It is in your interest to improve your social media engagement. You will need to think this through carefully but it is not too difficult. Businesses have been communicating with their customers for many years so don’t think that you have to try and come up with something groundbreaking.
The potential to attract the right audience and engage with them is enormous with social media. All it takes is the right approach and you will be on to a winner. Follow the advice in this article and you will not go far wrong.
You Have to Start the Conversation
In any relationship, someone needs to initiate the conversation. With social media this needs to be you. You are trying to build a long term relationship with your audience so you have to take the lead and get things moving.
Starting a good conversation begins by knowing what your audience is looking for. You need to post content that people want and then encourage them to respond to that content. You may not realize it but there are conversations about your industry going on all of the time. You need to join in and show that you are a leader.
One of the best ways to achieve social media engagement is to talk to groups of your audience. So why not host a question and answer session or initiate Twitter Chats? To gain some experience first you can join in on others group sessions in your industry preferably. If there are none in your industry (pretty unlikely) then find something else that interests you.
When you pass on your knowledge of your industry to people they will really appreciate it. They will ask further questions so you must respond quickly to these. A two way dialog is the ideal scenario for engagement.
People want to know that there are real people behind brands. If you show this then a greater trust will develop and you will gain many followers. Trust is an essential element of social media engagement.
When you are first starting out avoid just promoting your products and services. Go for value first and then build from there. Tell a good story about your industry that people can relate to. Start the conversation flowing.
Use Topical Subjects and Current Events
Keep your finger on the pulse of what is trending. There is always something going viral so think about how you can use this to tie in your brand. Check the news as well for different angles there. If something significant has happened (it does most days) then use this to your advantage.
You can use a news item or sporting event to wish someone well. This is normally always popular. On Mother’s Day wish all of the mothers out there peace and harmony for example. You need to use your head here. Don’t get involved in political debates or opinions about religion. You never know who you might offend with this.
Respond to Comments Promptly
There are numerous examples on social media of where it has taken businesses a long time to respond to customer comments. This is something that you must avoid. You may not think that a day is a long time for a response but the person leaving the comment sure will. It will just seem to them that you are not interested in your customers and you don’t care.
When you do respond to a comment make sure that you do it with sincerity. Yes and No answers are not a good idea. If you need to investigate something to provide an answer then tell your customer that and leave a holding reply. Don’t just leave them hanging. If others see positive interactions from you with customers you will gain more.
Post Regularly
A lot of businesses will make a number of posts at the beginning and then do nothing. This is like telling your customers you have nothing to say to them and nothing new to offer. People will feel that you do not want to communicate with them and this is not a perception that you want.
Make a commitment to be active on social media. Plan a schedule for posting something every day in advance. Use social media to your advantage and get as many new views to your page as possible with the addition of new content.
