Everyone understands the importance of social media for business, but many underestimate the value of engagement. Reaching as many new users/customers is important, but there’s also opportunity in how you engage with your current users. When you interact regularly, you are building the relationships that can drive conversions and profits. Here are 3 tips to help you increase social media engagement and improve awareness of your business and/or brand.
- Advertise to your Target Market
Facebook, Twitter and all other major social media platforms are competing for your advertising dollars. With that said, many new features have been added to make advertising to the right people simple and efficient. You can target based on demographic, interests and devices. Facebook now allows you to target based on preferred language! Cost per thousand impressions (CPM) is a more affordable option and will get your higher reach, while cost per click (CPC) ensures you are only paying for users who actually click on your ad. Ask your users to answer a question, refer a friend or take a poll to make users feel more invested in your content.
- Encourage User-Generated Content (UGC)
Encourage the community to create content about your business! One way marketers are approaching organic reach is through customer advocacy. One of the best ways to push customer advocacy is through user-generated content. 75% of consumers will share a positive experience with a brand. Consumers are also 70% more likely to make a purchase with a company after a good interaction.* This shows that no matter the social network, a good interaction or positive experience does wonders for your brand. User-generated content doesn’t have to be difficult. Actually, it can be as simple as asking users to send a photo or use a themed hashtag. Facebook has recently introduced the branded content tag to allow for more transparency in influencer marketing.
Cricket Wireless used #BestFriendsDay as an opportunity to create brand awareness through referral marketing! Twitter followers were asked to tag their best friend to send a custom GIF and shout out to their bestie. Check out the campaign!
- Influencers
This topic deserves its own article (another story for another day). Work with celebrities or ambassadors to talk about your business. Celebrity sponsorships are the original form of influencer marketing. But in today’s digital-first world, a new rise of micro-influencers are in high demand due to their reach in niche audiences, which can offer a lot of value to a brand. A recent survey reported that 70% of brand marketers agreed that influencer marketing budgets would increase in 2018 and 89% agreed influencer marketing can positively impact how people feel about a brand.*
Facebook has recently released new features to enhance the influencer and brand relationship. The branded handshake shows users that the influencer and brand are in collaboration.
One of the largest television companies in the U.S., DIRECTV (and DIRECTVNOW), understand the importance of influencers. Reese Witherspoon recently launched her newest series, Hello Sunshine’s Shine on with Reese, on these channels, with exclusive clips and promotions available on social media only.
Micro-influencers are usually social media users who have a more-than-average following (100K+) count and have impact on their followers. These new-age social media celebrities are a major part of the social engagement eco-system. AT&T partnered with several micro-influencers to co-host Tribeca Film Festival while posting live coverage on their social media, such as Carrie Keagan and Tracey Edmonds.
Engagement is a Journey
Working to increase engagement on your social media is an ongoing journey. Social analytics help your efforts get the best results, see what content your users engage with the most and around what time of day. Remember the Golden Rule: Good content is king. But good strategy is queen. You need both to make a great social media campaign.
Looking for ideas and inspiration for increasing your brand’s social channel engagement? Contact us today!
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