How To Boost Engagement on Social Platforms

Social media is something you know can propel your business to the next level, but just how important is it? According to Oberlo, there are 4.59 billion social media users all around the world, as of 2022. Of those people, around 75% use social media to actively research brands and decide if they’ll make a purchase. 

Over 70% of consumers who said they had positive experiences with brands on social media reported that they’d recommend that brand to others, which is why engagement is one of the most important aspects of social media. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to improve your engagement numbers. 

Boosting Engagement Levels With Seven Steps

If you’ve been crafting social campaigns but still aren’t seeing the engagement you want, here are some tips for creating content your audience wants to engage with.

Reward your fans with valuable content

Start by rewarding your fans. You don’t necessarily have to do giveaways or special promotions, but your fans do deserve valuable material they can work with.

Think about what they’re following you for (or conduct a poll to get the real story), then reward your followers by giving them more of what they’re following for. If they suggest showing products from more angles or with more detail, consider making content that delivers on this and answers their questions. Build up a conversation with your followers so they feel valued and will come back for more.

Explore video posts and new features

Any time a social media platform has new features, it’s time to dive in and see if they’ll work for you. On a platform like Instagram, for example, you can create Reels or static images on your main profile. Explore video posts as a way to get your business trending (video posts are shared 1,200% more than static posts with simple images or text), and consider using new features, like video-in-video linking, to boost links to other content. 

Appeal to powerful emotions

Followers will watch your videos or interact with your posts more when you appeal to more powerful emotions, like deep love, fear, or rage. Whether you post a video that tugs on the heartstrings or shows an image that excites, you want to appeal to emotions to get your audience talking. When more people talk and interact, you improve your chances of the content going viral and potentially boosting your brand. 

Keep your response time within satisfying parameters

Make sure you respond to people in a reasonable amount of time. Generally, that means responding within five hours. However, live chat should be almost instantaneous, and certain platforms, like Twitter and Facebook, have an average response time of two hours. 

Responding quickly helps your customers feel seen and heard, so they’ll continue to engage with your brand and boost your engagement numbers. If you’re not responding at all or are struggling to keep up, it may be time to bring a chatbot or other customer service agents on board to bring your response time into standard parameters for the industry.

Try hosting live webinars

Live webinars are a great way to boost engagement by meeting with your target audience face-to-face. Live webinars create opportunities for others to speak with you directly and engage with your product. This content format also allows your followers to interact with each other about the valuable content you’ve provided in the session, even after it’s over. 

Use evergreen content

People won’t share content that has no value. Time-sensitive content is great for a boost within that specific timeframe, but you need evergreen content to stay relevant in the long term because it can be shared more often and for longer. That means your content will reach more people and continue building engagement even when it’s two days, two weeks, or two years old. 

Focus on storytelling

Stories are engaging, and people love to listen and share when they’ve experienced the same thing or can relate. Sharing stories on social media helps you engage specific audience segments, and the right storytelling can set your brand apart by selling your items or services without necessarily making a hard sell. Some of the most effective brand stories are ones that take into account people’s experiences and emotions to boost engagement.

Keep Striving for Conversation To Build Your Brand

Brands with good social media engagement can see growth. Take for example Boohoo, an online retailer that saw its revenue up 44% in the quarter leading up to May 2020. The company got influencer endorsements, encouraging ongoing conversation and engagement with its consumer base.

Depop is another fantastic example of a company that grew thanks to social media. The brand regularly calls out customers on Twitter and its official pages and encourages users to “hang out” and share with one another while enjoying a shared love of second-hand fashion.

Engagement is key in 2023 and social media platforms are a great place to build an engaged community. Focus on using the above tips to make a real connection with your audience and create a highly engaged customer experience.

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