Expert Tips For How to Increase Social Media Engagement: A Guide for Marketers

With a revenue of $41.5 billion in 2020 alone, there’s no denying the power of social media these days. Since its inception in 1997, it’s become a vital component of a successful modern business, but what if you do not see results from it? It can be hard to grow an audience among the endless competition, and engagement is arguably the most fundamental element to that growth. So, what is good social media engagement, and how can you increase it?

What is Social Media Engagement?

Simply put, social media engagement is a variety of interactions a user has with your content on a social platform that shows they’re interested in your content, such as a comment, a ‘like,’ a ‘share,’ a direct message (DM), and more!

Why does it matter?

Did you not see that BILLION up there in the intro?! If that isn’t reason enough for why engagement is essential in social media… Seriously, though, you’re not likely to catch a consumer’s attention and ultimately their loyalty if you’re focused on one-off communication. It’s about the long-term relationship, and you got to give to get!

Understanding Engagement Metrics

Metrics can give you insight into the why and how of your content’s performance and your audience’s habits. Admittedly, much of this section depends on your specific goals with your social strategy. Still, typically the most important is engagement, aka probably the whole reason you clicked on this post! Other commonly tracked engagement metrics are…

• Reach – The total number of unique users who saw your content
• Shares –  How many times your post was sent to another user. They denote how popular your posts are and also help increase the total Reach of your content.
• Conversions rate – How many users who, after clicking a link in your post, took action on the page
• Response rate and time – The percentage of new messages sent by your account as a first response on the day they’re received; the average time your account takes to send those first responses to new messages in a single day.

Be aware of what types of metrics may just be a ‘vanity metric’ or something that looks good but serves you no impactful purpose or value. We’ll get to more on that a little later.

We’ve gathered some tips and ideas below to help you start getting the kind of social media engagement results you want!!

(Re)assess Your Current Strategy

Are you trying to make a sale with every single post? That can get very annoying to your audience. The golden ratio of social content is 80% entertainment and 20% sell. ‘Entertain’ doesn’t have to mean just funny dancing Reels and TikToks; it’s about providing free value to your audience on a more personal level. If you’re a skincare line, share some tips on the best morning care routines for oily skin! It’s not all about the sale; it’s about the relationship.

Add a CTA

Are you including calls to action in your content? They’re a great way to up your engagement! Tell your audience exactly what you want them to do. “Drop a heart emoji in the comments if you agree!” “Tag someone who needs to hear this.” “Hit ‘Share’ to send to your mom!”

Host Giveaways And Contests

Hot Tip: Not a single living person doesn’t love free stuff. You can use engagement as contest entries! This can be an excellent opportunity to drive UGC and brand awareness through branded hashtags! Just be sure to avoid Follower Loop contest styles; it’s not 2016 anymore.

Post Consistently

If your audience doesn’t know when to look for you, they’re going to start forgetting about you, and attention is the currency of social media. Many sources will say you have to post daily to drive engagement, but we at API focus on posting at a sustainable rate! Set a schedule, promote the schedule to your audience, and STICK TO IT.

Develop and Maintain an Authentic Brand Voice

Talk to your audience, not AT your audience. Start a conversation with them, but always remember that people want to feel like there’s an actual live human on the other side. Ask them questions, post a poll. Give them something simple to interact with. Just make sure it sounds human.

Consider New Influencer Tiers

A 10K follower count minimum has been the standard for years to count as an influencer, but that’s no longer the case. Smaller accounts will have more targeted audiences. And It can feel like way more of a personal level right from the start! So don’t count out considering partnering with the Nanos when looking at the influencer side of your social engagement strategies.

Note: Make sure to see the influencers’ engagement rates, too, if you go this route. High follower count is just a ‘vanity metric’ if the influencers aren’t in sync with their followers.

Follow. The. Trends.

So here’s a paradox to shake things up: Be unique…and also follow trends. Trends are popular because they appeal widely, and many people are actively searching for more of that content. Use that to your advantage! Instead, be unique in how you apply trends to your particular niche or POV.

Note: Be choosy in which trends you follow. Some just won’t fit with your niche and audience effectively.

Pay Attention to your Analytics

If you haven’t already converted all your social accounts into business accounts, drop everything and do it now! This will open a world of opportunity for more intelligent decision-making. What content type is performing best on what platforms? When is your audience online to interact with your content? How can you know what to change if you don’t know what’s not working? Analytics can inform so many key engagement actions. Knowledge is power!

Keep Up with Using a Platform’s New Features

We can guarantee that Instagram spent a lot of money developing their newest features like link stickers and that they want a high return on that investment. A platform will inherently encourage interaction with your content if you help them promote the usage of these features. Social media really can be such a symbiotic relationship if you’re open to adopting new concepts early on.

Consider a Paid Campaign

It’s not the side-eye-inducing approach it once was seen as. There is so much opportunity with this tool considering its targeting capabilities to help give your reach a boost.

And finally… Make Sure You’re Not Committing the #1 Social Media Cardinal Sin

SupposeAgain, this is not 2016. These things only hurt your authentic engagement rates. Plus, you run the risk of getting your social account shut down entirely if you’re caught! If you’re buying likes or followers, best to halt that practice ASAP.

Give these tips a try, and see what a difference just a few thoughtful tweaks can make to your social media engagement!