The days where solely the number of social media followers, subscribers or likes count are gone.
‘So why have I been spending an X amount of time on trying to grow social media followers on my account if that doesn’t matter anymore?’ I might hear you say.
Well, it’s not that those days are gone, it’s just that companies and people nowadays want to see a large amount of INTERACTION between the person behind the social media account and their followers. The goal is to create a two-way, long-term and loyal relationship. So what does this entail?
Engagement on social media platforms is counted in the form of number of clicks, likes, reposts, shares and comments.
Let me give you an example:
Who cares about your 2.3M followers on your Instagram business or personal page if you amassed them by following/unfollowing a bunch of people?
This doesn’t lead to real and organic engagement thus not leading to people liking your pictures, commenting and or even purchasing your product.
Why?
Because they don’t care enough.
Okay, maybe that’s a little harsh.
Here’s the truth: the key for any successful social media account is an increase in engagement rather than simply growing social media followers by the number.
The good news is, those two things tend to go hand in hand. Let me show you how:
1. Captain Obvious: You Need To Post Good Content
I know you’ve read this in every single article you’ve researched so far in your quest to increase engagement. But what even is good content?
Good content will leave people wanting more. Good content will evoke an emotion in your social media followers, be it in form of a heartbreakingly relatable text, a funny meme or a great-quality shot of you chilling on a swing in Bali. Whether you make people smirk, chuckle, increase their heartbeat or maybe even shed a tear, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that people need to feel SOMETHING.
Good content will not make them mindlessly scroll past your posts, giving them nothing more than a quick glance and having inspired zero thoughts and feelings.
2. Be Yourself
I’m sure you’ve researched ‘What does it take to grow your social media account?’ before stumbling upon this article.
What did you find that successful social media influencers kept insisting on?
‘Just be yourself’
I know what you’re thinking.
‘Wow. Gee. Thanks. Kind of wish I could be Batman/Wonder woman by now but I guess I’ll just settle with good ol’ me.’
This is what they are trying to say:
If you have dry, witty humor and the only language you speak is sarcasm, then stick to this. You will attract the right audience who will ‘just get you’ thus increasing your engagement almost instantly by just being yourself.
If you have been through a hard time and want to share your feelings on your platform to help others going through the same stuff, go for it. Your social media followers will love how relatable and vulnerable you are and will want to support you by actively engaging with your account.
If you’re a business owner reading this, the same concept applies. Do not copy other successful companies, cross your fingers and hope for the best. Add your own spice to your posts. Ask yourself what makes your company stand out. If you’re a small business owner and simply not sure how to get started, click here for 10 tips on how to quickly master social media for small businesses.
3. Consistency
If you want constant engagement, then you need to constantly be in people’s faces. And I don’t mean shove your page/product/service down their throat every single minute of the day. Just be present and consistent.
Don’t post 5 times in one day, leave it for three weeks and expect an immense number of likes, shares and comments.
Try and get to the point where people have become so invested in your page that if you don’t post for a few days they will wonder where you’ve been and how you’re doing or when the next product launch is coming up.
4. Call To Action (CTA), Competitions, Giveaways
Once you’ve got your followers to the stage where they feel like they know you/your company, it is time to use a vital part of increasing engagement called CTA (call to action). Adding a simple ‘Tag a friend who would be most likely to…’ or ‘Comment below with your favorite…’, ‘Go visit/click…’ ‘Watch this…’ at the end of your post makes people actively reflect about the content of your post and more likely to interact. It doesn’t have to be very demanding but should be a simple, excuse the choice of obvious words, call to act.
Another thing you can do is reward your social media followers by organizing competitions where the winner gets a free *insert whatever your personal page or business is about*. You could offer to send the winner of the competition or giveaway a product for free if they follow your instructions which forces them to engage with your page if they want to win.
5. It’s All About People
There are people behind both sides of these social media accounts (unless you use bots which doesn’t create REAL engagement, but that’s a whole different story).
There’s a person trying to promote their things on one hand and people potentially wanting to buy said things on the other.
It is called ‘social’ media after all. This is a give and take situation. Both parties want to benefit from the relationship and get something out of it. This doesn’t necessarily have to be in form of a product. You can post inspiring captions, beautiful pictures that will make people want to travel or relatable text about your personal struggles. If people feel like it helps them in any way, they will be more likely to engage with you.
Do remember to like their comments, share their pictures of your product, comment back, give them a shout out or simply thank them every once in a while for being such an engaging audience.
All in all, quickly increasing engagement with your followers is definitely not an impossible task. Try and keep the main ideas of this article in mind before your next post and I can guarantee you’ll see a considerable and positive change in engagement.
Remember: increasing engagement on social media accounts is like nurturing a healthy long-term relationship; it takes time, dedication, the ability to adapt according to the other one’s needs and making sure that both parties are happy.
