The most successful social media pages are defined by their user engagement. When producing content for your social media page, you should always have the user’s best interest in mind. As soon as users decide to engage with your page, they are putting their trust into you. To keep their attention, you must understand who they are and what they are interested in. High engagement will ultimately promote an increase in reach, visibility, loyalty and SEO rankings.
With millions of social media pages cluttering the Web, it is easy for your page to get lost. However, by utilizing these four strategies, social media engagement and awareness of your brand will begin to increase.
Post Frequently and at Optimal Times
If you want your content to have an impact, it is vital to post frequently and at optimal times due to the high volume of uploads across all social media sites. Before selecting specific days and times of the week to post, it is important to understand when your audience is the most active. Although social media engagement will vary for each industry, there are some unique insights about the best times to post on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.
When producing content for Facebook, the best times to post are Wednesdays at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Similarly, the most optimal times to post on LinkedIn are Wednesdays from 9 to 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. Users are generally the most active on Instagram on Wednesday at 11a.m. and Friday from 10 – 11 a.m. The best times to post on Twitter are Wednesdays at 9 a.m. and Fridays at 9 a.m. Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram receive the lowest amount of engagement on Sundays. Twitter, on the other hand, receives the lowest amount of engagement on Saturdays.
Incorporate Visual Content
Humans are visual creatures; 90% of the information that is sent to the brain is visual. Including graphics, images, videos or GIFs in your social media posts will increase the chances of your followers absorbing and interacting with your content. When it comes to comprehension, the human mind prefers visuals rather than text because they communicate information and emotions more effectively. In fact, because humans process images more than 60,000 times faster than text, visual elements will make your content more memorable. When viewing an image, your brain quickly makes connections to the already-stored information you have retained in your memory. In addition to keeping the attention of your existing audience, visuals can help attract potential followers. Most importantly, visuals will help set your brand apart while also communicating your message clearly and quickly.
Engage With Your Audience
Building a relationship with your audience is crucial if you want to boost social media engagement, and there are multiple ways to do this. For example, hosting a question and answer session is one way of fostering a relationship with your audience. This can also spark discussions with potential followers. Sharing links is another way of showing your followers that you are willing to go above and beyond to help them. People follow brands and services they can trust. Additionally, by personally responding to comments and direct messages, your audience members will feel valued. We call this community management. Strong relationships are built by making your audience feel important.
Add Relevant Hashtags
Hashtags allow for worldwide engagement. When you include hashtags that are detailed and specific, you are allowing what you have written to be indexed by the social media network. When used within your posts, hashtags help categorize content for your audience and allows people to find posts that are relevant to their interests. If you search using a hashtag, each post that contains the specific hashtag will appear. This becomes a great opportunity to track the discussion around your topic of interest. Even more, you are able to connect with your followers and non-followers who are searching for the same information. When incorporating hashtags, it is important to spell the phrase without any spaces, symbols or punctuation. Additionally, try not to overwhelm your audience with too many hashtags. Typically, one or two hashtags have the most impact. By connecting you with a group of people that are interested in the same topic, hashtags help expand your influence and followers.
Social media pages would not be possible without user engagement. By posting at the right times, you will be able to reach your target audience. Incorporating visuals in your post will draw attention to your site and engaging with your audience enables you to build relationships and brand loyalty. Finally, adding relevant hashtags will allow you to connect with users across the world. If you want to boost your social media engagement, these four strategies will help kickstart the process!