How to engage on social media

Social media is a two way street, a communication channel between you and your customer or client. It’s a place to connect with influencers, industry experts and other businesses that compliment your own. But how do you make it work?

I am happy to admit I'm no algorithm or SEO expert but I do understand that engagement is essential on Facebook. In fact, it's an important activity across all social media channels and I get asked ‘how’ all the time.

Connect and Engage

Make a conscious effort to connect by liking and sharing the posts and tweets of 'others' - basically, show up and be active. Go that extra mile and comment or reply.

Why not share the blog of a client or industry expert and mention them, the @ sign is extremely valuable to you so use it. Always credit the work of others and when retweeting, reposting or sharing tell your audience why e.g. a great article by @A.N.Other, can't wait to see @A.N.Other at this event or love @A.N.Other because. Hopefully, you get the idea, it takes seconds to go that little bit further and well worth it.

Advocate and Recommend

Give a shout out or recommend a client or business that compliments your own - tell your audience why they are great. On Twitter try using #FF, the hashtag used specifically for promoting others but tell everyone why they should follow the account. On Facebook book, share a page URL and explain why you like this page.

Why not give a LinkedIn recommendation (as opposed to an endorsement) a truly authentic way to promote others because linked to your personal account. You can also provide reviews on Facebook pages and another great way to show your support.

Finally, .... be genuine

Read articles or blogs before sharing, what you post is a reflection on you and your business. Promote others carefully, do you know them, have you worked with them or are they a respected industry expert.

By proactively engaging on social media you will build a virtual relationship that you are able to take offline and receive reciprocated engagement. Social media is virtual networking a means of opening up communication channels, so use it as such.

Social media is an important part of your marketing strategy BUT how do you make it work? The good news is, it doesn’t need to be difficult or time consuming. Kicking off on Monday 30th March I am running a social media challenge. In just five days I will take you from ‘argh’ to ‘ooh’ and confidently using social media in your business.

My aim is to provide the tools you need in a fun and interactive way that will result in using the right platforms for your business and understanding how to use them. It's free, sign up here.