As we move further into the new year, it’s important to take a look at your brand’s social media strategy and make sure that you’re doing everything possible to keep your audience engaged.
To get started, you’ll want to take a look at these top 7 ways to increase social media engagement for your brand this year:
1. Designate an employee to monitor your socials regularly and respond quickly to messages
Social media engagement goes beyond content creation – you need to be engaging with your audience directly in order to build stronger relationships.
When your customers have a question or concern, it’s critical to respond quickly, so you can keep them happy and maintain good customer service.
If possible, designate a specific employee for the task who has the bandwidth necessary to monitor your social media platforms on a regular basis.
By responding to comments, other users will see you joining into the conversation and feel more inclined to comment as well. This will undoubtedly increase your engagement.
It’s also important to monitor your analytics, so that you can track how well your engagement strategies are working.
2. Research the best times to post for your industry
Do you know when your ideal audience is most active on social media?
It’s important to know the best times to post in order for users to interact with your content.
If you’re unsure of when this should be, it may help to research other brands that are in your industry. Look at their engagement levels and analyze what time they’re posting their content.
Most platforms provide analytics that will show you how much engagement your posts are getting, so it’s important to analyze this data and adjust when needed.
If you’re noticing a specific post on Instagram is seeing lower than average engagement, try posting earlier or later in the day to see if it makes a difference.
It may be helpful to schedule your content ahead of time using a social media management tool like Hootsuite or Sprout Social, so you can ensure your posts are going out at the best times for your audience.
3. Monitor your competitors’ moves
One of the best ways to stay ahead of the competition is to keep an eye on what they’re doing.
Monitoring your competitors’ social media activity can help you see what strategies are working for them and give you ideas about how you can improve upon your own engagement.
It can also help you stay up-to-date on new features they’re rolling out or changes to their branding.
Competitor analysis is a key part of any social media strategy, so make sure you’re doing everything you can to stay ahead.
4. Add a personal touch to your profiles
One way to really connect with your followers is by adding a personal touch to your social media profiles.
This could be something as simple as sharing photos of employees or behind-the-scenes shots of what goes on at your company.
People like seeing the human side of brands (especially during COVID), so take advantage of this opportunity by giving them something that feels more authentic than what they’re already seeing in every other advertising campaign they’re bombarded with every day.
This will help build trust between you and your audience, which is a key component of any successful relationship. Social media isn’t just about marketing–it’s about building relationships with people.
5. Post as often as possible
It can be tempting to think that you only need to post on social media once a day, but the reality is much more complicated than this.
This doesn’t mean spamming the feeds of your audience with posts every hour, but it does mean that you should be actively posting content that is useful to your audience at least a few times per day.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed at the thought of posting so frequently, start by creating a content calendar where you plan out all of your posts for the upcoming week. This will help you stay organized and ensure that you’re not posting duplicate content or anything that might not be useful to your audience.
6. Figure out what content your audience is searching for
Another way to increase your social media engagement is by figuring out what content your audience is searching for to solve their problems.
This can be done by using tools like Google Ads or AHREFS to see which keywords your audience is looking for when seeking information about your brand or industry.
Once you have a list of these keywords, it’s time to start creating content around them.
By posting relevant information that your users will enjoy reading (and hopefully sharing), you’re establishing yourself as an authoritative source on whatever topic(s) people are searching for when they find your posts.
7. Make sure you’re using the right hashtags
The right hashtags can be a powerful way to boost your engagement on social media.
They’re a great tool to get your brand noticed by other users on social media who might not otherwise see your posts.
Do some research to find out which hashtags are being used the most for your brand or industry, then include them in your posts.
A good rule of thumb is using at least one hashtag per post. Don’t go overboard with too many, as this is just annoying and looks like spam.
Hashtags can also be a great way to track how your content is performing. There are a number of different hashtag analytics tools out there that will help you see which ones are being used the most and by whom.
Increasing your brand’s social media engagement rates will take a lot of work, but it’s something you need to prioritize this year. And it will definitely pay off.
But if it sounds too overwhelming for you, there’s no shame in asking the professionals for help. Schedule a free 45-minute strategy session with Bizzuka to learn where you may be falling short on your social media strategy.