Social media engagement is a fundamental issue that many businesses fail to grasp.
Entrepreneurs tend to think of engagement as a series of interactions. Engaging the audience isn’t as simple as a post getting a lot of likes and shares. Engaging with people is only possible when you have a long-term relationship.
It’s like a real-life interaction. Every interaction with customers is like a date. They tell you about themselves, and you tell them what they like.
After a few minutes of getting to know each other, you are ready to move on to the next stage. Customers now expect to see engaging content. They will be loyal to your content if they interact with it on their media channels. Now, you’re engaged.
Ask not what your customers can do for you. Value-oriented engagement is the best way to win any customer’s trust. Do not think about ways you can gain a benefit from your fans and followers. Instead, think about what you can do to help them.
Through engagement, you’re trying to build trust in your brand. If your audience does not feel that you are making a difference in their lives, then it will be challenging to generate engaging content.
What does this mean in practice? It means that you should engage back. Answer questions from your patrons.
When you receive complaints or concerns, be sure to respond quickly.
Social media has been the first choice of people for customer service since at most 2016. It’s actually people using the platform’s public nature. However, customer service should be seen as a double chance.
It is possible to address customer concerns and still maintain good faith with them and others who have the opportunity to interact. Customer service interactions can be a gold mine of engagement.
Three ways to really get engaged
You can find many tips and tricks to increase your social media engagement. These tried-and-true methods will increase authentic engagement.
1. Make the first move
It is up to the person who initiates the conversation to make the first date a successful one. This responsibility falls on you as the business owner.
Your potential customers may want many different things. Blog posts and informative articles are just two examples of simple ideas. It’s all about creating value for them.
Do not try to sell a product at the first opportunity. This comes later. Show them that you care about what they want and who they are.
2. Listen more than you talk
Listening is the key to a lasting relationship.
Do not guess at your customer’s needs and wants. You can find all the information you need if you do some research.
Take a look at website analytics and social media. Identify your target audience and compare it to what others are doing. First, you must know who your audience is.
Once you have a good idea of who you are, you can begin to listen. Take a look at their social media profiles. What are they looking for? This information will help you to create your engagement strategy.
3. Keep it relevant and current
Do not be afraid to speak out about current events. You must talk about topics that are relevant to your audience if you hope to get a response.
This requires delicate handling and good listening skills.
Get Really Engaged
This is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of social media engagement. There is plenty of information available about social media engagement, as I mentioned earlier. Not every lead is suitable for every company.
Find out about your customers and then put yourself in their shoes. Next, you can start to offer more value through social media engagement.
Pamela Wigglesworth (CSP) is an international market consultant, speaker, and CEO of Experiential hands-on learning based in Asia. She is the author of “The 50-60 Something” (TM). She works with companies across many industries to increase brand awareness, lead generation, and sales.
