Having a lot of followers is one thing, but you also need an audience and prospects that actively and purposefully engage with your content. If you don’t have this, it might be time to do a little clean-up across your social networks and content platforms to breathe new life and jump-start engagement across channels. Read further to find out how you can skyrocket engagement on your social media networks.
Why You Should Care About Audience Social Media Engagement
You’ve probably heard the old saying: If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it really make a sound? It’s the same thing with content (sort of). Producing quality social media engagement and blog posts on a regular basis is the staple of a good content and digital marketing strategy, but getting it in front of the right people and motivating them to take action (whether it’s signing up for your newsletter or ordering your product or service) is the essential part of the equation.
10 Tips to Boost Social Media Engagement Across Your Platforms
Engagement levels can affect everything from how visible your content is to how well it is being received by your audience. Like any good relationship, quality trumps quantity when it comes to social media. While having a large number of followers is certainly a goal worth pursuing, engagement levels will tell you what you need to know about your marketing strategy’s ROI. It can also give you some critical hints about areas that could use a little improvement.
Here are a few tips to help get people excited about your content.
1. Find the Magic Number
It might sound counterintuitive, but there is such a thing as posting too often or being on too many platforms if it ultimately compromises quality (a major engagement killer). You don’t have to be active on every platform or post every day to build and keep your audience engaged. Choose the social media platforms that make the most sense for your brand, and update your channels frequently enough to keep the content fresh without compromising quality. Posting one or two excellent posts per week is preferable to a mediocre post every day.
2. User Personas: What Does Your Ideal Audience Look Like (and Actually Want to Read?)
Every business and brand has an ideal customer, especially if you work in a particular niche. You want your content to be interesting and accessible to a large audience, but creating user personas for your content can ensure that you are engaging the right audience for your message.
3. Data Is Your Friend
While you definitely want to write for people and not search engines, understanding trends in your industry and using analytics data for your content will help you know your audience and how well your content is working. You never really know how well or poorly a piece of content will perform until the numbers start rolling in. Analytics data can help you guide your content strategy by showing you how your audience is accessing your content, and what posts are performing the best.
4. Create Interactive Content That Demands Action From Users
The comments section is one way to get people talking about your content, but you can really boost audience participation by publishing polls, quizzes, and contests that encourage readers to respond and share your content. Come up with a unique hashtag to create buzz and piggyback off trending topics.
5. Follow Up on Your Most Popular Posts and Content
Did something you posted last year or three months ago blow up and cause a sensation? Writing a follow-up blog or throwback to a popular post is a great way to boost engagement and keep people reading.
6. Keep a Content Library
Do you come up with your best ideas in the shower or while driving to work, only to face crickets and a blank page when it’s time to create content? Make a list of topic ideas and trends before you need them so that you never run out of topics for fresh content.
7. Offer Content That Solves Problems
How-to, top 10 lists, and useful hacks are always in style when it comes to content marketing. Content that offers useful information and helps to solve a specific problem can boost engagement and help to establish you as a thought leader in your niche.
8. Don’t Talk About Yourself All the Time
Think of your content and social media posts as a relationship. Ask your audience what they want, and listen to the answers. And don’t be afraid to throw in the occasional motivational quote or puppy/cat meme or video! Everyone needs a little levity and distraction from all of the noise on the internet from time to time.
9. Repurpose Old Content
Old and outdated content can be like dead weight that drags down your SEO rankings. Performing an audit from time to time is a great way to find content that’s no longer working. Updating old blog posts to adhere to new trends and SEO guidelines works to give your website a boost with minimal effort.
10. Offer Premium Content
E-books, case studies, and videos can help to attract qualified leads and keep people on your site much longer.
Finding the right mix for your content and social media strategy is both an art and a science. Experimenting is the best way to find what works (and what doesn’t) for your brand.
