While not every social media post is going to be a home run, it can get very frustrating for a small business marketer when their posts get little or no engagement day after day. Social media is an ongoing investment, and while it may not cost any money to post on your social channels, it most certainly takes time and resources, not to mention creativity. How can you get more people to engage with your content? Here are four easy ways to get more people to share your social media posts. Try them and see how they help improve your engagement.
Post content that will get an emotional reaction
Sometimes marketers forget that they audience they’re talking to are humans before they are customers, meaning that we sometimes forget to connect with our audience on an emotional level because we’re too busy trying to generate new business. Take a step back and think about the culture of your company and your marketing voice. Are you funny? Serious? Controversial? Educational? Are any of these translating to your social media posts? If not, they should be! Try to share content that will make your audience laugh, cry, get angry or otherwise solicit a response. Try to connect with them on an emotional level. If you do, you’ll see your engagement go up, including likes, shares, comments, etc. Stay true to your company voice, of course, but don’t be afraid to show you’re human. You’ll be surprised how well people will react!
A picture is worth a thousand words
Social media loves pictures! Funny pictures, interesting pictures, disturbing pictures, educational pictures… your choice! Take the time to really think about what kind of image is accompanying your social media posts. First, does the picture help illuminate what you’re saying in your text? Does it draw attention to it and make people want to read it? When we’re busy trying to create unique content for each platform we sometimes hurry through this step but don’t! Using an image or infographic in your post can increase user engagement by as much as 53%, resulting in more likes, comments, and shares. Take full advantage of it!
Create content that people feel good about sharing
People are bombarded with social media messages to the point of being overwhelmed. Unless you provide content that people feel good about sharing, you’re not going to get the engagement you want. What kinds of content do people feel good about sharing? Here are a few examples:
- Charitable causes
- Discounts, coupons and deals
- Feel-good stories
- Humorous content
If your company is involved in charitable giving, talk about it. Got a special you’re running right now? Share it! How about a feel-good story about a customer you helped, or maybe you showcase a special employee who faced tough times and came out a winner (or maybe that person is you)? And of course, people love humor. Give people a reason to share your content.
The answer is always “no” if you don’t ask
Want more people to comment or share your content? Ask them! You’d be surprised how much more engagement you’ll get simply by asking people specifically to engage. One tried and true method for getting more comments is to ask a question like “what do you think?” or “what other ideas to you have?” or something similar. If you’re running a special or offering information that’s important for more people to know about, ask people to share it. A simple “please share” or “please retweet” (depending on what platform you’re on) sometimes does the trick. If you don’t ask, you’ll never know how much more engagement you could get.
Social media remains a very effective way for small businesses to connect with prospect and clients. To make your content stand out, try these four easy ways to get more people to share your social posts and increase engagement overall.
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