As we will be talking about later this month, social media is ALL about engagement. But how do you increase this engagement?
You know the way it goes - you’re scrolling through, and you briefly stop on a couple of videos that fail to grab your attention within the first 10 seconds, you chuckle as your scroll past a couple of totally #relatable memes, and tag your bestie in a competition that your favourite earring company is running for the holidays. It takes a lot to make you stop, and it takes even more to make you do something.
Just so you know, Facebook and Instagram are not out to get us, they’re not trying to sabotage our business pages, and they’re not purposefully finding ways to decrease our engagement. In fact, they’re continuously come up with these gems that prompt followers to engage!
So what are they at the moment?
Polls: Ask your audience questions! Get some responses and real time feedback on stuff you’re doing (and not doing!). Some of our most successful posts were ones when you asked our audience to give us their opinion. It’s a win-win, so get on it!
Shop Now: You can now make it SUPER easy for your followers to jump straight into your shop. Choosing the ‘Get Shop Visits’ option puts a handy little button on your status update that will take them straight to the shop, without having to embed links or prompt profile visits - remember, the easier the better!
Message: Similar to the Shop Now option, you can make it super easy for your followers to directly ask you a question straight from their newsfeed! This is really good particularly if you are offering them deals or specials that require them to enquire within for more information. Other alternatives that are similar to this include the Call Now option, which offers customers the option to call you with a click of a button, and the Book Now option, which takes them directly to a booking page. SO easy!
Polls in Stories: Similar to Facebook, utalise your stories by putting polls up for your audience to engage with! Get them involved with your decision making, whether it’s big brand changes, or day to day activities (We’ve seen ShowPo do this well, when their CEO, Jane Lu asked her followers whether or not she should get up in the morning)
Ask Questions in Stories: You can either get your audience to ask you questions about specific topics (this would work extra well if you had a specific time of the week that you’d sit down to answer questions), or give your audience the opportunity to give their opinion on particular things (Yiota from Ola Digital does this VERY well). You can share answers, which is an even better way to create that sense of community among your followers.
Slide Bar in Stories: Ask your followers a question, and give them an emoji to drag along a slide bar - it doesn’t sound effective, but it’s another GREAT way to get your audience involved in the things you’re doing behind the scenes. Asking anything from ‘How much do you love this outfit?’ to ‘How well is your Friday going?’ gives them an opportunity to engage and get involved, which is ultimately what we want them to do!
The more that Facebook and Instagram progress, the more we come to realise just how interactive the platforms are becoming, which is fantastic for our engagement! Find what works for your brand, and get involved with your followers - they’ll love you for it.
