With so many different brands vying for attention, standing out can be tough. Everyone’s on social media, constantly sharing their blog posts, videos, promotions, giveaways, and so on. They’re all doing everything they can to drive more sales and revenue.
So, how do you stand out from the crowd? Social channels are loud and cluttered. What can you do to cut through the noise and show you’re unique?
It’s actually much easier than you think.
Here are 5 essential tactics you can use to increase engagement through social media.
1. Master the art of sharing content
You can’t simply share the links to your blog posts and expect to stand out.
Social media is a two-way street and so you should also share other people’s content. It may seem counterintuitive, given that you want people to read your content, but it will grow your reputation as a source of relevant and useful information.
Spark interest by sharing a snippet from a relevant post that will make people want to read more. Share a fun fact or statistic related to your topic. Keep on top of and share the latest news in your niche.
This will increase your audience’s trust in you as a brand who can provide authoritative, good quality information about your niche. It will also help you build strong relationships with those whose content you share. And that means greater exposure and more business.
Here are some further tips for becoming a pro at sharing content:
Don’t post too often: The jury’s out on how often you should post, but it’s probably not as often as you think and varies from platform to platform. You don’t want to annoy your followers by posting too often. They’re primarily on social media to be social, so don’t give them a reason to unfollow you.
Post at the right time: So what's the best time to post, to reach the most people? This varies according to your platform and audience.
For instance, Wednesday seems to be the best day to post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The best time of day to drive engagement varies from channel to channel and may also vary depending on your audience, so be sure to do your homework
Don’t be afraid to reshare your posts: Resharing your posts helps you capture new leads. Perhaps someone who’s interested in the topic didn’t see your post the first time around. Or maybe you’ll catch more new people who aren’t yet following you. It’s important not to overdo it though. Reshare your best-performing blog posts every once in a while, but not so frequently that people switch off.
Use relevant hashtags: Hashtags will make your posts stand out, especially on Instagram and Twitter. More importantly, it can help your posts go viral.
Take Coca-Cola’s Share a Coke campaign, for instance. When the company printed common names on its bottles, it encouraged people to choose a name and take a photo with the bottle, capturing it with the #ShareaCoke hashtag.
The brand connected with its customers on a personal level, and soon the whole world was sharing their photos — boosting Coca-Cola sales.
So, boost exposure with branded, trending, and other relevant hashtags, but don’t overdo it. Keep it under 10 per post (5 or 6 may be optimal).
Hashtags are also great for monitoring social mentions. You can find out what people think about your blog and how you can improve it.
2. Capture attention with fantastic visuals
At the risk of sounding clichéd, a picture is worth a thousand words. Let this principle guide you when you’re creating content and sharing it on social media.
People have short attention spans, so text without images can easily end up being scrolled through. Only your most loyal fans and those genuinely interested in investigating your compelling title further will actually click through.
So, always use eye-catching, relevant, high-quality visuals. You can also add infographics, charts, graphs, videos - whatever makes sense for your content.
3. Humanize your posts and engage with your followers
Have you thought about using emojis? Are you already using them?
Emojis don’t mean you’re unprofessional, they’re widely used on social media.
Adding emojis to your posts has a humanising effect, so your audience thinks of you as more than a business. However, do make sure they are appropriate for your brand and tone.
Personalize and humanize your social interactions. Insert humor when it makes sense (though watch out for pitfalls there), and don’t forget to ask questions that spark interesting conversations.
Responding to all messages and comments. This will go a long way to building trust and community, and help engagement. Nothing looks worse than a social media account which ignores its audience.
Most importantly, don’t ignore negative feedback or respond in anything other than a professional manner. Offer genuine solutions for better experiences with your brand.
4. Create compelling quizzes, polls, and surveys
Lead quizzes on social media are excellent for driving engagement both on social media and your blog. They’re shareable and have the potential to go viral.
You can use a quiz generator and create an online quiz relevant to your blog topics and brand. Include a CTA in the results such as checking out your blog for more on this topic, or a free download such as an ebook.
Polls and surveys are also great engagement tools. They keep your followers active and provide you with invaluable feedback.
5. Sponsor giveaways and contests
Social media giveaways and contests reward your followers for engaging with your brand. You might ask them to like, share, retweet, or comment on a post for a chance to win an exciting prize.
It’s one of the best ways of raising brand awareness and increasing engagement. And as everyone loves getting free stuff, chances are they’ll stay engaged so as not to miss any future giveaway.
Your audience can also spread the word among friends and family, getting you lots of potential leads and new blog readers. Freebies definitely have a huge power and you should take advantage of this.
Be sure to promote your giveaways and contests, both on your blog and across your various social channels, along with relevant hashtags.
To wrap up
These are some of the best tactics you can use to stand out on social media and drive engagement with your brand and content.
Make sure you measure the results so you can analyze performance to see what really works for your audience and whether your efforts are paying off.
