How to Increase Social Media Engagement

When you create a social media profile, it's common to anticipate engagement on your posts. However, you can quickly get frustrated when your content receives little or no engagement. Not only will this limit the visibility of your brand, but it will also limit the growth of your social media profile.

If this sounds like you, you don't have to be afraid. Many businesses also face a lack of engagement on their social media profiles. Luckily, we have tips to help you improve your social media engagement. But before sharing them, let's understand social media engagement and why it matters.

What is Social Media Engagement?

Social media engagement refers to people’s reactions to your content and business on various social media platforms. This could be comments, shares, mentions, clickthroughs, likes, and followers. While these are among the most popular types of engagements, we also have other little-known ones, such as:

• Retweets and shares.
• Audience and follower growth.
• Clickthroughs.
• Tagged or untagged mentions.
• Use of branded hashtags.

You can check your social media metrics to see some of the critical engagements that matter. You can also read our guide on how to increase Instagram followers.

Why Social Media Engagement is Important

When you post on social media, your target audience reacts, which indicates that your content resonates with them. Remember that social media sites want users to spend time on their apps. If their algorithm notes that people are reacting well to your content, they'll show more of it to others, boosting your content.

This will translate to more people viewing your content, helping you increase your brand visibility and follower count. The more people know about your business, the greater your chances of making sales. Remember that the opposite is also true. If your content is not performing well, it indicates that the post did not resonate with your audience.

When you understand the meaning of your social media engagement metrics, you can focus on refining your marketing strategy to meet your audience's interests, tastes, and expectations.

Top Tips to Increase Your Social Media Engagement

Now that you understand social media engagement and why it is essential, here are top tips for increasing your social media engagement.

Measure Your Current Engagement

It's impossible to increase your engagement if you don't understand how your current campaigns perform. Therefore, understanding your current performance is the first step in growing your engagement. By doing that, you can determine which campaigns are working and which ones aren't. For instance, you might realize that text posts no longer generate engagement. On the other hand, you may realize that short video posts are generating a lot of engagement. Therefore, you may need to concentrate more on the latter.

Pay attention also to comments, mentions, and messages. These can provide insights into your audience's likes and dislikes. It can also guide your content strategy. For instance, if you have people messaging you with similar questions about your product, you might want to create a pinned post answering those questions. You can also use the data to find brand advocates. Check if there are standout fans who are always commenting or liking your posts. You might need to ask them to collaborate with you.

Create an Engagement Strategy

You need to think of a strategy to help you meet your goals. The engagement goals may be to:

• Change the public’s perception of your brand.
• Get feedback on your new products.
• Use resources to educate your followers.
• Get new leads.

Once you have determined the goal, you can develop a good content strategy to help you achieve that goal. Then, make the content a part of your overall social media calendar. Therefore, you need a strategy before posting content on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or any other platform.

Grab People's Attention Using Visuals and Videos

Most creators on social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube must constantly remind their followers to like, share, and comment on their videos. However, there are other better ways of increasing engagement. Content full of visuals and videos is more likely to be shared than text posts.

Content that interests your audience is likely to receive a higher engagement. Studies indicate that videos and other visual posts tend to receive a higher engagement than other forms of content. This is especially true for video-dominated platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram.  

Nowadays, even previously text-dominated platforms, such as Facebook, X, and Instagram, are focusing more on video reels. Even though some excellent text content will grab attention, visuals can draw much attention. That is why more than 50% of social media users prefer video content over other types of content. 

Therefore, creating social media posts consisting of different types of visual content, such as videos, images, memes, GIFs, and infographics, is essential. You can keep your social media page exciting and engaging with such content. This will also ensure that the content appeals to many audiences. Here are tips on incorporating different kinds of visual content.

Images

A top social media strategy should consist of high-quality images. These should include different elements of your brand, such as the logo and color scheme, which are part of your brand identity. When choosing your social media images, pick one relevant to the message you are trying to convey.

Videos

Remember that users have a short attention span when considering a social media video strategy. Therefore, focus on creating short, snappy videos to help you send your message quickly. Studies indicate that 92% of social media users watch videos with the sound off, so it is essential to include captions to engage them. Ensure you engage with different video formats, such as interviews, tutorials, user-generated content, and product demos.

Memes

Remember that you don't want to keep all your social media posts promotional. One way to keep things light-hearted is by including memes in social media posts. This also helps to give your brand a human voice. You can have your memes around any topic. These could be related to trends, references, pop culture, and internet memes.

Infographics

Infographics are excellent for breaking down complex data into simple, easy-to-understand tips, statistics, and insights. According to one study, they can make content more appealing by 43%. Other studies indicate they are the most shared and liked type of social media content. Therefore, they are an excellent choice for capturing the audience’s attention.  

GIFs

GIFs, like memes, are an excellent choice for adding flair and personality to your social media content. They will enable you to capture the user's attention faster than static images. GIFs are also an excellent choice for getting your brand message across faster. You can, therefore, use them to spread emotions such as excitement, surprise, or humor.

User-generated Content (UGC)

Another great way to incorporate visuals into your content strategy is through user-generated content (UGC). UGC refers to content that your audience creates for you to share on your business page. This strategy works because it enables your followers to engage with your brand as their content gets featured on your page.

As part of your UGC strategy, you can encourage your current and past customers to share photos and testimonials of your products or brands. Encourage them to tag your business in their content. If the content is interesting, ask them for permission to post it on your social media pages.

UGC content improves engagement by encouraging social media users to post about the brand, resulting in great word-of-mouth recommendations. Remember that you don't have to invest in flashy campaigns or ad agencies when using UGC content. Instead, you can connect with the key people your business is targeting: your audience.

Connect with Your Audience Emotionally Through Storytelling

Humans are emotional beings; therefore, one of the most effective strategies for increasing social media engagement is connecting emotionally with your audience. According to one study, having a compelling brand story can increase customer loyalty by 20%. Since social media is a great place to connect with audiences on a personal level, brand storytelling is usually a big part of it.

Therefore, you can use brand storytelling to inform customers more about your brand. You can use authenticity to tell a compelling story and engage the target audience. To do that, share behind-the-scenes videos, customer experiences, and anecdotes to show the human face of your brand and connect easily with your audience.

As noted earlier, use videos and images to make your content engaging, evoke various emotions, and improve your storytelling experience. Structure your story so that it has a beginning, middle, and end. If possible, add an element of conflict or tension and provide a resolution. Include a clear call to action or takeaway in your story.

To increase engagement with the story, ask questions, encourage comments, or even request your audience to share their experience. This will help foster dialogue and increase your audience’s engagement. Ensure your message is clear and clarifies what your brand aims to do and the steps to achieve that.

Repurpose Old Content

You can also increase social media engagement by repurposing existing content to create engaging posts. Sharing such captivating content can help increase your audience’s interest and show your credibility. Therefore, if a blog post performs well, you can repurpose it as a carousel Instagram post with a CTA leading to the blog posts.

This strategy will help increase user engagement and make content creation easier. It will also help you save resources and time and quickly fill your content calendar. Besides, if you publish high-quality content, you can quickly boost the engagement of your existing followers. Finally, it helps your customers have a personal experience with your products or services. This is key to a successful social media strategy.

Leverage Seasonal Content

Trending content has the potential to make your content go viral. Besides, seasons such as New Year, Valentine's, Thanksgiving, and Christmas drive a lot of conversations. Creating content centring around such festivals is a good way of driving engagement, as users are already thinking about the occasion. 

For instance, during Christmas, you can create a post wishing your followers a merry Christmas. You can also proclaim your love for your followers during Valentine's Day. Doing this will enable you to generate more comments, likes, and followers. People will become more aware of your brand and be inspired to take immediate action.

Post Consistently

If you want your brand to remain in the minds of your followers, you need to post consistently. Besides, the social media algorithm gives preferences to active and consistent people. Therefore, regular posting will help keep your followers in the loop. Your brand will stay visible in the user's feed, enabling you to maintain a consistent engagement rate.

The posting frequency will depend on the individual needs. However, there are some general guidelines on how often you should post. These are:

• Instagram: One to two posts a day.
• Facebook. Once a day.
• Linkedin: Three to five times a day.
• TikTok: One to four times a day.
• X: Two to five times a day.

However, make sure you focus more on posting quality content than quantity. Therefore, find a good posting schedule without compromising on the post quality. Therefore, if you can only post one good post on X, go with it. Consistently, quality is far better than quantity when looking for quality engagement.

Balance Between Helpful and Promotional Posts

Nobody wants to be bombarded with ads or talked to by brands as if they are dollar signs. That's why one sure way to kill engagement on your posts is to post a lot of promotional content. In fact, social media experts suggest that you follow the 80:20 rule. This rule indicates that 80% of your content should be helpful while the other 20% should be promotional. 

Promotional content refers to content that advocates for your brand, products, or services.  On the other hand, the user finds helpful content informative and educational or adds value to it. Remember that the primary reason why people are on social media is to be informed, educated, or entertained. Therefore, having this balance will help to build your customers' trust and loyalty, which will, in turn, translate into high engagement.

Reply to Your Audience

You will miss an excellent opportunity to drive engagement if your followers comment on your posts without replying. Therefore, when people comment on your post, reply to them to engage them in a conversation. Since at least two people drive conversation, you should spend time conversing with your audience.

Even when people leave simple comments such as “This is good”, you can reply with something like “thanks, we like it too”. This will encourage your audience to keep engaging with your page or brand. When responding to someone, be sure to use their names, as this will help them feel more connected with your brand and they will feel you are addressing them personally.

Comment Bump

Another exciting method you can use to increase engagement on your social media posts is comment bumps. Remember that all social media posts have a short lifespan because people see a lot of content every day. You can time your responses to bump the post on social media.

Remember that the social media algorithm checks a post's engagement rate in the first 20 minutes. During this period, most user interactions happen. Once you have posted, you can wait for the post to gain traction while avoiding replying to comments immediately. You should instead wait until the engagement has cooled down. 

After 20 to 40 minutes of posting, you can reply to the comments. Doing that will effectively bump up the post's appearance in the newsfeed. Once the algorithm notices that, it will reevaluate the post and potentially show it to a bigger audience.

Understand the Social Media Algorithm

Remember that different social media sites have algorithms that work differently. Therefore, not all social media sites will measure engagement similarly. Therefore, if you want to reap the most out of the social media algorithm, you need to familiarize yourself with the unique way of each algorithm.

First, understand the timing and when the most engagement happened. Is it in the morning, afternoon, or midnight? Consider also the best posting time by looking into the period when your audience is mostly online. Remember that social media sites will promote certain content more prominently than others. 

For instance, if you post on Facebook, reels will likely receive higher engagement than long videos as Facebook promotes them more. Posts with videos also receive higher engagement on Facebook than texts only. On the other hand, Instagram stories are shown more regularly to viewers than the regular story. If you are using TikTok, you need to include hashtags as they will help your videos reach a bigger audience, resulting in higher engagement.

Tips For Driving Engagement On Social Media

We have noted that creating engaging content is the best way to drive engagement on a post. If you are searching for more tips to drive engagement on your posts, here are several ideas.

Provide Giveaways

Hosting giveaways is one of the best ways to drive engagement on your account, as people love free things. You can ask your followers to like, comment, share, or tag their friends as a way of entering the contest. To encourage participation, offer an enticing prize such as gift cards and exclusive merchandise. Create a hashtag to increase the visibility of your contest and track entries.

Creative and Funny Content

People love humor, especially if it's something your audience can relate to. Therefore, create lighthearted and whimsy posts that can make your post memorable. When people see humorous content such as memes, they are more likely to share it. This can result in a domino effect where a funny post can reach thousands or millions of viewers, driving engagement.

Create FOMO

Another great strategy that will help people notice your brand and drive engagement is FOMO (The Fear of Missing Out). FOMO refers to apprehension or anxiety caused by the fear of missing a rewarding experience or opportunity others enjoy. This can be a good strategy for increasing engagement and conversions. 

To effectively use FOMO, create a sense of urgency, scarcity, or exclusivity. You should also position your product as an experience. Ensure that your brand is seen as a big deal on social media.

Engage Beyond the Social Feed

When brands and creators hear about engagement, the first thing that comes to mind is the social media feed. This is understandable, as this is where most of the engagement happens. However, social media engagement is more than the feed post. To drive engagement, look into direct messages, story interactions, and replies.

Live Videos

One of the reasons why live videos are effective for driving social media engagement is because they enable you to have real-time interactions with your audience. The videos can be around any subject, such as a tour of your company, a new product release, or Q & A sessions. This lets your audience connect with you directly to learn about your brand. 

Conclusion

Increasing social media engagement can help you improve your business's reach and conversion. This is because more leads will follow your business on social media. If you are wondering how to do it, you can use the strategies above. You can also read our guide on using TikTok for business.