By Amanda Sherman
Social media marketing and content creation is an ongoing job that audience engagement can sometimes fall short of, no matter how much work you put into it. Engagement is centered on the content promoted and presented, and even if one is working tirelessly to expand their audience if the content is not correct, those hours put in will not matter.
That is a tough pill to swallow. So often, we do things because the cause will have a positive effect. We study for a test to get a good grade, we cook something to eat a tasty meal, the list could go on. So what happens when we put in the work and get no effect? Where do we even start?
Analyze Your Engagement
The key is to take time to reflect. Something is going wrong, so it is essential to look at your posts, social media practices, and overall numbers to see what is and is not working. It is crucial to measure average likes on a post, follower growth per month, and other forms of data to have a tangible way to measure if your audience is engaging. It’s hard to correct something if you do not measure your engagements over time!
It is essential to analyze your engagement frequently to catch plateaus or dips as they happen, rather than looking back when it is too late. This close monitoring will help give you a better direction on what your audience is attracted to and give you a greater sense of the content they want from you.
Figure Out Your Strategy
Depending on what the company is and its goals, it must be reflected in its social media. For example, Mcdonald’s is an upbeat company using humor and relatable Tweets to reach out to a younger audience. In contrast, Tiffany & Co. uses Twitter to give insight into its deep history.
While recognizing what kind of voice your company holds, figure out how using that voice should be translated. Are you trying to change the public perception of your company? Develop new customer leads? How you use that voice is essential to the goals you are setting. Keeping track and coming up with those goals will help you create cohesive content with the brand and try to get out of it.
Understand Who Your Audience Is
Once you figure out what kind of voice you want your company to project, understand who you want to hear this voice. The kind of language and visuals you promote vary based on the audience you are trying to reach. For example, a skateboarding company will use a different language and tone on social media compared to a candle company.
Go through old content that got more audience engagement and analyze why that content was successful. Allow what has been successful in the past to be your compass in finding out what will continue growing in the future.
Find New Ways To Promote Content In Valuable Ways
It is essential to understand why you are posting your content and what you want your audience to get out of it. Creating posts that talk about how good your product is or what items are on sale are less personal, making it harder to connect with your audience.
If you run a jewelry company, for example, there are only so many photoshoots one can post before tiring your audience out. So, instead post tips on how to style layered necklaces – this gives fun tidbits that encourage people to buy your product without being pushy.
Instagram provides excellent features that help spice up your content Whether it is creating polls, doing a Livestream Q&A, or spotlighting customers, it is crucial to find ways to utilize all of the unique features and give your audience a reason to want to engage. Simply posting a photo three times a week may not be enough – get creative!
Be Human
When running a brand’s social media, it is vital for the account to feel like a human behind the scenes. Whether it is personally signing off on posts or responding to comments with humor and personality, an audience is more likely to engage if the posts do not feel robotic.
Show people behind the brand. Promote your team. This will not only encourage your coworkers to share their proud work, but it will also give the brand a friendly, personable connection to their followers.
Be Proactive
It is important to create a content calendar and get ahead of the curve to plan social media posts. The day of the week and the time of day are essential for social media posting and outreach. Every brand is different, but generally late at night or during the day are expected times when people are working or sleeping, and therefore less likely to be scrolling through social media. The goal is to get maximum engagement, so post at the time of day when it is likely that more people are browsing through social media.
With so many followers and accounts posting, it is easy to get lost in the feed. However, by being proactive in planning out posts that are most effective in audience engagement, you are more likely to stand out.
Successful social media accounts do not all follow one formula for effective audience engagement, but these tips will put you back on the right path so that the work you put in pays off. It is easy to be overwhelmed by all of the features and tools that social media offers, and we often find ourselves struggling to take control.
Let these tips be a general guide. Focus on creativity and organization, while keeping up with the latest trends and the voice you want your audience to hear. Successful engagement is not always an overnight success. Take the time to enhance your account, and with a little dash of our helpful tips, success will come.
