Designing a Social Media Strategy
On social media, the word “engagement” is used so often, that it’s almost become a buzzword. But while most of the buzzwords come and go, real engagement is a long-phase play. While many brands think they’re doing it right, but in reality, they aren’t. Now a million dollar question comes how we design a social media strategy. These are just multiple ways to get your audience more engaged. Some of them are quick and easy, which will create a short burst of engagement. While some take more time to nurture, just like any other relationship in your life. It’s very important to keep on trying. You need to care about the people and they will care about you.
1. Host a Contest
Contests are fun to play. People can win big prizes. Prizes are great. Contest posts do best on Instagram and Facebook. There are almost infinite ways to use contests to keep your community engaged.
Here are some examples:
1. Ask people to shoot and share photos/videos of themselves or friends using your brand in their everyday life.
2. Have a food or beverage brand? Have people post their personal recipes using your product and get others to vote on their favorite to win.
3. Caption this! Post a funny or thought-provoking photo and ask people to caption the shot. Most creative & unique caption wins the prize.
2. Do something exciting weekly
One of the most engaging posts, we see on Facebook is when someone posts the same question or ask each week on the same day at the same time. For example, there is a Facebook page for bloggers to learn new tips and share best practices. Every Wednesday, it’s ‘Blog Share Wednesday‘; followers of that page are encouraged to “share your latest post!” but they can only post their blog posts after they have confirmed that they have left a comment on 3 other blogs.
3. Go Live
More and more, social platforms are adding a new feature of ‘Going Live.’ In this feature, you can invite viewers of your live stream to jump in themselves. Live videos/streams are the most engaging. They get more engagement than word posts, photos, and even previously recorded videos. Try it and see how many comments and questions you get.
4. Ask for Feedback
It’s super simple & also super effective. You can see bloggers doing this a lot, especially on their Instagram Stories. Ask your community what they would like to learn about or see more of. Doing this guarantees your engagement, once you start putting their suggestions into practice.
5. UGC (User Generated Content)
We know that UGC is gold. Use it. Share photos, recommendations or praise that comes in with the people that follow you. Again, that encourages more people to take action and send you those things so they, too, can be acknowledged.
6. Honesty and Transparency
People do business with people they like. And you get people to like you by being honest with them. Admitting to mistakes sends out the message of being honest with them. You will create loyal followers if you can admit to your mistakes, take criticism, and offer transparency in what didn’t work. No one is perfect.
7. Create Emotional Connections
When you get to know your community, you know what makes them FEEL or take action. The more you can create questions or posts that speak to community members emotions, the more dedicated they will be to your brand and your brand’s community.
So let the people get to know you; The person they are chatting with or asking for help. Don’t just be a brand and a logo – your community should know your name (or your social media managers name) and what you look like. If you were to meet your community at a dinner party, a logo wouldn’t walk up to them and offer a glass of wine. But YOU might.
