Ways to Increase User Engagement on Social Media
A social media page was once considered successful if it had a large number of followers. Now, quality is more valued than quantity, and the so-called ‘dead followers’ bring no benefit to the page. Today all attention is focused on the active audience, and all actions are directed towards increasing their interest.
The Importance of Engagement Metrics
To gain more clients, it is crucial to maintain high engagement rates.
The algorithm for social networks works as follows: more reactions to page content means more recommendations in users’ feeds.
Engagement on social networks helps to:
- build trust with your followers;
- spread information about the brand;
- move the page into leading positions in search results.
By analyzing engagement, you can understand how effective your posts and overall account management are.
Tips for Increasing Engagement
Clearly Define the Goal of Your Account
Decide on the kind of result you expect from maintaining social networks. Do you need to make your brand more recognizable or increase sales? Or is the account needed to communicate with your audience? Set a target, and it will be much easier to move towards it.
Ensure High-Quality Content
Only truly interesting and useful content can increase follower engagement. To understand what content your followers find useful, constantly study your audience. Talk about yourself, your company’s work and its goals, and be genuine.
Don’t forget to surprise your audience with something new and unusual, and track how they react to it. To be recognizable, you need to develop your own communication style.
Choose the Right Time for Posts
Posting time plays a crucial role in visibility. It is considered that a third of the global population spends about 3 hours daily on social networks, visiting accounts at roughly the same time.
Secret tips:
- In the morning and evening, people often commute, making it an ideal time for posting.
- Lunch hours are also suitable as most people take breaks and have the opportunity to be distracted by social networks.
- On weekdays, post B2B content, while on weekends, share B2C content.
The mentioned data is approximate, so you need to track your audience’s specific activity. The number of publications is also an important factor. Avoid too long gaps between posts, as users might not like it. Similarly, avoid publishing too many posts to not overwhelm the audience.
Establish Direct Contacts with Users
Encourage your audience to directly interact with the page. How exactly this will happen depends on the direction of activity. It is important to think about what topics you would like to discuss with the people watching you. You can ask them various questions to know their opinion about your brand, seek advice on improving your activities, and engage in casual conversations.
If you notice that people are not eager to communicate with you, try motivating them. For instance, you can offer them a discount on a purchase for leaving a comment or a repost.
Use Hashtags
When using hashtags, it’s important to be concise and succinct. If you want to leave a hashtag under a post, categorize your publications by topic. In this way, it will be easier for followers to find what they need.
On Instagram, up to 30 hashtags per post are allowed, but this shouldn’t look ridiculous. Use 2-3 tags under one post to convey what you wanted to say.
Regularly Do Live Streams and Record Stories
These simple methods allow you to connect with your visitors more personally and gain their trust. Stories and live streams make the account lively and attractive. People like when they can ask something directly from the business owner and get an immediate response. Be sure to consider whether this option is suitable for your particular direction.
Use Targeted Advertising
Targeted advertising is a paid method of promotion. Before launching, it’s necessary to create a profile of the potential client, and then choose specific advertising focused on their interests, location, age, gender. In this case, you decide on the time of display and price.
Collaborate with Partners
Collaborations with partners who are more advanced in their field and already have a large audience help in brand development. By using your partner’s authority and success, and attracting a portion of their audience, you will improve your page metrics.
Methods to Enhance Engagement on Major Social Networks
Every popular social network requires an individual approach to increase reach. Therefore, if you plan to develop your business on several platforms simultaneously, it is necessary to develop several algorithms. It is important to take into account the characteristics of each social network.
On Instagram, the following methods work effectively:
- Location. Create your own geotag, which users can apply when posting their content.
- Instagram Stories. These are 15-second videos that remain only for 24 hours. Record stories every day, but don’t just tell stories, try also to engage followers in specific actions. You can leave polls and other interesting elements. Intrigue people – ask them to leave as many reactions as possible to stories so you can post a video continuation.
- Text posts. Originally, Instagram was a platform for video and photos, but text posts allow for more active interaction with the audience.
Try to use Instagram to the fullest. For example, change content formats, use analytics.
This social network provides the following tools:
- Be concise. Facebook loves brevity and precision. Therefore, your page should contain brief but interesting content that doesn’t let users scroll past.
- Call to action. Place special buttons, allowing users to download something, make an appointment, or call a manager.
- Form communities. On Facebook, you can create groups on different topics, then invite people with common interests. There, you can communicate and share experiences.
- Post stories. Leave short daily videos that create the impression that you’re close to each visitor.
YouTube
If YouTube is your main platform, increase engagement using the following methods:
- Share links. Post links to the YouTube channel on pages of other social networks.
- Create playlists. It’s much more convenient to use a YouTube channel where videos are sorted by sections, so create such sections.
- Improve search processes. Carefully choose titles for your videos. Use keywords to make them easier to find. Also think about tags and thumbnails visible to users.
Methods for Calculating Engagement
When calculating engagement, two metrics are considered:
- How useful an individual post is. Divide the number of target actions taken by the number of views of the post, and multiply by 100.
- How useful the entire account is. Divide the number of target actions taken by the number of account followers, and multiply by 100.
To choose the most suitable formula, consider the marketing goals in your specific case. They have different values, so results also differ. Performing such calculations, you can understand how valuable your audience is. Based on this data, make a decision on how to further proceed, what audience attraction strategy to choose.
How to Evaluate the Engagement Rate
The engagement rate was considered excellent some time ago if it was 10%. But as platforms continuously evolve and strategies change, the engagement rate value has changed significantly. We offer you acquaintance with different figures:
- 1-3.5% – average level;
- 3.5-6% – high level;
- more than 6% – very high level.
Conclusion
Engagement metrics play a very important role in how effectively your business will develop on social networks. To not only attract visitors but also retain them, invoking interest and trust, use different tools. Choose the most suitable among them, considering individual features.
To keep the audience consistently engaged with your brand, you need to work with them regularly. If you really want to have an active and quality audience, try to evoke love and respect for your brand.
