Social Media Marketing: How To Drive Engagement

In this week's?Strategic Marketing Insights

Social media marketing has become a crucial aspect of any digital marketing strategy. However, it’s not just about having a presence on social platforms – it’s just as important to engage with your audience in a meaningful and authentic way.???

With the ever-changing algorithms and trends, it can be overwhelming to figure out the best tactics to increase your social media engagement.?If you are tired of wondering how to get more followers and boost your rankings, this article is here to provide you with some methods to help you create a buzz around your?brand?and connect with your target audience.??

And if you’re looking for a social media marketing agency to do the heavy lifting for you,?contact us?today.??

??Understanding Social Media Algorithms??

Different social media platforms use different algorithms to rank content, which can lead to variations in how content is prioritised and displayed to users. As a result, you need to understand the main ranking signals for each platform in order to optimise your posts appropriately. Below is a brief overview for a few of the major platforms.??

Ranking Signals for Facebook Marketing??

Facebook prioritises content from accounts that the user already interacts with. Engagement is another essential factor; posts that have a great deal of engagement are more likely to be boosted and for users that already interact with the account in-question, the effect is magnified.??

Other signals to keep in mind are content type and content quality. As for content type, users who engage more with a certain type of content i.e., photos will get more of that, while quality refers to its value.??

Ranking Signals for Instagram Marketing?

Instagram’s algorithm makes it more likely for users to see content from accounts they engage with. It also prioritises posts on topics that the user is interested in, which is beneficial for businesses as the users that are most likely to see their content are those that are already interested in their niche. Other important signals include whether a topic is trending and the overall level of engagement the account has.??

Ranking Signals for TikTok Marketing?

One factor that distinguishes TikTok marketing from marketing on other platforms is that follower count does not affect ranking. However, it does take into account previous interactions a user has with an account.??

The platform also prioritises videos that are likely to be of interest to users based on their past behaviour, including their actions on the Discover tab. Location and language are also important, which benefits businesses looking to target consumers in a specific region. Finally, trending topics, as well as trending effects, sounds, and so on will help boost posts.??

Ranking Signals for Twitter Marketing?

Twitter’s algorithm is based on a combination of factors such as recency, relevance, and popularity (relevance in terms of what the user is already interested in).?Trending topics are of great importance, and these topics are those that are new, rather than those that have been popular for a while. Discussing current events related to your industry is therefore a good approach for getting engagement on this platform. Adding images, video and other media to posts will also improve your rankings.????

??Understand Your Audience?

Making the most of signals such as user interest and previous behaviour will help thing to snowball. In other words, once you begin to see engagement from a user, they will be more likely to see your posts – and your overall rankings will improve.??

In order to achieve the above, you need to understand your audience – who they are, what they like, what they dislike, what motivates them, and what will get a reaction out of them. Only then can you create engaging content.???

Use social media analytics tools to track your followers’ demographics, interests, and behaviours. In addition, engage with followers directly by responding to comments, answering questions, and conducting surveys and polls to gather feedback.??

You also need to encourage interaction and conversation among your audience, which means creating content that sparks conversations. Content that’s thought-provoking or funny and entertaining both achieve this outcome.??

With these fundamentals in mind, let’s take a look at some more tactics you can use to drive engagement.??

??Tactics to Drive Social Media Engagement?

Use Hashtags?

If you’re wondering how to get more followers, hashtags are a great place to start. They make your content discoverable, helping you to reach a wider audience. However, it’s important to use them strategically; avoid using too many of them as this can come across as spammy and turn off your audience and instead, focus on using hashtags that are related to your brand and content. This will help to ensure that your content is discoverable by people who are actually interested in your brand or topic and therefore, likely to engage.?

It’s important to note that hashtags don’t drive the engagement they used to.?Currently, TikTok is still a great place to do this but the other channels have moved away from that focus in their algorithms.?You should still use them but don’t expect explosive results from a hashtag.?

Here are a few tips for using hashtags as part of your social media marketing efforts:?

• Use popular hashtags that are currently trending in order to increase the visibility of your content and to join conversations around popular topics and events.?
• Make sure you monitor which hashtags are trending so you can stay up to date with the latest conversations going on in your industry.
• Create branded hashtags that are unique to your business, as this will help to build a community. You could also create a hashtag challenge that encourages your audience to create and share their own content using your branded hashtag.
• Use hashtags in your captions, but when using hashtags in this way, be sure to use them sparingly and strategically – you don’t want your captions to appear cluttered or spammy.?
• Use event-specific hashtags to join conversations around industry events and conferences.?
• Use location-based hashtags to target local audiences and increase your reach in specific regions.?
• Use seasonal hashtags to create content around holidays and events that are relevant to your brand.

??Encourage User-Generated Content?

User-generated content (UGC) is any type of content that is created by a brand’s customers or followers, rather than by the brand itself. Encouraging your followers to create and share their own content related to your brand will help to build a community around your businesses and increase engagement thanks to the concept of social proof. UGC can be anything from reviews to product unboxing videos or any type of post that features or mentions your product or service.??

Incorporate UGC into your own social media posts to showcase your followers and their experiences with your brand. This will encourage other followers to create their own content. In addition, be sure to give credit to those who create UGC by tagging them in your posts or featuring their content on your website.??

UGC Campaigns and Contests??

Contents are a great way to incentivise your audience to engage. You can encourage your followers to create and share UGC and award prizes to the best content. Examples include photo contests to video testimonial campaign, which you can combine with using branded hashtags.??

Make sure that the rules and guidelines are clear and easy to understand and that the prize is relevant and valuable to your audience, and ensure you promote the contest across all your social media platforms.??

Use Video Content?

Video content is one of the most, if not THE most engaging forms of content on social media and plays a vital role in Instagram marketing (and TikTok marketing, which goes without saying). In addition, the Insivia 2023 SaaS Marketing Report shows that 64% of consumers are likely to buy a product online after watching a video, and that users retain 95% of a message when it is in video format as opposed to 10% when in text form.??

There are many ways to use video content on social media, such as creating product demos, behind-the-scenes footage, and live videos. Live videos, in particular, are a great way to engage with your audience in real-time and build a sense of community. In fact, live videos have proven to gain even more engagement than pre-recorded videos on Facebook (Statista). Short form video also elicits greater engagement, but both short and long form content are important on the whole.??

Make sure the video thumbnails are eye-catching and the titles are relevant and keyword optimised.??

And remember – boost your Twitter marketing results by adding videos to your tweets.??

??Influencer Marketing and Its Impact on Engagement?

Influencer marketing is a powerful tool for increasing your social media engagement and they help to build trust in your brand. To use this strategy effectively, you need to find the right influencers that align with your brand and target audience. You should also ensure that the influencer’s content is authentic and genuine, as this will resonate better with your audience.?

Additionally, you can use micro-influencers, who have a smaller following but a more engaged audience. Micro-influencers are often more affordable and can be more effective in driving engagement and conversions.?

Click to discover more about?how to build an influencer strategy.??

??Common Mistakes to Avoid?

While there are many effective tactics for increasing your social media engagement, there are also common mistakes that you should avoid. These include:?

• Focusing too much on selling/self-promotion:?Social media is not primarily a sales platform. While it can certainly be used to promote products or services, the focus should be on building relationships with followers and providing value to them, rather than constantly trying to sell to them.?
• Neglecting to track metrics:?It’s important to track metrics such as engagement rates, reach, and impressions to understand the effectiveness of your social media efforts. Neglecting to track these metrics can make it difficult to understand what’s working and what’s not.?
• Ignoring negative feedback:?Negative feedback on social media can be aggravating but ignoring it can make the situation worse. It’s important to respond to negative feedback in a timely and professional manner, and work to resolve any issues that may arise.?
• Posting too frequently:?Posting too frequently can overwhelm your followers and make them feel like they’re being bombarded with content. Instead, focus on creating high-quality content that provides value to your followers, and post it consistently, but not too frequently.?
• Failing to engage with followers:?Social media marketing is a two-way conversation, and failing to engage with your followers can make it difficult to build relationships with them. Be sure to respond to comments, messages, and mentions in a timely manner, and engage with your them in a genuine and meaningful way.??

??Conclusion?

There you have it – a few simple ways to start boosting your social media marketing results today. Hopefully you now understand how to get more followers and increase engagement once you have them.?

Understanding the algorithms on different platforms, along with your audience, are the fundamentals. From there, you can create relevant content and optimise it in a way that will expand your reach. In addition, make use of hashtags, user-generated content, video content, and contests to keep your audience interested.??

To discover how we’re helping businesses worldwide develop leading marketing strategies, contact us – we would be delighted to assist.

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