Whether you’re building a brand, selling a product, or anything in between, interacting with your audience on social media and building an engaged following is invaluable. But there are many factors that can impact your social media engagement.
It may feel like a daunting task, but investing resources and time into this type of social media marketing is worthwhile. According to Sprout Social in 2022, 43% of consumers have increased their use of social to discover new products and brands and 80% of customers expect companies to interact with them on social.
8 key factors that will boost your social media engagement
Relevance
Think about the news. Media sites pride themselves on being the first to report a story and provide pertinent information. The same can go for brands on social media. Not only do you want to ensure that the content you’re churning out is current, but also that it’s relevant to your brand and your followers.
Follow relevant hashtags, talk about new updates in your industry, jump on a new TikTok or Reel trend, and explore the different platforms you’re using. Remember that your brand should focus on what is important to you and to your followers — don’t just talk about what everyone else is talking about. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, there are several apps on the market that will make the job easier.
Voice
A powerful, unique voice connects brands with influencers, encourages engagement, and makes people come back for more. One company that excels at this is Wendy’s on Twitter. Wendy’s feed often makes headlines for its humor and casual tone. From helping followers with their homework to going toe to toe with detractors, the fast-food chain thrives off the engagement.
This doesn’t mean every company needs to adopt Wendy’s voice, but finding a unique voice that fits your brand and using it across all of your social media platforms is important.
Quality
While some social media experts may tell you to post as much as possible, marketers should prioritize quality over quantity for their brand. In Brain Rules, John Medina found that people retain 10% of the information they hear after three days — and 65 percent of details they see in images. This means marketers should also be creative in how they package data.
Canva is a great place to start if you’re not as well-versed in other design software because it’s an easy-to-use platform to add pizzazz to your posts. If you’re making a TikTok or Reel, take the time to edit your videos to fit the trending sound you’re using. Remember our last tip and insert your brand’s voice into the caption.
Timing
Being strategic about when you post your content is also an important factor when it comes to social media engagement. You should be paying attention to when your audience is the most active and on which platform. Posting to Facebook at the same time you post to TikTok or Instagram may not be the best strategy for your brand.
Most platforms have analytics and insights that you can look at to see when your audience is the most active and engaged. The ideal time to post to social media varies from platform to platform. In general, it is best to post on Facebook Mondays through Fridays at 3 a.m. and Tuesdays at 10 a.m. and noon. On Instagram, the best times to post are Mondays at 11 a.m., Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Thursdays and Fridays 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.
The best time to post hinges on the makeup of your audience on each platform. Depending on your company, the average user on Facebook may not be reflected in your follower base.
Response
Everyone worries about the content your brand puts up, but are you interacting with your followers? Have you ever gone to a brand’s page to see a slew of comments under a post with no one responding to them? This is incredibly frustrating to followers and consumers.
Having someone ready to respond to comments in a witty way or help a customer with a serious issue or complaint is one of the most important, yet forgotten, parts of engagement. Even if you look at a funny Twitter feed like Wendy’s, you’ll find just as many of their replies are helping customers with problems they’re having. Creating a safe, helpful environment is important in growing engagement on your platforms.
Platform
Speaking of platforms, which platforms are your brand focusing on? While it may seem exciting to jump on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, etc., all at once, this isn’t always the best idea for engagement.
Make sure the content you’re posting makes sense on the platform. If your followers really love video on Instagram, consistently posting static posts or infographics isn’t going to help your engagement and in fact, may actually decrease your following. Make a note of what is grabbing your audience’s attention the most on each platform and tweak your content to fit those areas. Your Facebook audience is most likely very different from your TikTok audience, which can impact your engagement if you’re just reposting the same content across the board.
User-Generated Content
User-generated content (UGC) is a gift that keeps on giving. Opening up opportunities for users to participate in boosting your brand is key.
You can do this in many ways. If you have an influencer program, using the content your influencers are already creating (while giving proper credit, of course) can be an easy way to show your brand from someone else’s point of view. You can also ask your customers to share their favorite pictures or videos of your products with you and reshare that with your audience.
The lesson: Your audience is often your best marketer.
Consistency and volume
Content marketing is one of the most effective tactics to boost engagement and sales. The first touchpoint or point of contact with content for many people is a company’s social media account. That means that being consistent and active on your social media platforms is important in your overall content and customer service strategy.
When someone stumbles upon your social media account, no matter which one, they should be able to take away a wealth of information. Keep your bio and links updated, but also post content consistently. That doesn’t have to mean every day, but decide what makes sense for your brand, your team, and your audience and stick to that. If you’re active on Instagram, an example of that could be posting two to three posts a week and uploading a few stories every weekday. You’re not looking to overwhelm your audience, but staying consistent shows people that the brand is available and easy to find when they need you.
Creating engaging content can seem daunting, especially if your brand is just getting started, but it doesn’t have to be. Keep these eight factors in mind to help you create a social media strategy that works for your brand.
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