With so much content being published on the internet every second, it can feel like no one is really listening. You post online, but not many people are interacting and responding to it. By changing how you approach your social media presence, you can create ways to ramp up your social media engagement.
Top priority: content
The quality of your content should be the first thing you consider. Be honest with yourself: If you saw your content while scrolling through your feed, would you stop to read it?
Make sure your content is intriguing (but not click-bait-y), and that it looks good. Posts with images get way more interactions than those with just text. The aesthetic quality of the post is essential to drawing people in. Try to find a consistent design theme and stick with it. This will make your content look more uniform, intentional and professional.
It’s good to have a variety of original content while sharing relevant content from other sources. If you find something that you think your audience would appreciate, or if it’s similar to the type of content you usually post, feel free to share it.
Post frequency
Your posts will have different impacts based on when they are posted. The best times to post are usually from around 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the weekdays (keep timezones in mind!). The least amount of traffic is usually from around 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. It’s best to avoid posting on weekends, but if you have enough content, go for it! Just know that weekend posts tend to get the least engagement.
It also matters how much you post. You should post often, but not too often. Post daily, with around one or two posts each day. With some platforms, like Twitter, you can post a bit more―usually around three posts per day. But with a platform like Instagram, you might want to limit yourself to one post per day. With Facebook and Instagram, posting more than one or two times daily creates depreciating engagement for each post. But since tweets have such a short shelf life, it’s safer to post more often.
While posting every day is preferable, it can be difficult to have enough content to do so. If you don’t have new content coming out on a consistent basis, the posts can get repetitive. Have variety within your content. Don’t sacrifice the interest of your audience for the sake of posting every day.
Involve your audience
A good way to increase the amount of interaction with your followers is―wait for it―to ask! Simple things like polls and surveys or Q&A sessions can go a long way to increase social media engagement with your brand. It can leave a more lasting impact if they were personally affected by your content, and it’ll keep them coming back.
Respond to the engagement you have! If people have questions or comments, respond and make them feel personally recognized. Another little thing you can do is just like and favorite posts like crazy! If people retweet or tag you, it’s a good way to acknowledge that you saw it and that you appreciate their support. Make them feel special!
Other things to remember
- Use relevant hashtags to encourage more traffic to your posts from people who may not follow you.
- Use analytics tools to monitor your engagement.
