I have previously written about building a loyal online community through social media, in which I discussed how to leverage social media to help you achieve your business goals. In this article, I go into more detail on some of the best types of content that will boost engagement in order to do this.
To boost engagement on social media, you need to share relevant, useful and valuable content to start a conversation, increase trust and loyalty, and build a community. The idea is to build a relationship with prospects, customers, fans and audiences through content, not just through hard selling and pushing your products or services.
1. Visual Media
People engage with visual content better than non-visual content. Tweets with images receive 150% more retweets than tweets without images. Likewise, Facebook posts with images see 2.3X more engagement than those without images. It is evident that images receive more likes, shares and comments.
You can incorporate images into your social media content calendar. Ensure your images are relevant to your post and always use high-quality images, whether using stock images or your own images. Whether using humorous memes, educational infographics, quirky illustrations, or simply photographs, get creative and experiment with what works best to reflect your brand values and resonate with your audience.
However, when posting visual media, don’t limit yourself to images. Videos may prove to be even more effective at boosting engagement than images, as organic Facebook engagement is highest on posts with videos. Videos are becoming more and more popular, with video content representing 74% of all internet traffic. Video works well to illustrate your ideas and communicate your message, as 4X as many customers prefer to watch a video about a product than read about it.
When using videos on social media keep in mind that 85% of videos are watched without the sound, so ensure your videos have subtitles and your ideas are executed effectively without sound. You can also utilise live streaming features on many social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram, so why not try streaming a live event, interview, or product launch. Again, get creative and find the best ways to tell stories with your videos – from instructional and helpful videos to entertaining and funny videos, make your content stand out.
2. Blog Posts
Blog posts are a popular content type for boosting engagement on social media. In a recent study, 38% of marketers said blogging was the most important form of content for their business. Sharing quality blog posts from your company website or blog with useful and helpful information that answers audience questions is key to a successful blog engagement strategy.
Ensure your blog posts are fully optimised with content that provides value, has an eye-catching headline, has formatting that makes your article enjoyable to read, is optimised for search engines, and includes a clear and actionable CTA. You can also include social sharing buttons in your blogs to make it easy for readers to get involved, share your content, and start a conversation on social.
Remember to share your blog posts multiple times across all your social media profiles to promote your brand and ensure it is seen by prospects. Test the times of day when engagement is highest and test which blog posts get the most engagement, clicks, retweets, shares, comments and repost those most popular with your audience. When sharing your blog posts, use hashtags to expand reach, find others interested in your niche, connect with others, and get involved in the conversation.
When posting blog posts, it is also important to mix your blog posts with curated articles from around the web, from your community, and from influencers that relate to your niche and would be of interest to your audience. This will prevent you from appearing too self-promotional and help you interact with others. You can also tag influencers and authors in your message to tap into their audience and further your brand reach.
3. Customer’s Content
Customer content can take many forms, from testimonials and reviews to customer experiences and user-generated content. More than half of people view reviews before purchasing, so showcase your customer’s success stories and positive experiences, as this adds credibility to your brand across the social media landscape.
Customer content can be used to portray customers enjoying your products or services and demonstrates how prospects can enjoy your products and services too. Engage with and share user’s content and posts within your community and tag them in the post thanking them for the review, testimonial or user-generated content. Customer content builds trust and loyalty in consumers because they view a first-hand experience with the products and services they are interested in purchasing.
4. Contests
Contests and competitions are a very effective way to boost engagement on social media. Contests could take the form of free giveaways, special offers or deals in exchange for a like or share to win your prize. Contests are a fantastic way to spread awareness and expand your brand’s reach, as 35% of Facebook fans like a page so they can participate in contests, so offer an incentive for fans to get involved in your profile.
Simply asking users a question that they can reply to in the comments for the chance to win a prize gains tons of interest in your products or services and encourages a conversation to start that you can get involved in, engage with to build trust, and build a community around.
5. Datejacking
Datejacking is a new concept developed by Bowler Hat. Inspired by newsjacking, in which you inject your brand into the day’s news and jump on the popularity of current stories, Datejacking involves creating content that taps into the interest of a given date.
From annual holidays like Christmas to one-off events like the release of a big movie or the myriad of internet dates like talk like a pirate day, there is a date every week that you can attach your content to on social and ride the wave of popularity to amplify your engagement.
Datejacking is predictable, scalable and simple. Simply plan a great piece of content for your chosen date, promote the hell out of it on social with any relevant hashtags, and jump on these trends to join the conversation, increase brand awareness, and boost engagement.
Read our Datejacking Guide to find out more about how you can use Datejacking to boost engagement on social.
6. Q&A
A question and answer session on your social media profiles can work wonders for increasing engagement, and there are a number of ways you can implement this into your strategy. Q&A sessions will help you to build trust with prospects, educate about your brand, network with others, demonstrate your knowledge, and have an active conversation to build a relationship with customers.
You could simply ask audiences to ‘ask me anything’ if they have any questions relating to your business and niche and answer their questions – you’re being helpful to prospects as well as establishing yourself as an authority on your topic. This is also useful for getting ideas for blog posts, as answering audience questions will help you provide further value.
Another method is to carry out a live chat and you could even stream this live on social too. Set a topic for the chat and start a discussion with your audience in real time. You could ask them questions and they could ask you questions, but respond quickly to get a conversation flowing and always be conversational and friendly. Remember to hashtag the chat with relevant hashtags to get others involved, and you could make this a weekly event if it proves popular.
You can also get involved in other’s chats to reach out to the community and potential customers to get a dialogue going. For example, on Twitter, #BrumHour runs every Sunday at 8 pm and encourages businesses around Birmingham to network. Likewise, #semrushchat is run by SEM Rush and focuses on connecting users with influencers in marketing, search and social.
Boost Your Engagement on Social Media with Content
Try some of these content types to boost your engagement on social media. From visual media, blog posts, and customer content to contests, datejacking, and Q&As, experiment and have fun with different types to see what works best, and remember to be social!
Boost engagement on social with audiences through valuable content to increase loyalty and trust, build a community, develop a relationship, and reach your business goals.
If you want to boost your engagement on social or have any questions about content marketing or social media marketing, get in touch and we’ll be happy to help. Remember to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin for more content marketing and social media tips and advice.
