Utilizing social media for your business to build brand awareness is a beautiful thing.

In 2014, statistics show that 72% of all Internet users were active on social media, with 1.15 billion being on Facebook, 1 Billion on Google +, and 550 million registered on Twitter. That is a lot of posting, sharing, commenting and tweeting. No wonder businesses are quick to jump on the social bandwagon to start sharing their ideas and products.

Posting actively on all platforms keeps followers in the know and active with your brand. However, some businesses falter with their reach because of lack of engagement. Posting daily about your business isn’t going to cut it these days. What the followers want is engagement. They want to know that there is a human on the other end who cares about their questions, comments and thoughts. When you engage with your followers on social, it keeps them coming back for more, whether it’s purchases or content.

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Are you stuck on how to really engage with your followers? Hopefully my simple tips for creating better engagement can help you out.

1. Answer all reviews, whether negative or positive.

Your business’s Facebook page allows not only followers to comment on your posts, but to make posts to your page. Whether praising your business, or making “constructive criticism”, any and all comments need to be addressed. In this digital world, not many people are calling the customer service lines anymore. Customers and followers are going straight to their social profiles to practice Social Care (the act of customer service on social media). When you answer positive reviews, this let’s people know how much you appreciate their following and business. A simple ‘Thank You’ can turn someone into a loyal follower, who will recommend you out to their family and friends. Answering negative reviews and complaints can be a bit trickier, but it needs to be done. Answering the follower within a 24 hour period and trying to get to the root of their problem can ease some tension. They’ll notice you were quick to respond, and try and help. Also, this make you look good publicly. Other followers will see that you’ve reached out and are eager to help. A great response to a negative review would be;

“I’m sorry you weren’t happy with your new headphones Shelia. If you could please private message me, we can dig deeper into your order to try and find a solution.”

Also, give our last blog post a read to see how negative reviews can actually benefit you.

2. Post with the 80/20 rule.

The whole point of posting with an 80/20 rule is to create a fun following that will keep coming back for more. 80% of your social posts should be non-self promoted. I know this sounds crazy to some, but people want to read and see things they can relate to. The whole point of social is to socialize, so 80% can spark great conversations, which will lead to higher engagement. The 80% can be related to your industry, but the main goal is to create brand awareness. 20% of your posting will be your promotions and products. A well run business page posts with the 80/20 rule. Don’t be afraid to be silly once in a while either, or use trending topics to your advantage! A great example is what Dunkin Donuts did with “The Dress”.

dunkin donuts - retweets

That’s a lot of retweets!

3. Use hashtags to your advantage.

Yes, hashtags are exciting. It’s silly to make up your own and be creative on a personal page, but from a marketing standpoint, they are very useful. The hashtag is a search tool, an organizer, an engager, and a conversation starter. You can also find potential followers/customers through hashtag search. If you’re a company who sells surfboards and you want to up your following, all you have to do is search relevant hashtags to your business (#surfgear #swells #paddleout) and start a conversation with those people, whether it be a reply or a simple retweet. Followers will love that you went out of your way as a busy business to engage with their tweet. Make up a hashtag that’s relevant to your brand, and encourage fans to use them so you know when they’re posting about your products. Hashtags work extremely well for Twitter and Instagram. They can be used on Facebook, but engagement wise, the best would be with tweets and insta posts.

4. Post visuals/videos.

Images and videos are currently #winning when it comes to social posting, especially ones with cats. When people are on their social accounts scrolling through rapidly, either on mobile or a desktop, you need to give them something that quickly catches their eye to stop and see what’s up. Visuals do just that for your posts. Make sure your visuals and videos are optimized and size appropriate for whatever platform you’re using, and watch the engagement happen. The follower is more willing to stop and comment or like a photo/video that they can relate to. It gives them more to work with than just words. In fact, tweets with images receive 18% more clicks, 89% more favorites and 150% more retweets! (Source)

5. Implement promotions.

There isn’t a person who doesn’t love the word FREE. People love free stuff, and also a little friendly sport. Contests and promotions can up your social following and engagement. Hold a contest in real time that’s easy for followers to enter for a chance to win some free swag from your company, or one of your products. Contests where the winner is chosen based off of talent, creativity and humor is the best. There are some great tools out their to help you set up a professional social promotion as well, one of them being Short Stack.

If you stick to these tips for a while and keep up the engagement, you will see all green arrows on your next analytics report.

About the Author

Denise Casagrande, Vice President of Marketing at PCG, is passionate about humanizing brands across social channels. She feels the connection businesses can make with their clients can be ever-lasting based off of the messages they're displaying through content. Creator of the Automotive Social Media Sales Funnel.