How To Do Social Media Engagement

Engagement is the Internet word of the year. No matter what you read about the Web, whether in reference to social media or building a website, chances are high that you came across the word “engage” or one of its forms. Why? Because in this generation of selfie takers, forums and all things Web2.0, the goal is to get people involved when on the Web.

Consequently, businesses using social media must create posts that encourage engagement. But, that can seem a tall order if you are not well-versed in the rules of social media engagement. After all, social media management and engagement can take time away from an already busy workday. So, to help streamline your efforts, yet still improve your business’ social media engagement, we have 9 tips to help make your social media engagement easier.

1. Determine exactly what it is you want to accomplish with your social media post. Do this by asking the following:

• Are there any particular elements (increase in follows/likes) I want to measure?
• How concerned am I about my competitors? For example, are they merely examples for what you will or will not do; looking for keywords; perhaps, not concerned at all.
• What will my voice be? Is your company a more casual place? Perhaps you wish to reach a specific demographic. Whatever your goal, then be sure your posts reflect this.

1. Respond quickly. When someone comments or leaves a question on your platform be certain to reply as soon as possible. People want to know you are listening to them. If you aren’t, they will find someone who will. The average wait time between someone posting on a business platform and getting an answer back to them is 11 hours. If you can respond more quickly, that makes people feel valued.
2. Don’t make long posts. Studies have found that for the major platforms (i.e. Facebook and Twitter) that shorter posts get significantly more engagement. Facebook posts with 80 characters or less do 68% better than longer posts. Posts with 40 characters or less do 86% better. If you must make longer posts, then keep posts to 100 to 250 characters or the equivalent of 2 lines of text. For Twitter, the 100 character tweet is 17% more successful.
3. Remember to keep social media social. If you want engagement on your platforms, be sure that the majority (80%) of posts made are about interacting with customers, sharing interesting facts, pictures, etc. that get an emotional reaction. The other 20% of your posts can focus on marketing your products/services.
4. Don’t feel obligated to do all the social media engagement on your own. If you don’t have time to do it yourself, hire a company to do the posts for you.
5. Social engagement does not have to mean posting something every day. Posting 2-3 times a week, is better nothing at all.
6. Follow other people in your field, or those related to your industry, and then make the occasional comment—preferably positive -on their posts. At the very least, take time to Like/retweet their posts from time to time.
7. Don’t always feel compelled to jump into a conversation on your wall. Oftentimes, you will get much more feedback, simply by “listening”. Of course, do make it a point to jump in should there be any negative comments about your service/products. However, it is often best to handle these in a less public form—perhaps using private messaging.
8. Be transparent. Share videos or a behind the scenes look at what happens at your place of business. From tutorials to celebrations, press releases and more, people love to be “in the know” about the companies with whom they do business.

Social media engagement is a must if you are going to be a part of the Web. Do it yourself or hire one of social media account managers at ClickReady Marketing  to take care of your social media platforms for you. But whatever you do, don’t just leave a social media page dormant, unengaged social media presence. If you need help, contact us today. We would love to hear from you.