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Get engaged for life
Success on social media doesn’t just mean increasing your followers or posting and ghosting. It requires sharing inspiring content that creates a loyal community that actively engages and interacts with your brand.
At the same time, you need to be taking proactive steps to foster two-way conversations with your followers and turn these users into loyal brand advocates.
If you’re looking to boost engagement across your various social media accounts then look no further. The team at Sked has put together your ultimate guide to social media engagement with platform-specific tips and even some amazing brands pulling off high engagement rates that you can draw inspiration from.
Ready to learn how to boost your engagement rates? Let’s dive in!
What is the definition of social media engagement?
Social media engagement is a measure of how audiences are interacting with your social media content. Social media engagement takes into account different actions and differs from platform to platform but will generally include the following metrics:
- Likes
- Comments
- Followers
- Shares
- Retweets
- Click-throughs
- Direct messages
- Favorites
Ultimately, building thriving communities on social media requires an engaged audience, not just a large following. Although a large follower count looks great, if your audience is not actively engaging with your content, you might want to restructure your social media marketing strategy to start driving meaningful results for your business.
What is the difference between engagement and interactions on social media?
Engagement and interactions are interrelated metrics, but there are some important differences.
Engagement is the casual viewing or clicking a piece of content on social media (for example liking, commenting, or sharing an Instagram post).
On the flip slide, interaction is the main action taken as a result of viewing a piece of content, such as buying a product after seeing a product tag in an Instagram post or signing up for a mailing list from an Instagram story or blog post.
How to increase social media engagement
Now on to the part you’ve probably been waiting for: how can you actually boost engagement across your various social media platforms? Let’s run through some ways to start levelling up your social media content marketing with these engagement-boosting tips and tricks.
1. Understanding your platforms
One of the most important tips to boost engagement is to understand and recognize that what works on one platform won’t necessarily be replicable on another.
For example, jumping on a trending sound on TikTok can boost your engagement on that platform, however, it probably won’t see the same success on LinkedIn because different audiences reside on different platforms. Let’s run through some best practice tips for each popular social media platform.
Instagram engagement tips
Instagram is a predominately aesthetic and inspirational lifestyle app so you’ll want to curate beautiful inspirational imagery.
Carousel posts also receive higher engagement than static posts so making use of this feature to post aspirational content, product posts and testimonials can boost engagement.
Aside from photos, Instagram has been making a shift to a video content app with a focus on Reels. The Instagram algorithm has been rewarding users who post Reels videos with higher engagement. Make use of these high engagement rates by making Reels videos with trending audios and formats which you can find on the Reels tab.
Another great tip is to use the Stories feature on Instagram to ask audience questions, start a poll and even use the ‘Add Yours’ sticker to write prompts that your audience can answer.
TikTok engagement tips
TikTok is a video-based social media platform where trending sounds and formats make up the majority of the video content. TikTok offers content creators, brands, and small businesses some pretty high engagement rates.
The key to success on TikTok is to make use of trends and do it fast. Once you’ve spotted trending audio on your TikTok for-you-page jump on the trend and integrate it into your brand’s identity and messaging.
Facebook engagement tips
Facebook predominately has an older audience from millennials and the generations above. You probably won’t see much of Gen Z using Facebook so if you’re attempting to target a younger audience Facebook might not be the right platform to focus on.
If your audience does reside on Facebook, making use of Facebook Live can bring in the engagement you’re looking for. On average Live videos bring in more than double the number of comments per video than standard Facebook video posts.
Facebook Groups are another great way to boost engagement by building engaged communities that can become loyal, long-term customers. More than 1.8 billion people use Facebook Groups every month with millions of active communities on Facebook. Setting up a brand Facebook Group can be a great way to boost engagement and drive people to your other social media platforms and website.
Twitter engagement tips
Twitter has a massive audience reach with over 330 million active monthly users. Utilizing Twitter effectively within your social media marketing strategy can dramatically increase your brand awareness and visibility.
Twitter is a great way to utilize pop culture and memes in your social media engagement strategy by jumping on the latest conversations you see on the trending tab.
You might also want to pay attention to different content formats on Twitter, such as using videos and GIFs. A study of 3.7 million Tweets showed that GIFs received 55% more engagement rates than those without. Tweets with videos garner 10 times more engagement than Tweets without videos and Tweets with photos receive an average of 35% boost in Retweets.
LinkedIn engagement tips
Content marketing on LinkedIn is an important avenue for reaching businesses and professionals. Keeping your business profile up to date and posting on a regular basis with company updates is your first step in boosting engagement on LinkedIn.
As LinkedIn is predominately used by companies and professionals, featuring employees on your company's LinkedIn can boost engagement by creating a human element that puts faces to names. Sharing photos of your team at company events, celebrating employees’ milestones, and even including customer testimonials are some great content ideas to increase engagement.
Making use of the Poll feature can further boost engagement by sparking a conversation on current events or trending conversations on LinkedIn since there is a physical interaction the users have to perform.
2. Get to know your audience
Your audience is your biggest asset on social media. Getting to know your target audience is essential to building an engaged audience across different social media platforms. Think about which social media platforms your audience resides in and hone in on those platforms.
You’ll also want to be aware of what pieces of content your target audience is most interested in. For example, do posts featuring user-generated content result in higher engagement than branded ads with macro influencers? Do Carousel posts bring higher engagement than normal Instagram posts?
If particular social media posts are resulting in higher engagement rates amongst your audience then you should incorporate those into your content strategy.
3. Jump in on trending conversations
All social media marketers and managers will know how essential trends play in social media across all social media platforms. Commenting on trending current events is a way to keep your audience engaged and potentially reach new followers.
For example, brands that make video or photo memes that utilize trending current events - (for example any award shows) tend to see the benefits in engagement on their Instagram posts, Tweets, and TikToks.
4. Interact with your audience
Increasing engagement isn’t just about sharing content but it also relies on interacting with your audience and customers so they know you’re a brand that pays close attention and values their consumer base.
You’ll often hear people say the key to social media management is to not ghost after you share content. It’s important to spend time replying to comments on your posts, answering questions, and even commenting on and liking posts from other brands and creators.
It’s a great way to not only engage with your audience but build brand awareness by showing up on other users’ profiles.
Our top 5 social media engagement tools to elevate your social media game
Whether you’re a social media manager or you’re a business owner managing your social platforms on your own, levelling up your social media game and boosting engagement has never been easier with a stack of tools to help you out.
1. Canva
Canva is a free graphic design tool that has revolutionized how people make content with user-friendly features making design accessible to everyone and a suite of templates designed to elevate your social media posts.
From Instagram posts, Stories, TikTok videos, YouTube thumbnails, and Pinterest idea pins, Canva has you covered with engaging templates and tools to create content for just about any social media platform you can think of.
2. SnapTik
If you’re using TikTok and Instagram Reels to make engaging videos you’ll probably want to get to know SnapTik. SnapTik allows you to easily remove watermarks from your TikTok videos so you can repurpose them to Instagram, without worrying about the Instagram algorithm screwing you over because you cross-posted a video from TikTok.
3. Sked Social
Consistent posting is the key to boosting engagement on social media. But, this can all get a little bit overwhelming when you’re running a busy business or brand.
Obviously we’re a tad biased, by we reckon Sked is your go-to social media scheduling and visual planner tool that gives you the ability to batch-make all your engaging Instagram content and cross-post Instagram posts to other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
On top of that, Sked gives you all the important analytics and metrics you need to know to boost those engagement rates with detailed insights on what is the ideal time to post for your specific demographic, user insights, story insights, and website click-throughs.
4. Wave.video
By now you should be aware of how video content is essential for increasing engagement and optimizing success on social media.
No matter your video editing experience, Wave.video is your go-to free online video editor. With video templates, auto-generated subtitles, and an easy-to-use interface to combine video clips, harnessing the power of videos for your social media has never been easier.
You can even use stock videos if you’re running low on content or upload your own. Plus, they offer a bunch of tutorials to help you create content engaging content.
5. Social Alert
Utilizing hashtags to your advantage is a great way to organically boost engagement. But, how do you know which hashtags will be effective for your different social media accounts? Well, the answer is using a hashtag tracker.
Social Alert is a hashtag tracking website that allows you to monitor hashtags in real-time across Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter so you can get the best engagement and reach on your social media posts.
5 inspiring social media engagement examples
If you need a little inspiration on how to incorporate engagement-boosting content into your digital marketing strategy then look no further.
From skincare brands making the most of user-generated content to a recruitment agency making the most of LinkedIn’s features, these brands show you exactly how to start producing content to elevate your social media game.
1. User-generated content: Glow Recipe
If you don’t know about the power of user-generated content (UGC) it involves original content created by customers of a brand that is re-shared by the brand on their social media.
66% of consumers think that transparency makes a brand more attractive and 59.8% of marketers believe that authenticity and quality are an important part of content on social media. What better way to make you’re content more authentic than to highlight your customers using your products by harnessing UGC?
If you’re looking for inspiration on how to execute UGC well, look no further than Glow Recipe. Aside from the beautiful imagery of all their products, Glow Recipe shares a stack of Reels videos of customers using their new products in different engaging ways.
2. Trending Formats and Sounds: Duolingo
With over 95.4 million likes and 4.8 million followers, Duolingo is truly the king of TikTok and established itself as one of the top apps on the App store. Duolingo achieved this success by marketing itself on TikTok by using trending formats and sounds and saw a return on its investment.
The social media manager of Duolingo’s TikTok account Zaria Parvez said in an interview that they would spot trends that would pop up and match them to ideas they already had. Parvez said, “being proactive rather than reactive helped break through the noise.”
Digital marketing on TikTok offers brands powerful engagement because once TikTok sounds and formats trend, they pop up on people’s for-you-pages meaning you’re getting exposure and brand awareness. It also gives audiences a deeper insight into the more human and authentic side of your brand.
3. Humorous Content: Chipotle
Chipotle’s Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok content incorporate various trends, memes, and humourous content into their social media feeds to boost engagement.
Rather than solely focusing on food-related content, they’ve opted to add a personal touch to their content marketing strategy that shows off their brand identity. Their strategy has demonstrated some serious engagement and success with 43.8 million likes on their TikTok and 1.1 million Instagram followers.
4. Staying in the conversation: Hays
Hays is one of the most recognizable and leading recruitment agencies in the world and its LinkedIn game is one of the best. Hays regularly make use of LinkedIn’s poll feature to talk about trending current events and topics like asking their audience how many days they want to work from home with over 70,000 votes.
They’ve even jumped on the latest trend making its way on TikTok and LinkedIn - quiet quitting, using it as an opportunity to give advice on how businesses can create a culture that fosters employee engagement.
5. Pop culture: Netflix
Netflix kills the social media game on Instagram and Twitter with their witty and clever social media strategy that utilizes pop culture references and trending memes alongside their original content.
They’re always giving users hilarious, relatable content on trending topics, and pop culture references and integrate it with films and TV shows that are premiering on the platform as a way to drive engagement.
Now that you’re well-versed on everything to do with social media engagement on various social media channels with some great brands utilizing engagement-boosting tips and tricks you can start integrating some of them into your own content strategy.
You can even start batch-making your content and schedule your posts so you never miss a post with Sked’s scheduling and content planning tool. Sked even gives you important social media metrics and analytics to benchmark and track your goals. Try our 7-day free trial and take your social media management game to the next level.
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