Has this happened to you? You have your social networks set up. You’ve worked hard to increase your followers. You post information regularly. And then…nothing. Not much response, click-throughs, additional business generated or social media engagement. You may begin to think it just isn’t worth your precious time.
While getting followers is important, total numbers matter much less than how much social media engagement you can generate with your posts. Social media allows you to communicate directly with your readers, so it has the potential to be a powerful marketing tool.
Learning how to engage your followers and carry on conversations with them is vital. That involves writing content that will “speak” to them. Social media must be social. It must go beyond just posting your own content and waiting for your followers to respond. The engagement needs to be mutual, or it will be unsuccessful.
Perhaps you have been trying to do all of this, but with limited success. Here are some tips that will help you engage your followers, whether you are looking for direct dialog, blog comments, Facebook “likes,” or retweets (hint: you want all of those things).
7 Tips to Increase Your Social Media Engagement
Tell Your Story
Think about this: When you attend a convention and your colleagues ask how it went, do you tell them: Well, there were 10,000 people, 10 sessions per day, and continue on with an array of facts and figures? No! You mention who you met, why they were interesting, where you went for dinner, the purchases you made at the trade show. You tell them stories.
The same goes with social media. Don’t just feed us data. Tell us stories. Did your grandfather start the business from scratch, mortgaging the family home to do so? That will drive much more engagement than, “we’ve been in business for 50 years.”
If it’s a blog post you’re sharing, give us a little piece of it, in 140 characters or less. Don’t just share the title, add enough content to intrigue your followers.
Be Yourself
Yes, you’re representing your business or your blog out there. But people don’t talk to businesses, they talk to other people. Relax, enjoy yourself, have conversations. Be human. And humans respond with empathy, humor, and creativity. Allow your personality to shine through, and that will engage your audience and separate you from your competitors.
Always Respond
You must always respond to feedback from your audience, positive or negative. Thank the followers who share a good experience. Respond quickly to those who are not happy with your product or service. Also thank those who retweet or share your content.
Share Others’ Content
If you find something interesting or informative, share it with your audience. Comment, ask questions and generate conversation. Chances are, the favor will be repaid in kind. This is a way of nurturing your online relationship which will build trust and lead to loyal, engaged followers.
Be Consistent
No one can be online and responsive all the time, but try to be consistent with your posting and respond quickly to questions or complaints. Check your social media accounts several times a day. It is okay to schedule a few posts, but people can tell the difference between real-time communication and pre-planned comments.
Ask Questions
Asking a question in your posts is a great way to increase engagement. You can ask for tips, advice, or simply ask, “what do you think?” Make sure that you’re asking for real information that matters to you, not just asking as a “trick” to get answers. The topic should be relevant to your business and interests.
Be an Expert
Share and give information freely about your product or field. Don’t worry, it won’t lead people to “do it themselves.” On the contrary, it will increase their awareness and engagement. You are the expert in your field. Ask how you can help and be generous with your advice. This provides real value to your audience and will increase their loyalty and trust.
Specialize
If you’re counting you may notice that this is the eighth tip, but I wanted to add that you should not try to spread yourself across all social media outlets. Who has the time for that? Pick one or two of your favorites and focus your attention there. Don’t skip the others altogether, but really, no one has the time or energy to be the best at more than a couple networks.
These are just a few suggestions to help you get more social on social media. Remember that it is not about selling your product or service. It is about building trust, increasing communication, and building loyalty. By being yourself, you will find what works best for your social media engagement.
If you have additional tips or ideas, please share in the comments so that we can all benefit from your expertise. What are your favorite social media networks?
More Social Media Tips:
6 Tips for Managing Your Social Media (when you have no time)
Are You Making these 10 Pinterest Mistakes (and how to correct them)?
I Went Viral on StumbleUpon! Here’s How…
This article was originally posted on my other blog Media Fit Coach.
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These are such good tips! I love the one about always responding. It’s sweet when others reply to me and I love the reader engagement on my site as well. It’s nice to know you’re writing to real people!
MY FAVE FAVE IS SPECIALIZE.
Do you.
Emulate no one.
It can feel awkward.
It almost ALWAYS works.
You definitely need to engage, engage, engage! That’s really what social media is all about.
Boom. Great tips! Pinned and tweeted
I’m definitely working on a lot of these social media tips. I certainly like when people respond to me on social media so I try to make a very conscious effort of doing the same.
Sometimes I question whether campaigns or brands care if you have a lot of engagement with your readers or they are just straight numbers. I would rather have a “relationship” with my readers than more numbers. I really enjoy talking with my followers through comments. What do you think?
I think both are important. Yes, brands look at total nunbers, but I feel by interacting with people you will grow your nunbers. Plus it helps drive people to your blog and increases those numbers roo.
thanks for these awesome tips! It’s great to get other’s inputs on engagement as I think there are so many different opinions on it
Out of everything I’ve gained from blogging, my favorite thing is the engagement with my readers. I’m still baffled by SEO. But I have enjoyed getting to know other runners “virtually”. I still can’t believe people read my stuff!
I am a QUESTIONS kind of girl, as you may know, he he… Because I love learning about everyone who comes to my blog! My blog is about entertaining and OTHER PEOPLE – it’s not about me, thus I want to hear everyone else’s thoughts and ideas!
These tips were great – and I particularly liked number 8 because I always think I should be doing more social media but you’re right – there is only so much that I can do consistently and well so I might as well focus on that!
I have been blogging for almost 9 years now, but have taken a turn to using my blog for promoting a product. Any advice in this area would be greatly appreciated. I have avoid Digg and Stumble Upon and notice you have a post on Stumble, any idea what makes these different from say Pintrest.
Learned early on that I can’t manage them all. Focused on Facebook & Instagram first. Now I’m working on Twitter.
Debbie another very helpful post. This is an area that I need to give some time and more thought to.
Kathleen
These tips are very helpful. It’s hard to find the time to take all of these on but it’s something I should try to make a priority. Found your post at Blogger’s Pit Stop!
These are some amazing tips! Thanks a lot for sharing.
Thank you!
Debbie, it is great having you on the Pit Stop Crew also this post was the most clicked last week. Congratulations for your consistently valuable posts every week.
you are so right! and i love that you said specialize. we all have gifts and areas we can share.
This was such a great read, thanks SO much!
Thanks for sharing these wonderful tips, Debbie. Pinning to share.
Some good tips! I just pinned this to Pinterest.
Great tips, definitely areas I can improve on… I’m so forgetful about commenting back!
It can be hard to remember to comment back. I know that I can so caught up in the cycle of writing, social media, and sharing that replying to comments takes a back burner, especially on posts that are a little older. I think it’s important though.
I think I definitely need to be creating more conversations, telling more stories, letting more of myself shine through. I’ve noticed when I’ve done this, I get more and better results. But also you’re right. It’s impossible to be all this in all your social media accounts. What I do is check my stats and see where my views are coming from, so I focus on that. This is a very useful post! I’ll be sure to share it in my FB blogging group
Wonder Fabi
Blogger’s Pit Stop
Hi, Debbie! Thanks so much for all the tips. I’m new to blogging, so I really appreciate the insight. I have a Facebook page and have been posting my own and others’ content. I need to work on posting more consistently and trying to engage my audience more. I’d like to know how to grow my audience, too, without spending a lot of money. I ran a little ad campaign last week to test it out, and it didn’t do a whole lot for me. Maybe I just need to adjust the target audience. Pinning this post. Thanks again!