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How to Increase Social Media Engagement

increase social media engagement8 ways to increase engagement on social media

Increasing social media engagement is a top marketing goal for most businesses today. There’s a good reason to focus on building engagement in your company’s social channels – as more people interact with your social posts and tweets, your business gains a higher visibility and a greater marketing reach. To help your business harness social media’s almost unparalleled ability to connect people and brands, here are our eight best tips on how to increase social media engagement.

#1: Focus your efforts

Trying to engage with fans on too many social networks can lead to poor quality posts that interest no one. While it is important to have a social profile on all the major social networks, you should focus your marketing efforts on the two or three social networks that your customers use the most. Facebook and Twitter are almost required, but third network you choose will vary depending on the type of business you have. For example, Pinterest is a great platform for restaurants; Instagram is a top bet for hotels; and so on.

#2: Be selective about what you post

Stop to think before sharing your content on social media. We’ve all seen too many examples recently of what can happen when people and brands send out social posts without reviewing the content. Developing great content that educates, informs, or amuses followers will do far more to increase engagement than sending out strictly promotional posts.  Brands that push promotion too much will actually see a decrease in engagement, as customers start to automatically skip over their posts.

#3: Don’t overpost

When you’re trying to get more shares on Facebook or retweets on Twitter, it can be tempting to send out a flurry of posts all day. Resist the urge! A study by HubSpot found that social media reach actually decreases when your company sends out too many posts. A general rule of thumb is no more than three posts to each social network each day.

#4: Create comment contests

Comment contests have emerged as a great way to build engagement on social media. Send out an announcement that you will be offering the chance to win a fun prize, with entrants limited to the first 100 people to comment on a certain post.  Require comments to include a certain hashtag so you can easily track the increase in engagement. Once the contest is over, winners send in their contact information to receive the prize. You gain valuable leads in addition to getting a big boost in engagement!

#5: Add video

It’s no secret that posts with video get more shares on Facebook and Twitter – that’s why 46% of marketers plan to add Facebook video to their content strategy in the next year (according to HubSpot). Whether you add videos to your Tweets and Facebook posts or start a YouTube channel, adding video to your social marketing efforts is certain to increase engagement across every age group.

#6: Put in the time to socialize

Remember, these are social networks, so you need to socialize! Interacting with your followers is one of the best ways to build social media engagement. Plan on spending a minimum of six or more hours every week interacting on social networks. Some key interactions include sharing articles of interest to your customers, cross-promoting with industry influencers you admire, and commenting on posts.

#7: Use targeting to restrict your audience

Targeting is an effective way to increase social media engagement. If you are not familiar with how targeting works, it is based on a simple principle: restricting your audience to people who are most likely to express interest in your brand is going to increase engagement with your social media messages. Instead of sending out posts to everyone, use controls to select who will receive your posts. Enable Audience Optimization for Facebook, or use Tailored Audience in Twitter to select a variety of criteria to restrict your posts to the most receptive followers.

#8: Put your money where your posts are

Over the last few years, Facebook’s algorithm has reduced organic reach for publishers by approximately 40%, according to HubSpot. This move has made paid options to boost posts a necessity for marketers. Paying to promote Tweets and Facebook posts will increase exposure for your best content and give you the chance to increase engagement with a wider audience.

If you would like help increasing social media engagement, Blue Interactive Agency is ready to provide support for all your social marketing efforts. Our full service internet marketing team will help you with every step of your social marketing strategies, from establishing your initial presence to creating dynamic, professional social media content designed to drive engagement.

Contact us at Blue Interactive Agency today at 954-779-2801 for powerful social marketing services that will help your company increase social media engagement today!

About the Author

Sean d'Oliveira

Sean d'Oliveira

After graduating from the University of North Florida with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Sean d’Oliveira began his career in journalism. After a decade in the industry, Sean transitioned into the world of digital marketing in 2017, where he honed his online marketing skills and copywriting expertise for various clients.

About the Author

Sean d'Oliveira

Sean d'Oliveira

After graduating from the University of North Florida with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Sean d’Oliveira began his career in journalism. After a decade in the industry, Sean transitioned into the world of digital marketing in 2017, where he honed his online marketing skills and copywriting expertise for various clients.

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