In today’s world everyone is using social media, whether it’s to stay connected with friends, search for products and services or to find ideas. Regardless of the motive, businesses need to be on social media platforms to help them get noticed by their target audience. But your work doesn’t end there.
Setting up a social media account and posting sporadically can gain a few likes and comments and it can look like you’re moving in the right direction to build your brand. But, are you engaging with your audience?
If your audience have made the decision to visit your page, follow the account and like or comment on a post, it’s the companies chance to grow the relationship. Engaging with your audience can help grow your brand in a number of ways:
- You will gain trust with your audience
- Responding to comments can push your post reach
- Engaging with customers humanises your brand
- Influences customer retention
So, what do you need to do to keep engaged?
- Understand your audience
Knowing your target audience is key to growing your social media. You need to consider what demographic your products or services are appealing to and focus on the social platforms that demographic would be using. In addition, when you understand your demographic you’ll be able to work out what times to post on social media and how often, based on the demographics usage. - Prioritise being social on your channel
If you’re remaining active on your page, new customers will see this and want to be part of your community. Being social doesn’t just mean replying to comments, this can be liking posts from your customers and sharing their posts when they mention your page. All acts of engagement will help your posts reach new customers so it’s important to block time out so you can stay up to date. - Encourage your audience to share
If your audience are using your products or services and sharing this on social media, encourage them to tag your page. It sounds simple, but this is an effective engagement technique that can bring in new customers and grow your reach. - Use hashtags
Hashtags are used differently today to when they were first introduced to social media platforms. Today, many people use hashtags to search for specific topics, ideas or to connect with others. Be sure to use hashtags that are relevant to your business so you can join the conversation.