As you are aware, social media is a HUGE part of marketing in today’s society. Let’s face it, if your brand isn’t on social media there is a major possibility that you aren’t getting the exposure your brand actually needs. Now you’re probably asking yourself, what can I do to efficiently engage my followers? This is where the following 5 tips come in handy, these tips will improve your engagement with your followers and help you strengthen your brand’s name.
- Respond Quickly and Adequately
Like you and I alike, we all like a quick and thorough response to a question, complaint or comment. Responding quickly to your followers, shows that you are active and that you care about what they have to say.
Now, just because you respond quickly, doesn’t mean you are engaging. Stay away from one word responses, it may come off stand-offish and throw off your followers. Your followers will most likely interact with your posts if you are responding in a helpful/interested manner.
2. Show Appreciation and Repost
Showing your followers that you’re appreciative of their experiences and loyalty to your brand will help you build a stronger connection with them. Try reposting pictures, videos and other content that your followers have posted about your brand to show them that you care.
Reposting can also encourage your other followers to share their content with you too. Having your followers share their content is also helpful to you as well. When you’re ever running out of ideas for content, you can always share a follower’s content about your brand. Not only are you showing appreciation, but you’re also getting the content you need. Never forget to give credit when due. Always tag/credit your followers for whatever content is used.
3. Involve Images/Videos in Your Posts
If you haven’t noticed already, people love images and videos and are constantly on-the-go. Everyone always seem to be sharing pictures and videos on every social media platform. According to recent studies, sharing images on Twitter increases retweets by 150%. Having images and videos involved in your daily posts will catch the eyes of your followers and they will most likely engage with your posts.
Images and videos are more likely to have more engagement than regular text based content because it’s a lot faster to look at an image than to read text.
4. Timing
Timing is everything in social media, if you post something at the wrong time chances are that no one will see it. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Time is money.”
Try testing out what times you get the most engagement by changing the time you post every day until you find the perfect hour for you. For instance, on Monday post at 10 A.M., Tuesday at 11 A.M., so on and so forth until you see what time gives you the most engagement.
The peak usage times are different throughout all social media platforms, so keep that in mind when deciding a time to post your content.
5. Hashtags
Last but certainly not least, Hashtags. Yes, I’m talking about the jumbled one word phrases that have the pound sign in front of it. Hashtags are probably the most essential tool you have on social media, don’t be afraid to use them. Hashtags help users search through social media and find what they are looking for. Having a specific hashtag that you use for your brand will help you connect with new people interested in you.
A unique hashtag is a memorable hashtag, don’t forget to keep the hashtag relevant to your brand. Don’t be afraid to make it fun, but also try to keep it professional.