Eight tried and tested engagement tactics for social media

Standing out on social is harder work now than ever before. As they fight for a place on consumers’ overstuffed news feeds, brands are under more and more pressure to deliver the goods; but any sort of failure in the most public of arenas can be embarrassing at best and extremely costly at worst.

Here are eight ways to encourage social sharing and start the right conversations with your fans and followers:

1. The rise of visual sharing

The rise and rise of image-based social media has proven that consumers are more into devouring bite-sized visual material than reading lengthy plain text updates. Tweets with images receive 18% more clicks, 89% more favourites and 150% more retweets and Instagram has over 300 million users.

Tip: Don’t just share stock images for the sake of posting a picture. Think branded, shareable mini-graphics, memes or quotes that capture your brand’s tone of voice and fit with your wider visual style. Try and understand what it is that makes an image interesting to fans and compels them to share it. Once you crack that formula, you’ll be onto a winner.

2. Embrace native video

Fact: For brands, Facebook video is now bigger than YouTube. Videos uploaded directly to Facebook have an impressive organic reach thanks to the platform’s algorithm, so forget sharing YouTube links and start sharing straight to Facebook.

Tip: Branded videos don’t have to be budget busting. In-the-moment, smartphone style videos are really well-received on social media and are nice and easy to create – and share.

3. Visual competitions and quizzes

Everyone loves feeling like a winner. Giving your fans a chance to show how clever they are while also offering them a brief distraction from work can be effective in itself, but providing an incentive will pretty much guarantee engagement.

Tip: If there’s a prize, make sure you give clear instructions and include any T&Cs as well as making it clear once the competition has ended.

4. React in real time

Social media is instant in its nature. While event-inspired reactive social media posts can be incorporated into schedules ahead of time, brands that are able to react to real-time news, trends and events along with their audience will find themselves getting the right kind of attention – just as Oreo did during the power outage at the 2013 Super Bowl.

Tip: Don’t try to jump onto the back of every trending topic – instead, stick to what’s relevant to your brand and your audience.

5. Ask your audience

We can admit it – we all love social media because we all love talking about ourselves. Give your fans a chance to talk about what they like by asking for their input or running a quick poll. Not only will it get people talking about and engaging with your products, but it’s also a great way of getting to know what your followers like.

Tip: Include an image and present it as a showdown to really get people taking sides – you could even offer a prize if you have the budget.

6. Join conversations

The instant and interactive nature of social media means customers expect a reply – and the majority expect one within two hours. Obviously not every post requires it, but replying to individuals is a great way of building trust and demonstrating your excellent customer service in a very public sphere – as well as showing off your wit.

Tip: Have around-the-clock social monitoring in place to make sure you’re not missing anything that might come back to bite you.

7. Targeted posts

One size never fits all, so for more specific messages or offers think about making use of targeted organic posts on Facebook or geo-targeted posts on Twitter. By tailoring your approach to a smaller demographic you can ensure your message is as relevant as possible – which should lead to higher levels of engagement.

Tip: Unpublished or ‘dark’ posts on Facebook target audience segments without multiple targeted posts for different audiences being published publicly on your timeline.

8. Measure your results

Of course, the key to success on social media lies in knowing what your audience wants. Use analytics to discover what gets the best reaction and the highest levels of engagement and hone your strategy over time.