Social Media Engagement 101

When you grab coffee or drinks with a friend, client or co-worker, one topic leads to another until you realize you’ve been chatting for hours. You both ask questions, and you answer each other’s questions. Social media should also be about conversation. It’s not always easy to start the conversation in the digital world, so we’re sharing three essential tips for social media engagement.

‍1. Don’t Just Post — Respond

‍When you post on any of your social channels, people will respond if your content resonates with them. Your response is crucial for many reasons. First and foremost, it shows your audience that you care about them just as much as you care about your brand. Everyone likes to be acknowledged, heard and included. If your followers feel all of the above, then they will remain loyal and most likely share your brand with their network. Secondly, by acknowledging comments on your brand’s content, you boost your organic engagement. Social media algorithms change daily in ways that affect where your brand stands in social feeds. The more you keep a running dialogue with your audience, the more you will be seen. (We’ll touch on paid social media advertising in a later post.) You must engage if you want to be seen and heard.

‍2. Find, Follow and Chat

‍As much as you want people to stumble upon your brand, it doesn’t naturally happen unless you are well established in your market. The larger your reach is and the more authority you have, the more you will attract loyal followers to your brand. However, you have to work for it. Find, follow and chat is a foolproof way to grow. Find influencers, consumers, media outlets and other like-minded individuals who would be interested in your brand. Follow them. Then start conversations with them. Like, share and comment on their content. You must engage if you want to be seen and heard. It takes patience. Remember when we compared social media to a giant party? You have to work the room.

‍3. Start the Conversation

‍Questions serve as calls to action. Ask your social media followers questions relevant to your brand or service. Encourage them to use a specific hashtag so you can easily organize and respond to answers (or photos). A conversation always starts with a great question.

We hope these ideas jump-start your social media engagement. If you want a more comprehensive plan to engage your audience, we’re here to guide you.