Boost Your Brand’s Online Presence: Enhancing Social Media Engagement

Engagement on social media is like mingling at a party. There could be tons of people in the room (read: following you), the music could be great, and the vibe could be just right, but if no one’s conversing, the party’s dead — and no one wants to throw a lousy party.

By prioritizing social media engagement, businesses can avoid this fate and accomplish their marketing goals. Likes and comments may seem like vanity metrics, but they are catalysts for the greater traffic, conversions, and sales brands need to grow.

What is social media engagement?

Social media engagement is when social media shifts from passive to active, from laying around on the couch to up and running around the neighborhood. It’s any interaction a user has with an account, creator, or piece of content on a social media platform, including likes, comments, direct messages, shares, clicks, and tags.

Why is social media engagement important?

These days, anyone can post on social media or get a high follower count. Heck, posting can be automated, and followers can be bought. Neither of these are worth bragging about, but high engagement? That’s something you can be proud of.

In a marketing context, engagement is the first step toward actually accomplishing your goals with social media. Want to drive website traffic? You need to get someone to click. Want to build awareness? That’s where sharing comes in.

It all starts with engaging, but there are also several other benefits.

Influences Algorithm

Achieving organic social media marketing success isn’t impossible, but it is much harder than a decade ago. Regardless of platform, what your audience sees is determined by an algorithm.

Social media algorithms see engagement as a vote of confidence. The more people engage, the better the content and the more it should be shared.

Increases Brand Awareness and Discoverability

The better you do with social media algorithms, the more likely your content will appear in explore/discovery feeds and be seen by new people. New people mean new potential audience members and, more importantly, customers.

Fosters Trust and Sense of Community

Algorithm aside, engagement is what makes social media social. It’s how you form a personal connection with your audience and build trust.

How to Increase Social Media Engagement

Now that you know why social media engagement matters, how can you boost it for your brand? Here are six tips you can follow.

1. Cater to the platform culture.

To leave the biggest mark and earn the highest social media engagement, publish content that feels natural and specific to that platform.

2. Post consistently.

Social media content has a short shelf-life, so you need to consistently post high-quality, relevant content to stay in front of your audience and engage them.

3. Ask questions.

Questions are like conversational calls to action — they tell your audience what you want them to do next, and sometimes that’s all the convincing they need.

4. Host a giveaway or contest.

Hosting a contest or giveaway incentivizes engagement, making people more willing to participate.

5. Use humor.

Humorous content delivers more ROI than any other type and can make your brand feel more ‘human.’

6. Collaborate with relevant brands and influencers.

Influencer marketing can deliver better ROI than other channels and help with discoverability, reach, and social proof.

Engage to Elevate Your Social Media

Social media engagement isn’t just a numbers game — it’s the heartbeat of your brand’s online presence — or the life of the party, if you will. Treat it like a conversation over cocktails, and you’ll turn passive followers into active participants, loyal customers, and even brand advocates.