How to increase engagement on social media

Every marketeer will have been there at some point: you agonise over messaging and creating new content, you research your audience, pontificate over timings. Yet your only gain is just a handful of likes on your social media channels. You might as well be sending contenting into the abyss. It can be disheartening.

To some extent, that is inevitable. A solid social media strategy is a marathon, not a sprint. It can take years of consistency (and creativity) to gain the sort of traction with your audience that you really want. It is also getting harder all the time. There is ever-more competition for individuals’ eyeballs, attention spans are decreasing – and all social media platforms are becoming increasingly savvy in how they commercialise their services.

But there are things you can do. Several things in fact. In addition to these, always consider what works for you. If you are managing a social media account, you are also likely an active user of social media. That means you can learn lessons, every time you scroll. If something makes you click or tap, ask yourself why. Whatever works on, is a lesson you can alloy to your own work.

Stand out from the crowd

Use eye-catching visuals: People are more likely to engage with your content if it looks visually appealing. So, use high-quality images, videos, and graphics to make your posts stand out. Doing this well, takes practice. But there also some great tools to help you do this. Our go-to is Canva.

Catch them with captions

Write engaging captions: Captions are an essential part of social media posts. They provide context to the visual content and help to capture the reader's attention. Try to write captions that are concise, compelling, and encourage your audience to engage with your content. These are just as important as the visuals, but also allow you to insert tone into the post. Depending on your brand, be funny, witty, serious, dry, daft. And have fun doing it.

Be reliable, be predictable

Post consistently: Regular posting is key to building an engaged audience on social media. Create a content calendar and post consistently, ideally at the same time each day/week. This way, your followers will come to expect and look forward to your content. Of course, that will only work if they also like your content, but follow some of the other points and you could be onto a winner. Imagine being a storyteller, reading a new chapter every night to a devoted audience.

Know your hashtags

Use hashtags: Hashtags are a great way to increase the discoverability of your posts. Use relevant and popular hashtags to help your content reach a wider audience. The way hashtags work vary by social media platform but there are plenty of guides available to understand this – or as us, of course.

Talk – lots

Engage with your audience: Social media is a two-way conversation. Engage with your followers by responding to comments, asking questions, and starting conversations. This not only builds relationships with your audience but also encourages them to engage more with your content. We would recommend setting a specific amount of time aside for this on a daily or weekly basis: scan your clients, peers, suppliers and engage.

Pay to play

Sadly, the final piece of advice does cost money. Social media companies are also looking to make a profile and they have all been gradually changing their algorithms in recent years with this in mind. It is harder than ever to achieve your goals through organic social media posts only. The good news is, however, that for relatively small budgets you can increasingly reach a target audience in a way that is fully measurable and aligned with your goals.

Social media marketing can take some time to perfect but is an important task for any brand looking to expand and succeed. If you are looking for extra support with your social media marketing, speak to a member of the Seren team to learn more about how our marketing experts could help you, contact us, call 01792 293333 or email: info@serenglobalmedia.com