Social Media Engagement
Engagement on social media can be defined as how many likes, shares, comments or clicks that a specific post receives from its audience on a social media platform.(Bigcommerce, n.d.)
Chiles (2015) states that engagement on social media can be viewed as how consumers or potential consumers are involved with, for instance the brand or the product or service being offered.
In 2016, for the first time in American history, more money was spent on digital marketing and social media campaigns, than TV advertising, highlighting the shift in the advertising landscape. (Cole, DeNardin and Clow, 2017) Nearly all businesses have an online presence and social media pages to communicate with existing or potential new customers but how can an organisation tell if their social media is being used well?
One way to measure how well an organisation is using social media is through looking at the engagement of posts on different platforms. Although this can give you or or your organisation an idea of how well a post is (or not!) being received, despite this it is important to remember that social media engagement does not necessarily lead to sales.
Logos of three main Social Media platforms. (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook)
Three of the main social media platforms are Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, with all three platforms having ways in which to measure engagement on posts.
Metrics for engagement on Social media platforms
Now we have talked about what social media engagement is and some of the metrics which can be used to help measure engagement, here are some of the key ways to help increase engagement on posts, which will in turn assist in growing your brand.
Key points for driving your social media engagement: (Brown, 2012; Forbes, 2014)
- Demonstrate value– Social media has the ability to connect with new and existing customers like never before. Show your brand’s social media worth, by posting demonstrations of how to use products or interacting with customers in real time over, platforms such as Twitter, this should help to demonstrate why following your brand on social media, IS A MUST.
- Show what’s new– Followers on social media will be intrigued to see new ideas or technologies in your industry. For example in the fitness industry, if a new type of training routine is being used by one of the Personal Trainer’s in your gym, or a new piece of gym equipment has been acquired and is being used, then it is imperative to SHOW IT.
- Be visual-This is what social media is all about! Platforms such as Instagram were made for this specific reason. Capitalise and utilise. (Example Instagram post below @kustomkitgymequipment)
- Competitions and giveaways on your platforms– Competitions are a great way to drive engagement on your posts through the roof because who doesn’t love a freebie? An example of a competition could be ‘Share this post to receive a month’s free supply of goods’ or ‘Comment on this post with the #FreebieFriday for a chance to win!’
- Post regularly– It is important to post regularly in order to ensure that new and existing customers can see that your social media accounts are active and worth a follow! If people are viewing your social media pages, and see there is not much activity on them, they may feel more inclined not to follow. Posting on a regular basis can help keep your brand visible, however it is important not to post too regularly as spamming timelines may lead to people unfollowing your accounts.
- Monitor engagements through analytical tools– It is important to analyse engagements using social media analytical tools, which can give you information such as Retweets or comments including your brand name for example. There are many different analytical tools which can be used, and Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all have in built analytics. However, if you require more data regarding your posts, tools such as “Hootsuite” and “Social mention” also offer data.
- Listen to your audience– This is one of, if not the most important point. This can be done by using analytical tools as previously mentioned, but also by simply reading through comments on posts or replies to tweets, for example. The beauty of Social media is the fact that is is a two way street, and potential and existing customers can interact with the company posting, and if there is negative feedback or backlash to a post, a brand will be able to interact or take down the post if needs be.
After reading this blog, you should have a clearer idea of how to increase engagement on your social media posts, in order to help build your brand and be more in touch with your audience!
References
Brown, E. (2012). Working the Crowd. 2nd ed. Swindon: British Informatics Society, pp.138-145.
Cole, H., DeNardin, T. and Clow, K. (2017). Small Service Businesses: Advertising Attitudes and The Use of Digital and Social Media Marketing. Services Marketing Quarterly, 38(4), pp.203-212.
Chiles, D (2015). Social Media Best Practices: Engagement Netiquette. London: David Paul Chiles Publishing. p20-22.
https://www.bigcommerce.co.uk/ecommerce-answers/what-is-social-media-engagement/
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(Instagram post)