The More Social Business

5 Ways to Encourage Consumer Engagement on Social Media

Social media marketing takes a new and unique approach to conventional methods because it allows for two-way communication between a brand and consumer. Whereas traditional marketing typically involves a company with a message to promote and push to a specific target market, social networks encourage companies to pursue a pull marketing strategy and enable brands to further involve consumers in their strategy. The immediacy with which a message can be sent out to an audience through these digital platforms further makes this an attractive option for businesses.

With the understanding of the importance of utilizing social networks to promote consumer engagement, the question that naturally follows addresses how companies should go about fostering engagement from customers. This article will address 5 practices to help your brand keep consumers engaged.

Content (& Value Thereof) Is Always KEY

Some themes in marketing never change. A major factor in the success of a company’s marketing strategy is the content of the promotions they push to consumers. This is true both online and off. A brand’s promotional content won’t inspire engagement without value. Before hitting upload, make sure it is clear what value (whether funny, informative, relatable, or thought provoking) your post provides, and who the content is intended for!

Create Something Different

Chances are, the probability of garnering increasing consumer engagement on your content will be greater if your content stands out, and is something unique which the consumer has not seen before. Making sure to post what will resonate the best with the selected target market, brands should strive for creative content. Create something new and eye-catching in order to keep consumers from clicking away. Make customers want to feel part of a new and exciting product or trend. This may further encourage brand loyalty and for consumers to share a brand with friends, placing the company at a great advantage. After all, word of mouth is the most effective marketing strategy for businesses.

Make Sure Content Is Consistent & Relates to Your Brand

Companies should take care to post content that is consistent to their brand. Not only does this maintain a level of commitment to consumers, it also makes it easier for consumers to recognize your brand. If a company can’t commit to a certain brand identity and most accurately portray what they are trying to sell or accomplish, consumers will have a hard time committing to that brand. Consumers will easily become disengaged if messages are unclear or if brands appear inauthentic.

Start a Conversation

As stated previously, social media allows for two-way communication between a company and their consumers. Failing to utilize this opportunity would place any company at a great disadvantage. Engaging consumers can be as easy as simply starting a conversation with them. Companies shouldn’t expect customers to become engaged in a brand if that company fails to welcome participation. Take the first step, and ask a question! This can take the form of being included in the uploaded content, as well as in the comments on the majority of popular social networks. Companies marketing on YouTube should take advantage of the pinned comments feature, while Instagram marketers can simply include a question in the photo or video’s caption. Again, make sure that whatever question is asked pertains to the content of the post!

Companies may also start a conversation by sponsoring influencers who are already in conversation with their audience. As long as the influencer’s audience relates to that of the brand’s, this could serve as an attractive collaboration possibility.

End With a Call to Action

The last and one of the most productive ways for a company to boost engagement is, similar to the last tip, to ask for it. However, instead of asking a question to start a conversation specifically, companies can ask viewers to like, comment, and follow or subscribe, especially to videos published on YouTube. This might also look like asking customers to tag a friend or someone else who might be interested in their brand to enter into a giveaway, which has become a popular marketing strategy on Instagram. Additionally, this further encourages engagement through an increase in comments and drives word of mouth, garnering more exposure for a brand.

What Social Networks Should I Use & Where Are My Customers?

1. Facebook

As one of the first social networks to emerge and gain popularity in the modern digital age, Facebook provides many opportunities for companies to promote their brand online. Businesses can create accounts, business pages, and utilize various business tools within the site to their advantage. Moreover, companies may find it advantageous to reach out to influencers with a large or niche following on the platform to help spread the word about their brand.
Whereas the platform was once highly saturated with college aged students, Facebook has more recently shifted to attracting older, primarily middle-aged adults, to the site.

2. Instagram

Highly saturated and undoubtedly one of the most popular social networks today, Instagram allows users to upload original photos and videos, as well as include a caption to go along with the proposed content. Businesses may find it extremely beneficial to create a business account on the platform and take advantage of uploading posts, as well as utilizing native tools on the platform such as Instagram Stories and IGTV. Moreover, companies should make the most of sponsoring influencers to help create branded content for the company.
Like many of the following social networks featured in the article, many active users on the platform consist of Millennials and Digital Natives.

3. YouTube

Known as a popular video streaming platform which enables users to produce videos and broadcast themselves, YouTube creates many unique opportunities for companies to market themselves and their products. First and foremost, companies are able to take advantage of creating their own channel and gaining exposure for their brand through producing and promoting their own videos. This is especially useful to show consumers how to use certain products. Alternatively, companies may also consider sponsoring influencers within a specific niche.
YouTube provides an attractive marketing opportunity for many businesses because of the diversity of active users on the platform. The network receives visits primarily from Millennials and young adults, as well as from kids, Gen X, middle aged adults, and older.

4. Snapchat

Snapchat offers very different features for users from other popular social sites. Over 50% of active users on this exclusively mobile app are Digital Natives. While Snapchat’s model focuses primarily on short, disappearing photos and videos sent between friends or groups of friends, certain brands may find favor using Snapchat Stories and promoting themselves through paid advertising on the app.

5. TikTok

A successor to the entertainment platform Vine, TikTok has recently gained rapid recognition across primarily Digital Natives, as well as a portion of the Millennial generation. This platform differs from YouTube with the integration of many unique features, and a focus on shorter videos. While many companies are slowly approaching this new platform, there still exists great opportunity for brands to sponsor popular influencers on the site.

6. Twitter

Twitter is a unique social network which allows users to upload short posts of 280 characters or less. While a less popular platform for companies to take advantage of than the ones listed previously, Twitter can be advantageous for businesses to keep up with customer reviews of their brand. For instance, Wendy’s became a trending account on Twitter for their unconventional approach to responding to consumer comments, both positive and negative.
Millennials and Digital Natives represent the majority of Twitter users.

Big thanks to Dave Chaffey with Smart Insights for providing demographic information for these popular social networks. https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/new-global-social-media-research/

Why Should Your Business Utilize Social Media?

Increased Awareness & Global Exposure

With over 3 billion social media users worldwide, businesses taking advantage of maintaining a presence in the social atmosphere have the potential to gain great brand recognition among major audiences, globally, and rather immediately. Whereas traditional forms of media require extensive planning and typically long wait times before advertisements reached the public, digital advancements now allow companies to reach consumers rather quickly.

Direct Viewers to Website & Boost Sales

Many social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat now allow consumers to shop within apps. Companies can provide links in apps for customers to be transferred directly to their websites, which allows for increased website traffic and can ultimately lead to revenue increases for a business. This feature proves immensely useful in a time period of decreasing attention spans and many customers who are likely to make quick, impulse purchases.

Customer Engagement

Social media can either be a business’ best friend or worst enemy in terms of reaching customers. Established companies are bound to receive negative reviews on social media at some point in their lifetime, and how the company responds can make or break their brand image. Companies should NEVER ignore customer comments and reviews, especially negative ones. The best responses are those that seek to resolve consumer conflicts in hopes to convince the customer to take another chance on the brand, or at least right whatever wrong was committed.
Companies may also utilize social media in order to further engage with and build relationships with their customers. Marketing is no longer a one way street in which business seek to promote to their consumer. Now, customers are involved more hands on in a company’s marketing strategy. Brand loyalty and engagement have become ever prominent themes in the business world today.

Influencer Marketing

Word of mouth awareness has proven to be the most effective promotion strategy when it comes to driving a consumer to make a purchase. In a similar way that consumers are more likely to purchase an item or service when a trusted friend or family recommends it to them, consumers are also fairly likely to consider products or services recommended to them by their favorite celebrity or social media influencer through electronic word of mouth. Moreover, celebrities and social media influencers typically tend to already have a great following through their social media accounts, and oftentimes reach a greater audience than the companies endorsing them.
Companies can pursue influencer marketing in multiple ways. The first and possibly most popular option is for brands to sponsor celebrities or influencers upfront, paying them to promote their products or services. Companies should be careful to sponsor influencers who can promote their product in a rather natural way, in order to promote trust for the company and product and be sure to maintain trust between the targeted consumers and the influencer. Brands might also send influencers free products in hopes to be featured by them on their social media accounts.