While it is true that social engagement can have a big impact on the effectiveness of your marketing and ultimately on the success of your business itself, it is important to remember that this engagement starts from within.
Companies with a high level of employee engagement, as defined by BergHind Joseph, will ultimately be more successful. This is because their staff have improved morale and are highly productive. As a result, they become great proponents of the brand they work for.
If a business has a high level of employee engagement, it is easy to see this reflected in its social media profiles. The employees’ enthusiasm is infectious and results in vibrant social media campaigns that encourage the audience to get involved. A great example is The London Helicopter, which provides beautiful images its followers love sharing. They are also firmly rooted in their location and proud of their links to London. This leads to considerable cross-promotion of other businesses in the area, which can only benefit everyone concerned. London Helicopter customers are also highly motivated to share their experience using the company, and their positivity and excitement about their trip shine through.
If you want to increase social engagement in your business, these key five areas can help you do so.
1. Visual Appeal
Visual mediums, particularly photos, work well on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Images are more likely to be shared than other types of posts, and this interaction means that you will reach a wider audience. Where possible, tie the images to what you offer as a company, but also don’t be afraid to explore related themes such as your location and current events.
2. Gamification
As with employee engagement, social engagement works well when a level of gamification is involved. Challenges, games, badges, polls, and giveaways all increase audience participation. In turn, because the follower or fan is highly invested in the outcome, they are more likely to share it with their friends and followers. We humans love to compete, and so it’s only natural for your audience to spread the word to find others to compete against.
3. Questions and Answers
Any engagement in the so-called ‘real world’ starts with a conversation, which is applied online. Encourage your followers to ask questions about your business and be proactive in providing answers and solutions if they should have any issues with your products or services. You can also pose questions to your followers, and if these relate to your brand, then that is ideal. You can learn a huge amount of information about whether you are meeting the demands of your target market by what is shared on social media.
4. Tracking
We can only gauge our level of audience engagement and whether it is increasing or declining if we keep track of our results. There are various analytics tools for this, and Facebook itself offers ‘Insights’ information on business pages. ‘Insights offers a wealth of information, including demographics and type of interaction, which allows you to hone your marketing further to meet your target audience’s preferences.
5. Employee Presence
It is important that whoever manages your social media accounts is highly engaged with your company vision, as this engagement will be evident in the content updates. Recognizing team contributions through tools like employee recognition software can also deepen this engagement, reinforcing a sense of purpose and commitment across the company.
Social media followers need to feel that they are interacting with people, not just with a corporate image. Social media needs to be a two-way dialogue, and your business will thrive in this arena if you not only acknowledge your fans’ comments, shares, and likes but also actively engage in their conversations.
