trust + information + authenticity = engagement
This is probably gonna seem a little cart-before-the-horse-ish, I know. but bear with me. Because if you do a Google search on “social media engagement”, most every article in the list of the hundreds that you find will say something along the lines of, "social media posts with more active and thoughtful interactions will get more reach." And then reach means interactions, and interactions mean engagement, and engagement builds relationships… And round and round we go. It may sound dizzying, but it really just comes down to trust, information and authenticity. That, and this one simple universal truth:
So, some tips:
Ask questions.
If there’s one thing I learned from continuing to force my introvert self to battle through parties in college it’s that people love to talk about themselves. Everybody really just wants to be heard and feel seen.
Give ‘em something useful.
So, you’re trying to reach your audience, right? But are you posting stuff that’s gonna help them out? Are you addressing their needs? You should.
Think “conversation” not “broadcast.”
Retweets, shares, comments, etc. Responding can be time consuming, but it’s a good practice to get into. It’s an instant connection, and goes a long way to building trust.
Put an image* on it.
Human brains love to look at stuff. We’re 65% more likely to remember something if there’s an associated image. A few stats: LinkedIn posts with images have a 98% higher comment rate. Tweets with visuals get three times more engagement. And according to Sprout Social’s Index, 68% of folks want to engage with images while only 16% are interested in URLs alone.
* Just be sure that if you use imagery from stock sources or artists you understand the licensing required for use and give credit where credit is due. Copyright infringement is real, y’all.
Be mindful of representation.
This is one of the most important things that too many brands don’t do. So before hitting POST, ask if the people in the images you post reflect the diversity of your audience. Are your images perpetuating gender or racial stereotypes? What about body positivity? Mental health? And just as importantly, do your posts include alt-text for folks with vision impairments?
And, of course, humanize your brand.
An authentic brand voice is a key connection to your audience. It creates continuity, boosts recognition and encourages engagement. It’s a bit tricky, because the ingredients that go into it are on the subjective side. I’ve posted about brand voice before, but here’s a bit of a crash course:
BRAND VOICE = CHARACTER (friendly, inspiring, warm) + LANGUAGE (complex, jargon, simple) + PURPOSE (educate, amplify, sell) + TONE (honest, scientific, expert)
What I’m ultimately getting at here is some simple advice: approach your brand’s social media as a friendship with your audience. Genuine connection will get you better engagement, and you find that through demonstrating trust, sharing useful information and being the youest you that you can be.
Now, tracking and measuring all that impact is a whole other story… There are lots of tools (like this free toolkit from Sprout Social), contractors and companies that specialize in this, of whom I am not one. But if you wanna talk to me about what I do best – harness the power of design to make your brand sing –