6 Tips to Boost Social Media Engagement for Your Small Business
Social media; one of those things that businesses know of but do they all really know how to effectively utilize? This blog is intended to break down that question and help your small business grasp a better understanding. This is useful for small business owners because social media is a great way to engage with your audience. Read below for our 6 tips to boost social media engagement!
Set Goals & Objectives
Many social media managers believe that as long as they have a presence on social media, they are making an impact. Wouldn’t it be great if it were that simple? In 2017, 37% of marketers with a documented marketing strategy were more successful with their content marketing than those who did not, according to the Content Marketing Institute. Social media can be better tailored to help support marketing objectives that are clearly understood. Get together your social media team and have regular check ins. Make sure your social media aligns with your goals and objectives. If not, devise a plan on how can you pivot your strategy so that it is on the right track.
“Start with your top three marketing objectives, then evaluate how social media may help you achieve them. Too often business owners buy into the idea that ‘I have to be there. I have to be in all these new places or I’ll be left behind.’ But social media has to help you reach your objectives or you’re just wasting time. Don’t think of social media as just a megaphone for your business, but think about how it can help reach your goals.”
Business marketing consultant, speaker, and author of Duct Tape Marketing
Tailor Your Content to Each Platform
Today, there are multiple social media platforms that consumers are using. It is important to understand that these users value different benefits from these different platforms. Therefore, as a marketer, you must understand these different values and tailor your content to each of them. Take some time to understand not only your target market, but also the different content that your target market is engaging with on each platform. Despite what many people believe, businesses should not use the same message on each channel. In other words, do not create a post on Instagram, proceed to copy it on every other social channel, and expect effective social media engagement. It may be a good idea to recognize and take into consideration the demographics of your following from each social channel and then create a content plan that is tailored to each audience.
Deep Dive Into Your Analytics
Social media analytics is your best friend! Most social media platforms offer free analytics for business profiles so use this to your advantage. Google Analytics is a great free tool for this as well! Social media insights should be used for performance indications of past content, yet they are also useful for developing future tactics as well. With the information that yo
u have gathered from analytics, get your team together on a consistent basis to go over it to see what is working, what’s not working, what are audience members most engaged with, what they’re least engaged with, etc. As previously mentioned, this can help you pivot your strategies so that you can always be putting your effort towards the most effective strategies.
Start A Conversation
Remember those pesky algorithms that Facebook and Instagram are using? I hate to be the one to tell you but they are not going away. If anything, they are becoming smarter. So, what does this mean for your small business? It means that engaging with your audience is more important now than ever. Your content will get shoved to the bottom of the feed and will be lost if you are not responding to comments on your own page as well as other pages. Consequently, all of your efforts will have gone to waste. How do you avoid this? Start a conversation. Create a poll, take some time and go on Facebook Live for a Q&A session, or do a give away. The more engaged you are with your audience, the more relevant you will be. Therefore, algorithms will move your content to the top so it is never missed.
Response Speed
You started a conversation, great. Now it is time to follow up and this is where response speed comes into play. People appreciate fast responses because it shows that you care and that you are willing to take time out of your busy schedule to give a thoughtful response. Not only should you respond to comments that were made directly onto your content, but also pay attention and stay on top of comments that were made about your small business elsewhere. For example, sometimes you do not always get a notification when someone writes a Tweet or yelp review about your business. Try searching your company’s name in the search bar of different social channels and see what people are saying about you, and provide them with thoughtful responses.
Show Appreciation
It is so vital to never lose sight of the real purpose of social media. It is not just about you and showcasing everything you have. Rather, it is about taking the opportunity to connect in a meaningful way with the people who support, and are curious about your business. If you remember anything from this blog, please remember to show appreciation. It goes a long way to like, follow, share, or reply to comments from your followers. This shows that you are actively listening to them. This is important because it builds trust. Gary Vee, a world-wide know entrepreneur, currently has 4.5 million followers on Instagram and he still makes it a point to reply to comments on his posts, goes live to thank his followers, and sometimes even invites audience members to go live with him! These little strides make the biggest impact.
Final Thoughts on Social Media Engagement
As you are perfecting your social media plan, keep your brand persona in the back of your mind. Never lose sight of your image in all of the social media noise because at times, it can be intimidating. Additionally, although it is important to actively engage on social media, remember that quality is better than quantity!
ADventure Marketing is a small business with big goals. We want to help you accomplish all of your goals as well! Contact us today, and our experts will help you boost your company’s social media engagement!