Recently we talked about how to add value to your social media posts, but getting — and keeping — your social media followers is also based on how well you engage with them. Here are some tips on how you can successfully engage with your readers to keep them interested — and hopefully turn them into customers.

Ask For Feedback

A great way to show people that you care about their thoughts and opinions is to ask for their input. One useful, interactive way to do this is by posting polls or surveys. Mix it up a bit — intersperse some fun surveys amongst the more serious questions. 

Ask about favourite colours, foods, and other simple questions in addition to asking about opinions about what they’re looking for from your brand. Instead of simply posting a picture of ice cream and telling people you have a variety of flavours, post the pictures and ask people which ones they’re most excited to try. This one simple change can create a lot more interaction. Most people find answering questions about their likes and needs fun — and you’ll gain some valuable information about your customers, which can help you fine tune your marketing.

Inject Your Personality

People love to know who the people are behind the business. Injecting your personality into your posts by sharing triumphs as well as the occasional failure helps people relate more to you. 

Create some fun hashtags and sprinkle your posts with relevant hashtags that your target audience already checks out. Use lives and stories to show people some behind the scenes looks, as well as information on what your audience is looking for. Hold occasional live feeds of “ask me anything” rounds to help your customers learn more about what they’re interested in. Even more serious, professional brands can benefit from injecting a touch of fun and personality in their posts.

Hold Contests

Contests are a big draw for people! Even offering a bit of free product or a percentage off coupon is generally enough to entice people to engage with you. Testing people’s knowledge around information you’ve posted before means your followers will likely pay more attention to your posts. Or you can simply ask a general question to gain an entry. 

Asking people to follow you on your other social media accounts and/or having them tag someone else in the comments to be entered to win a product and/or service is a great way to ensure more eyes are on your posts. Collaborating with other local businesses to cross promote contests is one of the fastest ways you can gain more local followers to engage with.

Follow Up

Don’t just simply post and leave! If you’ve asked a question for your followers to answer then give each answer a “like”. And if you happen to get any comments which require a follow up answer — try to respond in a timely manner. Any criticisms should be given a quick response then followed up through DM (direct messaging) while praise should always receive a genuine thank you.

Comment on the posts of your regular followers as well as the people in your target market —  if they’re relevant — and try to get a short conversation going. This will help them feel appreciated that you took the time to read their posts — plus others may see your interaction and follow you.

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Social media is always changing and it can be tough to know what’s hot right now. And since social media is just a piece of your marketing you may not have the time to spend on it. The experts at Ghostit specialize in marketing trends and can help you out with your social media — or anything else to do with your digital marketing. Please contact us today to see how we can help you.