Boost Your Social Media Engagement: 6 Ways to Do It!

What do you really think when you hear «engagement»?

There are different ways to calculate it, but in a broad sense, engagement refers to likes, shares, follows, saves, comments, etc. It’s the total number of interactions your audience has with your brand, divided by the total number of followers or the reach of a specific post, multiplied by 100.

Many brands make the mistake of using social media solely to talk about themselves as if they were in an auditorium in front of a massive audience that applauds in awe but doesn’t truly interact with the artist. Instead, we should be the hosts of this ‘celebration,’ making our audience feel welcome, heard, and well-served.

So, what can we do to increase our engagement on social media? In this article, I will share 5 ways to do it, but there are many more:

1. Get to know your audience

To be a good host, you need to know your guests, right? Well, the same applies to your audience on social media. What kind of content do they enjoy consuming? What topics are they passionate about? Who do they follow? What annoys them?

You should deeply understand all these aspects and conduct a precise analysis of your audience, or if you don’t have one yet, analyze your potential customers. This way, you can use social media in a way that resonates with them, making them feel heard and motivated to be part of the community you are creating.

Tip: Use the ‘poll’ sticker on Instagram to learn about your audience’s preferences.

2. Keep an eye on trends!

Being part of the conversation at the right moment is one of the best ways to generate engagement. Take advantage of that conversational ‘boom,’ an important event in your industry, or a trending hashtag everyone is looking at.

The first time I realized the importance of this was in the first 6 months of my entrepreneurship with La Chocolatería Santa Ana. We had just a few followers back then. I posted a video of our experience attending the Chocoshow event in Bogotá (a significant event for the industry), using event-related hashtags. Before long, my post appeared on the ‘explore’ page on Instagram, reaching 85% of new accounts that didn’t know about my brand, increasing our account’s engagement.

aumentar engagement en instagram
Publicación en Instagram

3. Keep the conversation going

It’s not just about encouraging conversation but being a part of it. Respond to comments, take the time to talk to your audience, and get to know their opinions. This will make them feel truly special and motivate them to continue interacting with your content, thereby generating loyalty toward your brand.

4. Experiment with formats and types of content

Create content that surprises your audience. For example, if you usually post photo content, try creating eye-catching videos. Instead of just sharing product photos, show how your product can be a part of the lifestyle that your brand evokes.

5. Our challenge is to stand out

In the case of Louis Vuitton, their storytelling is primarily based on travel, using their content to tell stories. They don’t just show photos of their suitcases or handbags; they showcase everything that being part of the brand entails, making the audience feel truly connected.

6. Interact with similar accounts

A somewhat more competitive strategy is to understand and analyze your competition (whom you should know inside and out). How often do they post content? What type of content do they share? In what format? What strategies do they use?

On the other hand, you could leverage the audience of your competition; after all, it’s already segmented, right? These are people who might be interested in your product. Therefore, interacting with them (valuable followers, those who comment or like frequently) is truly a good tactic. Start generating engagement with them. Take advantage of the essence of social media and begin to «create social relationships.»

If you want to go one step further, another way to find people who might be interested in your brand is through hashtags. Look for those who share content using hashtags related to your brand, the lifestyle your brand evokes, or the beliefs and values that align with it.

For example, if you have a protein or a special shake for people who enjoy taking care of themselves, exercising, and living a healthy life, you could search for posts with related hashtags like:

#bogotafitness
#healthylifestyle
#weightlossjourney
#burnfat

As always, you should get into a creative mindset and start researching which hashtags could help you find that audience who might be interested in your product due to their lifestyle. Then, start engaging with them.

In doing so, consider their location and whether it’s relevant to you. Approach your marketing strategy with awareness. Are you interested in building a relationship with someone in Madrid, Spain? Could you potentially sell your product there? If it’s an online product, probably yes. However, if it’s a physical product that hasn’t crossed borders yet, focus on the audience you might be able to reach in the future.

Now, when I say «interact,» I mean genuinely taking an interest in what the person is sharing on social media. Take the time to read what they share in the content description (photo, video, etc.) and leave a comment that expresses your opinion or provides something of value. Avoid the typical emoji or «Great!» comments. Get motivated and try to do this at least once a day for a while, and see if you’re getting the expected results.

How did you find these tips?

For now, I’ll leave you with these 5 ways to increase your engagement on social media so that you don’t get overwhelmed and can start putting them into practice. Which one would you be excited to start with?

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