7 Rules Of Social Media Engagement

Engagement refers to the response you receive when (and after) publishing your message. In social media specifically, users are engaged at a certain level if they actually read Facebook posts, tweets and blog posts. At another level of engagement, users actually interact with each communication by commenting, re-tweeting, Liking or sharing, as opposed to just passively reading, hence, social media engagement.

Social media marketing success is not measured by numbers alone. You may have more followers than a celebrity, but if you’re not creating and maintaining a meaningful dialogue with them your presence will count for nothing. You might as well pack up and vacate all your networks.

Below are seven tips to help you get more engagement:

Great Content: This should be at the crux of every social media campaign. The more your content resonates with your followers, the more likely they are to share them and respond. Offer value and knowledge. Use really appealing, relevant and engaging CTA, captions and hashtags.
Listen: The most important thing you can do on social media is to listen carefully. Listen with a goal to understand. Listen a lot. You’ll be astonished how much you can learn about your target audience when you just listen. Like, retweet and respond to comments. Read their posts and tweets and extend the conversation from there. Also, make sure to check back and follow up if they’ve responded.
Focus on relationships: The life of social media is people. People like you and me. People who laugh, cry, get mad, have fun, get married, have kids, lose jobs, win jobs, get promotions, get new opportunities, win new clients, play hard and work hard. Offer value to your community with an aim of building real and lasting relationships. Catalyse your community; real success comes when your followers are interacting with each other.
Be unique: Social media is getting a little crowded. So every now and then put up something that makes you really stand out. Brand your page, ensure the essence of your brand identity is preserved and reinforced by every tweet or post. You could also try to be the first in your industry to start a conversation on a new issue or put a different spin on an existing one.
Be human: Make your brand more human. Understand this – your brand is everything about you from what you tweet to how you respond to comments on Facebook. Talk to your community as you would if they were on the phone or sitting next to you. Don’t get too formal. Let people who make up your brand. Don’t hide your core team or employees or yourself.
Be patient: You aren’t going to capture your community overnight or on the first day you launch. Building an integrated online community takes time. Have patience and persistence. Post content regularly. Don’t give your followers the time to forget you but still don’t spam their timelines and newsfeed. Consistency with a huge dose of patience is key.
Give your followers free stuffs: This is very important to build a relationship with your followers and increase the engagement. If you are running a business you could host a giveaway to your followers. Do not host giveaways every week, try to do it once every 2-3 month or so. You are running a business after all. This step can be hard if you do not run a business and are trying to market yourself, try to figure out what you can give your followers. It does not have to be a product, I am sure that there is something you can offer them, maybe your knowledge about a specific topic? Fashion, marketing etc.

Social Media Engagement

Remember, social media is not a one-way conversation. Take initiative, and give people time to respond and engage with you. Be patient, in time, you will find your voice and community.

Source: Peace Itimi