Post Tags

Social Media Marketing: 5 Steps to Engaging Your Facebook Following

 

The main goal of any business’ Facebook page is to generate buzz about the business and their products/services while engaging their target market, right?  Nod your head, right.  While many businesses have this in mind when staging content for their pages, something seems to get lost between what they are trying to express in their posts and what their followers get out of it, leading to lonely content without shares, likes or comments.  Here is a quick run through of how to create social media content that will not only convey what you want but also engage your target market.

Denver social media marketing, Revenue River

Step 1: Know Your Brand

Before you type in a single word, you need to be sure to have a strong understanding of your brand and its image.  When performing Denver social media marketing services working with and posting for different clients, I like to take some time to make sure that I understand what kind of image each of them strive to convey, through studying their websites, current social media pages (if available) as well as any other public information posted from the company.  By doing this before posting any content, you are able to create a mental framework of what your business stands for and its image through the eyes of your target market.

Step 2: Know Your Audience

Now that you have a solid understanding of the image you would like your content to portray, it’s time to better understand your audience.  This is where a good social media dashboard can make all the difference with analytics tabs and reports telling you vital demographic information including age, gender and geographics.  Insights gleaned from this data can vary from learning when/if to use pop culture references to narrowing down specific word choices in order to best connect with your target.

Step 3: Know What You Want to Say

Now that you know who you are and who you’re connecting with, it’s time to start figuring out what you want to say.  In my eyes, there are about three different ways to successfully engage people with social media marketing: Open-ended questions, Bold statements, and Calls to action.

Open-ended questions- These are just as they sound, questions you ask your following that are meant to elicit some sort of response that goes beyond a “Yes” or a “No.”  These don’t necessarily have to be about your business or product, but can also be about something going on in the world at that particular moment, ranging from something happening within your industry to a pop-culture reference.  Again, knowing which one of these to post comes down to knowing your audience.

Bold statements- These statements are meant to garner a bit of “shock and awe” when used correctly.  They are largely opinion based and should be used on a topic that is relevant to your audience that naturally fosters conversation without controversy. 

Call to action- Here is where you tell your followers to do something, whether it be follow a link (see below), participate in an offer or survey, or perhaps share or “like” your status to agree with something you’re saying (“Like” this status if you’re happy it’s Friday!).

Step 4: Know How to Say It

Just like in life, variety in your wall posts is key to digital marketing success.  Attaching a picture that helps describe what you’re trying to say, inserting a link to a story or page your post is explaining as well as emphasizing key words with capitalization and punctuation can make all the difference when it comes to creating engaging content.  People don’t want to scroll through a wall filled with bland, text-filled posts.  They want to see something different!  They want to see interesting photos that pose questions of their own!  They want to see a link to an interesting page!  They want to see key words POP OUT at them!  Simple measures like these capture curious eyes and invite people to connect with your page.

Step 5: Analyze and Perfect

Even when you follow these first 4 steps, people aren’t always going to respond.  Don’t fret!  Social media marketing is not an exact science and there are many different factors that can effect the virality of your posts including when the content was posted, what type of device you are using to engage your followers (O-E. Question, Bold Statement, or Call to Action), as well as the content itself.  This is where a social media dashboard’s analytics and reports tabs or Facebook’s “Insights” link is so crucial.  Both tools allow you to not only see the number of people your posts are reaching but also the number of people your content engages.  This is your best friend, so dedicate a few minutes every day to see how your past posts are doing, what content is and isn’t working as well as when during the day you’re seeing the most responses.

While these 5 steps may seem obvious, many businesses suffer from lackluster social media campaigns because they overlook the simple things!  So the next time you’re planning on staging content for your business, remember the 5 steps and soon you won’t just be updating your status, you’ll be interacting with your following!

 

Social Media Guide, Social Media Marketing Denver, Social Media Denver