The easiest definition of social media engagement is some form of interaction between the customer and the brand, which takes place within social media networks. In reality, the term is certainly not about a one-off communication. It is more about the construction of a long-term relationship with your target customers. When we talk about such a relationship we have to take into consideration the positive actions of users as a reaction on any brand’s engagement tactics.
Some popular strategies to develop engagement include:
- Proactive interacting – whenever your customer places a question under your post on social media, you have to answer it and initiate further interaction. Remember that your goal is the formation of a long-term relationship. To achieve this, be active and informative, bringing users the content they require.
- User-generated content – a good strategy is to promote a brand with the help of the target audience. It means you find your brand’s enthusiasts and ask them to place a #hashtag related to your brand within their online posts. Hashtags help to spread information about your product or service and increase engagement as people believe other people much more so than brands.
- Regular communication – there is nothing more harmful for social media engagement than ignoring user questions for a long time. You should never disappear from social media networks as even one day without a response can have devastating consequences for your brand reputation. Also, determine the right time for your posts when your audience is online to gain the highest interaction.
Peruse these interesting Infographics to choose your perfect content strategy for building long-term customer relations.
Wait. How do you Measure Social Media Engagement?
A good question for any brand is how to measure social media engagement. At this point, you should understand that each social media network has unique metrics.
Look through these popular metrics for each social media channel:
- Twitter – retweets, likes, replies
- Facebook – reacts on post, shares, comments, impressions
- Instagram – likes, comments, links, clicks, views
- LinkedIn – comments, shares, link clicks
When you work with several networks, it is not an easy task to monitor each metric. You have to understand which of your marketing efforts work better for building customer relationship and not to miss any interaction. At this point, such social media management tool can help to realize your social media strategies a.s.a.p.
Recommendations to Receive More Engagement
One of the most important tips to bring high audience engagement is to place different content on each of the social networks you use. Investigate your customers and adapt posting to their needs.
Some effective content types you can use are:
- Games contests and other interactive content
- Infographics
- Emotional content
- Brand related posts
Look through the article to learn more about these content types and their application within each social network to maximize value to your customers.
The final advice is to avoid fake social media engagement. It happens when brands decide to buy followers. There are plenty of companies offering guaranteed high-quality followers for your account. Unfortunately, these people are not real; hence any long-term relationship will not be established. It is like paying people for coming to the exhibition. They will look at your masterpiece, but will never buy anything or visit your future events. Be careful about your reputation and define social media engagement only as real interactions with users.