Hands down, one of the most important things to your social media marketing strategy is interaction and engagement. Most people are baffled when I tell them that although “Likes” and “Followers” are important, they are not the most important thing. An online community of 50 people who have heavy interaction and engagement is more valuable than a page of 10K with very little interaction and engagement.
There are many ways to increase your engagement, but here are a few. Remember, that not all online communities are the same, and you have to “feel” them out to decide which is right for you. Trial and error is the name of the game.
Interaction with your Users
I can’t stress this enough. If a user has a question, answer it. People get frustrated when brands or even people don’t answer their questions. Retweet users who follow you, reach out to them. You need to treat your social media community like you would treat walk-in customers.
Asking Questions
One of the most efficient ways of getting interaction is through questions. A question is asked, and on most occasions, the reader will comment simply because the answer is there as soon as the question is read. So, there you go, a comment or reply on a post, one point added to the stats. Turn your greetings into questions; for instance, instead of “have a great day”, ask, “what are your plans for this great day”.
Facebook Polls/Questions
Another way to gain interaction is through Facebook’s Questions feature. A user will just have to click on some pre-determined answers to ‘vote’. It’s a great and fun way to get feedback from your community, but also, a great way to gain engagement.
Fan Features
A great way to get fans involved is to feature them, making them feel extra special. Run a campaign to ask users to submit photos and then feature them on your website or blog, and share them regularly. Not only does this create content for your website, but it also gains more engagement on your social media communities.
Caption it!
Post a funny photo and have fans caption it. This is a tested way to get users to loosen up a bit and have some fun on your page. Just remind them to keep it clean.
Interaction with Other Pages
If you want people to notice your page, you have to interact on others. Start by using Facebook as your page, and comment on posts other pages in your industry or your target market have made. Reply and retweet on Twitter. You will get seen, and users will “like” or “follow” you back. Once you have a momentum, then keep that momentum going.
