For many businesses, social media is at the core of their digital marketing strategy, but without engagement, you may as well be yelling into the void! With this in mind, knowing how to maximise your social media engagement is crucial.
BeKonstructive Marketing live and breathe social media. We manage various social media accounts, ranging from Instagram and LinkedIn through to TikTok, Facebook and Pinterest, for multiple clients.
Our social media management services are one of the most sought out services at BeKonstructive, helping time-poor businesses focus on what is important to them – basically, we do the hard work so you don’t have to.
If you’re new to social media engagement, there’s no need to fret. We’re going to show you everything you need to know about maximising your engagement activities.
Research, Research, Research
First things first, you need to do some research. Don’t think too far ahead just yet, because the first thing you need to look into is yourself, or rather, your social media accounts. Get ready for some questions!
If you already have a social media account, look at your current engagement. Write down the important numbers, such as number of followers, likes, comments, shares, etc. Examine the pros and cons of those numbers, and picture where you want your business to stand in terms of engagement. Think about:
- What can be improved?
- What’s hard to like?
- How many followers do you aim to have?
- How engaging do you think your account should be?
- How do you think you’ll engage with your audience?
Now, try to envision your business as a real-life person.
- Are they witty and adventurous or a shy introvert?
- Are they friendly and enthusiastic or professional and to the point?
Imagining your business as a person will help you establish your tone, social media content, and eventually, your social media engagement. Keeping your tone consistent is key to helping your brand stay consistent and cohesive.
You also need to know and find your audience.
- Who is your target audience and why?
- What social media platforms do they frequent the most?
Go crazy with the questions! The better you know your target audience, the more you’ll be able to tailor your engagement activities.
Finally, establish your goals. What do you want to get out of the engagement? The best way to do this is by using the SMART framework. Here’s an example of what each letter stands for and its appropriate goal:
- Specific: Personal Instagram account
- Measurable: Using Instagram’s analytics feature
- Achievable: Predict a 5% increase
- Relevant: Increase social media engagement
- Time-Bound: In the span of one week
Together, the overall SMART goal is: “To increase social media engagement on my personal Instagram account with a prediction of 5% increase in the span of one week.” Having a SMART goal will help you maintain focus, yet still deliver results.
Just Keep Engaging!
Now that you’ve built the foundation, it’s time to make the first move. After all, how do you expect to engage with your audience if you don’t approach them first?
You can maximise engagement by interacting with your audiences. The simplest way to do this is by replying to them. Engagement is a two-way street. If there are any comments or messages to your account, just reply back. Sometimes, your account’s engagement entirely depends on you. Since you’re the one who wants the social media engagement, you need to commit to it.
Another way to interact is by holding events that appeal to your audience, such as giveaways. Audiences will flock over to anything that will give them value, whether it’s entertaining content, important information, or some extra cash. If you know your audience well, then you’ll know what will attract them to come to your account. Holding giveaways is a common method of grabbing your audience’s attention and persuading them to engage with your account for a period of time.
Show Your Human Side
When you’re engaging with your audience, try not to reply mechanically or get caught up in your head. Remember to still interact like a human being! You don’t want your audience to feel as if they’re talking to a robot, right?
Keep in mind that you should pursue relationships first, followers second. Don’t get distracted by the number of followers your account has. In the end, those numbers will mean nothing if you don’t have a high engagement with your followers. To maintain consistent engagement, you need to approach your followers like how you’d approach someone in real life. Don’t see them as numbers, see them as people. Building genuine relationships will pay off more than if you simply seek clout from the number of followers you have.
Monitor Everything
All right, you’ve thought of your goals, engaged with your audience, and maintained your “humanity”. Congratulations! But wait, you’re not done yet.
After posting social media content, you need to monitor and evaluate your account’s performance. You can do that by using online social media analytics tools or through the in-app analytics features that are built into several social media platforms. The data provided by the tool will act as a benchmark for you to evaluate your goals. Remember the SMART goals earlier? Yup, that’s where they come in.
By monitoring your engagement and overall social media performance, you can evaluate whether or not your activities are helping bring in the results you had hoped for.
Grow Your Social Media Engagement with BeKonstructive Marketing!
Social media engagement is a constant endeavour. You’ll need to continuously repeat these four main tips across your social media to maximise engagement for your business. Don’t worry, once you get the hang of it, it’ll be fun! If you ever find yourself lost, give us a call!
