert marketing consultant and influencer Shane Barker. “In fact, 78% of them admit that it has been the most effective marketing channel for their brands.”

The truth is, saying social marketing is “important” is a bit of an understatement. As a business owner, you have to take advantage of every opportunity to compete in your marketplace. Otherwise, your brand will never be more than average. Social media is huge. And, social media marketing is essential because the majority of your industry is already using it.

Maybe you use social media every day. Or, maybe you’ve tried it in the past. Either way, it’s necessary. Many brands know the importance of social media, but they fail to grasp the importance of engagement, and many of the ones who know how important it is don’t know how to increase social engagement.

“A majority of brands leverage social media to promote their products and services. However, many underestimate the value of engagement,” says Barker. “If you’re on social media, one of your biggest goals should be to increase your social media engagement.”

For a business owner, there’s never too much engagement. The overarching goal of each social media campaign is to increase social engagement. Engagement is the lifeblood of your brand’s presence on social media. It helps you grow your brand and increases your influence. So, if your engagement isn’t where you think it should be (and it could always be higher) then read on to find out how marketing experts at HipSocial boost their engagement.

1. Research your target audience

Before you try to increase social engagement, you need to ensure that the content you’re providing is relevant to your audience. Many brands attempt to jump on every social media platform available and post whatever content comes to mind.

The problem with this approach is that your target audience may not be on every platform. What’s more, they won’t engage with content that seems disingenuous. Cookie-cutter content won’t drive engagement. You have to create personalized content that addresses specific problems and emotions that are relevant to your audience.

Ensure that you’re on the right social media platform for the audience you’re targeting. One way to check this is by searching for your competitors. If your competitors are using certain platforms (and receiving good engagement), then it’s a good idea to jump aboard.

Pay attention to the way your audience communicates, the types of content they engage with most (be it videos, images, graphs, or memes, among others), and share this type of content consistently.

Audience research can seem overwhelming, but tools like HipSocial actually automate much of the process and end up doing some of the work for you!

2. Incorporate personality into your content

Whether you’re marketing to consumers (B2C) or other business owners and professionals (B2B), it’s important to remember that there’s a human being on the other side of each engagement, and humans are emotional creatures.

“One of the simplest ways to boost social sharing is to focus on your audience’s emotions. Typically, positive content that inspires happiness generates the highest engagement. Content that packs the combined punch of joy and surprise can encourage sharing and commenting that far exceeds expectations, and may even go viral.” CopyPress

While you shouldn’t play with anyone’s emotions, you can certainly play on common emotional reactions to increase social engagement. Buying decisions are almost always emotionally driven. It doesn’t always have to be cheery, happy, and positive emotions, either. Fear is used in the marketing world to create a sense of urgency, such as in FOMO, which stands for Fear Of Missing Out.

3. Use visuals

Images are captivating. They have the ability to stop someone scrolling dead in their tracks. A study conducted by BuzzSumo says that Facebook posts with images get 2.3X more engagement than those without.

There are different types of visuals that’ll work most efficiently for certain industries, brands, and verticals. Your competitors might be using infographics to increase social engagement. Others may create graphs or memes. Some incorporate humor while others remain formal. It can be difficult to pinpoint the exact style that works best for your brand, but after some trial and error, you’ll learn what types of visuals get your audience talking (and sharing).

4. Publish content at the right time

Your audience isn’t always going to be active when you’re ready to post content. What’s more, they’re not always going to be in the same time zone. While that might not seem like an issue to concern yourself with, it’s actually quite important for a brand’s hoping to increase social engagement.

If you’re posting content at the wrong time, it’s difficult for your audience to engage with you. The best way to ensure your content is seen by its intended audience is to analyze the performance of past campaigns. Using social media engagement tools helps you collect and store data from social media campaigns.

Even better, these tools allow you to schedule posts once you’ve identified the best days and times to publish content. This boosts productivity, increases engagement, and frees up time for other important tasks.

5. Partner with micro-influencers

Influencer marketing is a growing trend that shows no signs of slowing. Why? Because it helps businesses increase social engagement via a trustworthy source. And, at the very minimum, it helps increase brand awareness.

Everyone wants to partner with influencers that have millions of followers. Even if no one buys your product, you can potentially reach more people than ever before. However, those influencers come with hefty price tags. And unless it’s in your marketing budget, those aren’t the influencers you should be targeting.

Micro-influencers, those with a few thousand followers, aren’t as expensive. What’s more, micro-influencers seem to be more personable with their following, and although that following may be significantly smaller, it’s ultra-targeted and engaged. So, if your content was to appear on their pages, it’s more likely to increase social engagement and your brand’s reach.

6. Interact with your audience

One of the best ways to increase your social media engagement is to actually engage with your audience. Think dialogue instead of a monologue. A brand’s social account is more than a megaphone. And after all, engagement is essentially a conversation or at least an exchange of ideas.

7. Host contests and giveaways

Everyone loves to win prizes. Hosting contests and giveaways are a popular method used to increase social engagement and connect with fans and customers alike. Contests can include great prizes and contest rules that encourage your audience to like, comment, and share. This method is great because it generates engagement and provides the benefits of word-of-mouth marketing.

Conclusion

Because social media is constantly changing, engagement is tricky, especially on a consistent basis. However, these expert tips will help you get over the initial hump and gain some notoriety in your space.

Social media marketing is all about the long game. You won’t see drastic results overnight. The key is to stick with it and stay consistent. Consistency in frequency, timing and brand voice are all equally important if you want to increase social engagement. And if you’re not seeing the kinds of results you expect, don’t be afraid to tweak your strategy. Use the data to your advantage and take risks when necessary!

Did we miss anything? What tips and tricks do you use to increase social engagement? Let us know in the comments below! We’d love to engage with you! And if you’re in the market for a new social media marketing solution that automates the process and works just as hard for your brand as you do, check out HipSocial by 500apps.com! You can try HipSocial and all the other business productivity apps included in 500apps’ Infinity Suite absolutely free for 30 days. Click here to learn more about Infinity Suite and start your free trial.