Engagement. The magic buzzword that all social media users and social-savvy business owners strive for. We work for it, dream of it, and, in some cases, see it boost! If you’ve ever wondered about how to increase engagement on social media – you’ve come to the right place (we’ll also share how to convert engagement to sales).
Social media engagement is, in our opinion, all about trial and error. We know there are listicles out there that will promise a tried and true way to boost your numbers; however, as an online business that’s continuously measuring and tracking, we can safely say: that ain’t true.
What works for some people miiiiiiight not work for others. What seems like a great and easy way to boost engagement for someone might seem like too much work to someone else. Like with pretty much everything in life: there’s no one-size-fits-all approach.
If you want to increase your engagement (and sales) with social media marketing, we’ve put together a list of our 6 favorite ways to increase engagement on social media that you can try today.
What is social media engagement all about?
Measuring your social media engagement is a great start to understanding how your audience feels about your content and the type of impact you’re creating within your community.
Let’s make something clear, though: engagement isn’t just about how many likes your post is getting or how many people click “Follow”.
No.
Engagement goes far beyond that to also include the connections you’re creating and the relationships you’re building through your online presence. How so? Because it’s these connections that will determine whether or not your brand stands out from the rest enough to succeed in the long run.
Customers who establish meaningful connections with the brands they follow on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc. are a lot more likely to purchase – and repurchase – than those who don’t feel any kind of emotion when they think of a specific brand.
In this sense, engagement is all about quality over quantity. You can have 100k followers on a platform, but if those people aren’t reacting (liking, commenting, sharing, saving) to your post and strengthening their bond with you, it’ll be hard to move them down your client funnel and turn them into clients.
READ MORE: 5 Ways To Increase Engagement In Your Community Organically
Social media engagement metrics to keep an eye on
Bringing down the idea of engagement to a more “quantifiable” realm, there are a series of metrics and numbers that are decisive in terms of measuring your engagement.
Some of these include the number of…
- People who like your posts
- People who comment on your posts
- Users who share your content
- Audience members who save your posts for later
- Users who actually click on your content
- Unique views your content is getting
- Mentions by other users on the platform
- Followers you gain/lose through a specific period of time
For a more precise look, our friends over at Hootsuite put together a handy post that details exactly how to measure these metrics for any future reporting you might need!
How to increase your engagement on social media: our 6 favorite ways
Before we dive into the actual “how-to” portion of this blog post, we’d like to point out that there’s an important precursor if you want to increase your engagement on social media.
What is it? You need to measure and analyze your present engagement. Why? Because you’ll never know if it’s being “boosted” if you had no idea where you were to begin with!
We suggest running a self-audit that looks at your presence on the different platforms you’re most active on and taking note of what you see in terms of numbers, community building, and the actual content. Once this is done, you can dive into testing new ways of interacting with your audience to see if your engagement does, in fact, rise!
It’s also important to really understand your audience: their likes, their dislikes, the other types of accounts they follow, etc. When you take a look at your audience and learn about how they interact online, a lot of the “secrecy” and “stress” behind finding content that will eventually become engaging disappears. Science, y’all!
Now, let’s get into the good stuff 🤩
After quite a few years of being active on different social media platforms, we’ve come to find a comfortable spot in terms of the content we like to produce and the community around us that engages with said pieces of content. Let us be clear, again: these are actions that have worked for us in the past because of our specific audience. And, while they might not necessarily work for you, it’s sometimes worth giving it a try and adapting as time goes by.
If you’re looking for ways on how to increase your engagement on social media, here are 6 of our favorite things to do that could be good places to start!
1. Create valuable content
One of the most important tips we can share when it comes to learning how to increase your engagement on social media is this: create content with purpose!
Don’t post for the sake of posting. Don’t share something because you feel obligated to do so. Doing so is a quick way to lead to burnout – which is something we don’t want!
The content you post on social media should serve a purpose and bring added value to your audience’s day. Whether it’s educational or entertaining, no piece of content should ever go out without first answering the question: “What do I hope to achieve with this?”
Some answers could hopefully be along the lines of…
- Teach my audience how to do something for the first time
- Highlight an issue that I’m passionate about
- Showcase a team member that demonstrates our company values
- Entertain and lighten the mood (very important if you deal with heavy topics!)
- Inspire someone to make a change in their community
- Bring awareness to a cause that needs our attention
On the other hand, if the answer is simply “Getting more likes”, it might be worth revisiting your marketing strategy to pinpoint your goals once again.
Additionally, when it comes to valuable content, it also helps if the piece is visually appealing. Whether you’re sharing infographics, quotes, or actual photos, make sure you take the time to create with care and attention. We usually recommend tools like Canva for all your photo editing and graphic design needs: it’s beginner-friendly and the options it gives users in terms of personalization are endless!
WANT TO TAKE CANVA TO THE NEXT LEVEL? Grab your ALL-ACCESS pass to Molly’s Template Shop and create visually stunning designs for your brand or business!
2. Stay on-topic and on-trend
A usual quick-boost to engagement, hopping aboard the “Trend Train” can be helpful for brands who are searching for inspiration with little luck.
For this, we suggest:
- Marking down special events on the calendar – sports, entertainment, wacky holidays, etc. – and creating content that alludes to them
- Using a trending hashtag (Twitter) or sound (TikTok & Reels) to gain more exposure
- Finding pop culture hits to adhere to
By joining an already-existing conversation, you’ll have the opportunity to engage with an audience that’s already there and, in most cases, happy to engage back if they see fit!
However, make sure not to force things. There are times when you and your brand simply don’t fit in with the subject at hand, and creating content for the sake of joining the conversation can be seen as try-hard or tone-deaf.
PRO TIP: Trendy content can help your platform grow, which is top of the funnel marketing! Then, you can go back to creating educational or inspirational content to move your audience to purchase.
3. Always engage back!
One of the most important things to keep in mind when looking for how to increase your engagement on social media is this: there are people behind the username, and people like to be seen.
Once you see people are engaging with your content, keep the momentum going by engaging back and letting them know you see, hear, and care about what they have to say.
What are a few ways to do this?
- Reply to comments and say “THANKS!”
- Respond to mesin a friendly tone and a timely manner
- If someone shares your post, thank them for supporting you and your business
- If someone mentions you elsewhere on the platform, share their mention to let them know you’ve seen it
Making your audience feel seen and appreciated by responding to them and engaging back is a great way to make sure they’ll keep coming back for more. After all, no one wants to be met with radio silence when they interact with an account.
PRO TIP: Seeing that someone is engaging A LOT on your posts or checking out information on a service or program, might show that they’re interested in purchasing! This is a great moment to send them a private message or personal note to see if they’d be interested in learning more or if they’ve got questions (ask for consent first, to share about your offer – it’ll remove the sleazy feeling).
4. Start a conversation
One way to get people engaging with your content? Ask a question.
Funny as it may sound…people online love voicing their opinions. This means that, when they’re given the chance to do so, they’ll be happy to type away in your comments section about why “…….” matters to them.
Asking questions is also a great way to learn more about your audience for any future efforts in creating specific content that will appeal to them more and more each time. The more you start looking into the people who follow you, the easier it might be to know the type of content they’ll be happy to see vs. content they’d much rather stay far, far away from.
5. Be human
People like to know they’re interacting with an actual, skin-and-bones, feeling person behind the screen. Granted, they probably already know you’re not a robot…but sometimes it’s nice to be reminded of that.
So when it comes to looking for ways on how to increase your engagement on social media, why not try something a little outside of your comfort zone and show them the human side – that’s you! And your team! – behind the business.
A few ways to do this include
- Jumping on camera to answer questions
- Showing a BTS look at how you do things day-to-day
- Posting photos of your workspace
- Showing the process that goes into creating a new service or product
- Show your funny side through a meme or a viral challenge
There’s a real person running the account! A person that laughs at jokes, wakes up with bedhead, feels emotional on certain days, and goes through the ups and downs of life just like everyone else. Instead of trying to hide it, show it!
6. Optimize your posting times
One last tip on how to increase your engagement on social media has more to do with the technical side of things. The algorithm (another buzzword) can be tricky: it likes things posted at certain times, with certain hashtags, and by certain accounts. So, when it comes to kicking your engagement up a notch, it’s worth looking into these details for a little extra help.
Side note: We think the Facebook and Instagram algorithm is racist and silences Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (QTBIPOC) voices, as well as, voices who push the status-quo. So although you may optimize your posting time, depending on the content you share – we’ve seen BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and Feminist brands and businesses have less engagement & interaction due to the algorithm.
Hashtags aside (we’re not a fan 🤐), optimizing your posting times is a great way to make sure you’re putting out content when your audience is most likely to see it (and, therefore, engage with it).
Platforms like Instagram and Facebook have really handy tools that let you see when your followers are more active. Use this as a basis for when to schedule your content (always schedule! It’ll make your life easier!) in order to maximize your efforts of getting seen, liked, commented on…you get the drill.
Meanwhile, platforms like TikTok can be a little more tricky…but also great. The TikTok algorithm doesn’t necessarily take into account your posting time. You can post something today and it might still be visible three months down the line. Is this better? Worse? We’ll let you decide!
TL;DR: 6 tips on how to increase engagement on social media
Although measured by a number, social media engagement goes far beyond how many likes your post is getting or how many people commented on something.
It’s about community and creating strong relationships with your followers that will ultimately convert to sales, subscriptions, partnerships, etc.
Although there is no one-size approach to boosting your engagement, there are a few tricks we’ve tried over the years that seem to work well for us given our audience and marketing strategy. A few of these are:
1. Create valuable content
2. Stay on-topic and on-trend
3. Always engage back!
4. Start a conversation
5. Be human
6. Optimize your posting times
But, before you run off to try these, there are two important things to keep in mind:
- Where you and your brand currently stand in terms of engagement
- What type of audience you hope to attract or already have
Looking back will set the tone for moving forward, so make sure that you understand how you are performing in the present – and how you’ve been in the past – before trying to find something that sticks in the future!
What have you done in your business to boost social media engagement? Let’s discuss a few other tried methods below!
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