Your audience is online, there is absolutely no doubt about that so you need to show up there. Your messaging needs to be on brand and consistent and you must have high-quality images that represent your brand. These are facts of life for all small business owners, entrepreneurs, and influencers. The hard part is how much time, effort, and knowledge it takes to do it right and do it consistently. I know you try your best to handle it all but it is a lot so you should know that you are not alone if you find it frustrating, pointless, or overwhelming.
Where many small business go wrong is that they have no strategy. They post it and hope it sticks, then when it doesn't get a good response they get frustrated but don't change their ways.
Sound familiar?
Even if you are consistent but you don't have a plan you will likely see a lack of engagement. In order to engage with your audience, you need to be providing content that they are interested in, sounds simple enough. You also want to be unique, but be sure that you are keeping your brand in mind when creating content, posting, and even responding to your followers. If your audience can not tell you apart from a similar company or are confused about what you do they will move on faster then you can imagine. This is why the first step with me is to take a step back from the social media topic for a moment to make sure you know some important things first. Things like who your ideal client (target market) is, what your brand is all about, how you want to use each platform, and other brand identity elements that will help you use social media like you have not before.
So what do you need to do to engage your audience on social media?
1. You need a plan.
To be successful, you need a plan, this is true for all things in business. Make a plan and then work that plan. Your plan should include who you are trying to reach and why. Where you will reach them. How often you will post and at what times. I recommend creating a monthly plan that includes your business promotions and content goals for the whole month. then you can review it, see what worked, and adjust for the next month as needed.
If you can only commit to posting once a week then do that. Consistency really is key, your ability to be seen may be limited if the social platform you are on doesn't see you as active and reliable. How often and when depends on your audience more than anything so experiment with it.
They capture attention and most of us are far more likely to respond to a visual post than a post that is all text. You can create fun graphics on sites like Canva & Word Swag for free. Don't forget to brand them.
Comment on other pages content, share it when appropriate, and tag other pages in your post. Engaging with other businesses in your community and in your niche will build relationships and put you in front of people that don't necessarily follow you, yet. Be sure you are not "stealing" content or doing something that may make them feel taken advantage of, the point here is to build community and network.
This may sound obvious, but it is one of the best ways to get more people to see your post. The more comments you receive the more people the algorithm will show the post too because it will believe more people will enjoy it. So post conversation starters, ask questions, and be sure to respond to comments on your post. Whenever you can leave your comments open-ended to encourage more responses.
Be sure your account page is visually pleasing and that all the available and relevant information is completed. When someone new finds you on social media, they should know what you do, where you do it, and what your brand is about. If the platform you are using has a bio or about section take full advantage of it. Include information about your company but don't forget what you can do for them. It is a good idea to use keywords and hashtags to improve search results too. Each platform has slightly different best practices so I recommend checking that out before you update your profile.
When creating content be sure you are thinking about who you want to engage with it. If you are just selling something it is unlikely you will see a lot of engagement. Does your content educate, entertain, or inspire your audience? It may take you some time to determine what your audience will respond to so don't be afraid to experiment a little.
I hope that helps you boost your engagement but if you feel stuck, I would love to help you. For a few years now my clients have asked me to provide social media help, in one form or another. I have spent the last couple of years learning it so I could do just that so I am extremely excited to announce that I am now offering social media engagement management and social profile optimization. Click here to learn more about the social media engagement management services that I offer. I look forward to chatting with you soon. Be sure to join my email list & follow my social media for more marketing and small business tips.