How to Create Social Media Engagement
By Scott Robertson
Your business is on Facebook, great! Now what?
There seems to be some confusion about the proper way to use Facebook and other social media outlets from a business standpoint. I’m sure a lot of small business owners over the last couple of years have heard an earful of “You have to be on Facebook, you’ve got to be on Twitter” which results in a trot to the laptop, a few keystrokes, and BAM, a social media profile is made. But now what? What happens after you’ve created the profiles? The name of the game here is “social media engagement”, meaning that if you find potential customers who want to talk with your brand it is up to you to represent the brand and foster that dialog.
What is “social media”? How to I get it?
The starting point here is content - content is king. This is generally true for any kind of marketing, so it stands to reason that using your social media accounts as marketing tools would be subject to the same rule. One thing to keep in mind is that social media profiles are not static billboards. You cannot expect to put up a Yellow Pages style “come see my office!” type of message and have success. The point of social media posts in this era of the web is to start a conversation by being funny, informative, or both! Create something that potentially resonates with your target audience. The hope is that they like it enough to share it with their friends and followers, creating a network effect benefit to you as the business owner. That’s free advertising from direct contacts, perhaps the strongest influencer of decision making. Creating quality content essentially incentivizes your followers to respond to the post (with likes, comments, retweets), and this is where social media engagement comes in.
Why should I care about social media engagement?
As a business, responses to your social media posts are your chance to set a tone and voice for your company. Are you the funny lighthearted company that responds to comments cheerfully and with a joke? Are you serious and professional, giving helpful and defined responses? There are many ways to approach this but this is where you can focus on exactly how you’d like your business to be viewed by the public.
The other part about this that is so crucial is this is your chance to humanize your brand. As the people of the internet continue to embrace the role of social media outlets in their lives, it is important to be available for timely contact with potential customers. Many businesses have developed devoted followings of people who like their product and are happy to rebroadcast content. These brand advocates are very important in social media marketing because they help extend the reach a brand has.
Taco Bell is a great example, having made it a point to interact heavily with their followers through social media. Taco Bell has cultivated a large audience of loyal fans who not only rebroadcast their content but generate original pieces praising the brand, which Taco Bell then shares to demonstrate it is paying attention. By using social media this way, Taco Bell increases its promotional reach, gains new followers, gathers customer interest data, and gathers information that could lead to new or improved products. All because their social media managers took the time to respond to comments, to retweet nice things said about the brand, and when you boil it down - connect.
Social media isn’t just that “thing” people use on their phones, or that “thing” that you “have” to be on because you own a business. It’s that marketing channel that opens the door to you having a two-way conversation with your potential brand advocate that could ultimately lead to new customers. It’s a chance to show who you are and to learn who they are.
There is so much information that can be gained about your customers by simply talking to them. Social media engagement is your (not so) secret weapon in the battle to win over your potential customer and keep them coming back.
Do you have any questions? Comments? Please feel free to reach out by emailing socialmedia@prosites.com
Tags: Facebook, Engagement, Social Media, Facebook Likes, Facebook Comments, Facebook Shares, Twitter