How to Increase your Social Media Engagement

Effective social media for business means active social media engagement, find out how to increase your engagement to drive sales in 2020.

How to Increase your Social Media Engagement

 

As a business, if you are not already focusing a significant amount of your efforts on your social media marketing strategy, then you should make 2020 the year that you decide to make this one of your top priorities.

Did you know that 79% of the U.S population have an active social media profile?

Furthermore, it is predicted that by 2023, there will be over 300 million U.S online shoppers, with 81% of consumers purchasing decisions being influenced by their friends’ social media posts.

Can you really afford not to be targeting and engaging with all these new potential customers?

Even if you are already utilizing social media to promote your brand and connect with your customers, chances are that there is still more you can do to increase your reach and improve upon your engagement levels.

Plus, as social media is constantly changing and evolving, if you want to stay relevant as a brand, then you need to ensure that you not only keep up with the latest social media trends, but also utilize any new technologies to improve your user experience and stay one step ahead of your competitors.

Keep reading to find out how you can increase your social media engagement, and in turn, drive more traffic to your site and ultimately make more sales.

Diversify your reach

Chances are that you have a Facebook page, an Instagram profile and possibly a Twitter account, which are all important and beneficial to your business in their own ways. However, it is important to realize that there are other increasingly popular social media platforms that you could, and should, be taking advantage of.

Depending on your target audience, you may want to consider looking into TikTok, a video sharing social media service that is extremely popular with the younger generation.

When branching out to a new social media platform, it is important that you are able to effectively grow your brand and engage with relevant users so it can be a good idea to look for digital strategy consultants that can ensure you are communicating in the right way with your new audience.

Focus on excellent customer service

There is little point in investing in a top of the range social media page, if you are then not providing your users with a good level of customer service. Many inquiries into your brand, product or service will now be carried out via one of your social media platforms, and therefore, if you want to not only keep existing customers happy, but also attract new ones, then you need to ensure that your level of customer service is top notch.

Ways in which you can provide great customer service on social media include:

  • Choosing the right social media platform for your business
  • Monitoring your social media mentions
  • Offering fast social support
  • Always using the right tone of voice when replying to inquiries
  • Sending private message when needed – not all discussions need to take place in plain sight
  • Making sure you are knowledgeable about your business
  • Welcoming feedback, even if it is negative

Customer service is vital if you want to build trust between your business and your customers. Trust in your abilities as a business owner will lead to loyalty, one of the most sought-after traits in customers.

Utilize social media influencers

Never underestimate the power that a particular influencer can have on your specific industry, and in turn, on your business. If you are not already aware, social media influencers are people who already have a large social media following in a particular niche or industry and have built up a significant amount of trust in their abilities and their recommendations.

By aligning your brand with a popular and trusted social media influencer, you will instantly be able to put your product or service in front of the right audience, plus, you will gain immediate trust from these consumers.

If you are already aware of a social media influencer in your industry that you would like to work with, then you need to ensure that you approach them in the right way:

  • Carry out extensive research on your chosen influencer/s
  • Flatter them before pitching
  • Ensure that you effectively communicate what you can offer them
  • Be concise but mention all relevant information
  • Leave the discussion open to negotiation
  • Follow up if you do not receive a reply to your first message

Post regular video content

Currently 81% of businesses use video content as a marketing tool. A statistic that is hardly surprising due to the increased level of engagement that video content offers over more traditional content types.

Furthermore, it is predicted that by 2022, online video content will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic.

Therefore, it has never been more important for you as a business to ensure that you post consistent and engaging video content on your social media platforms.

What should you post?

If you have not yet created a video content strategy, then there is no better time than the present, with elements you will want to include being:

  • A simple SEO video strategy. Including catchy titles, relevant keywords, the use of tags and an eye-catching thumbnail.
  • Customer testimonials. It can be a good idea to show your customers that other users like your video, product or service. You can post videos of customer testimonials as well as show likes, comments and number of views to showcase your videos’ value.
  • Optimize your video content. You should also include a call to action in every video that you share. This can come directly from the person or persons in your video or be shared as a link at the end of the post.
  • Focus on delivering your video to the right audience. The easiest way to ensure that you reach the right people is to post your video content in as many places as possible – on your website, on YouTube, on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. You can also embed your video into your emails.

The bottom line is that it takes ongoing effort and commitment if you want to ensure that you engage with users on social media. That being said, it is definitely worth your time as social media is only set to become more influential in the next few years, with any business that fails to engage on these popular platforms being highly unlikely to last.