Social Media Engagement is important as evidenced by the number of times we have talked about it in our blog posts here , here , and here. The important thing about social media engagement is coming across as being authentic. Authentic is a big thing now to everyone; no one wants to feel like you are using them in any way. It is very important for your consumers no to feel this way about your brand. This post will be a guide in how to achieve this authenticity through social media engagement.
It is not about the likes, followers and shares
If this is your social media “strategy” you have already failed. Your goal should not only be increasing your audience and being the brand with the most followers or likes. Having this kind of mentality shows your lack of authenticity. You are concerned with the superficial. A tip is expanding your focus beyond these goals. Why do you want more followers in the first place? What is that special thing your brand has? Focusing on that special thing and making that known is a step in the right direction in relation to social media engagement.
Ask for Feedback
What is social media engagement without asking for feedback? This is one of the basics; make your audience feel involved by asking for their input. It does not stop at just asking; utilize some of their ideas. Obviously, you cannot use everything because not all of them will be good but you can focus on putting the good ones to use. Also, share your experiences and ask for theirs in turn [99u]. By sharing your experiences you are not just a “brand” anymore, there is an individuals or individuals behind the “brand”. Make people feel like they are a part of something, a community. That point cannot be stressed enough.
Be Authentic
Keep it real. You cannot preach about authenticity in social media engagement without actually being real. This is basic, be honest. Have direct costumer engagement. Learn something about your audience and develop that. People know when you are being authentic and when you are not. The trick is keeping it real at all times, talk to people like they are people and not dollar signs.
Passion and Social Media Engagement
Show your passion and share it. If people see that you really love something, they will find it in their hearts to love it too. Besides, if you do not have passion it will show in your social media engagement. Show your enthusiasm but do not overdo it. This way you can get people excited. Also, show your planning, process and execution like the 99u article suggests (link below). Showing people the progress and the kind of planning that goes into what you are producing builds hype and makes people more invested in the final product.
This article by 99u gives interesting tips from social media mavens and focuses on the act of collaboration and not just engagement.