8 Tips to Create [More] Engaging Social Media Content and Drive Results

There are nearly four billion people using social media platforms around the world. This means - that in theory - there are billions of people on the internet at this very moment looking for you. What a fun thought! The opportunity to connect with each and every one of your precious followers and people in search of your very offering is endless. The challenge, of course, lies in gaining their attention over everyone else’s.

As a business, you already know that you’re competing with an inundated audience of followers receiving notifications from other brands, posts or comments from their friends, DMs from their family, and spam from, well, anyone. The key to ranking above the rest is to create meaningful and engaging connections on your platforms, and while it is a challenge, it is possible and will be what grows your brand.

In this article, we provide you with 8 detailed tips and tricks on how to engage with your audience in an authentic way and teach you how to attract more followers in your target audience who are looking to engage with the type of content you offer.

1. Look and Learn From Your Analytics

Taking a look at the insights offered directly on social media platforms, as well as using a tool that analyzes for you is a great way to make sure that what you’re posting is working. Using this tool can help you get a better sense of what resonates better for your followers, and be an indication of what you should post more of. Let's be real, while there is an art and science to social media marketing, a lot of the guessing and mystery of what your audience needs is as simple as looking at a few numbers and graphs. Don’t create blindly and take advantage of the tools you have.

2. Let’s Get Visual

We’re visual creatures, first. The truth of living in 2022 is that we are inundated with as much information in a single day as was discovered in the year 2003! A whole year! We want less while getting more, so clear and concise imagery and messages with exactly the right information needs to be above the fold when creating a piece of content. Additionally, it's ambitious to think that people will scroll down on longer-form captions (try and leave that for the blog or email marketing) so unless they're captivated within the first second or two, it's likely that they'll keep it moving.

3. Invest in Curated and Product / Brand Specific Photography

Stock photography - while necessary in some cases- does not perform as well as brand-specific photography. If the key is to be more authentic, then you have to put your money where your mouth is, and one easy way to do that is to invest in photography that really speaks to your brand. We understand that budgets can be low, and brands need to be scrappy. We also understand that the goal here is to win. Look into learning tools available to you, such as the high-definition camera on your smartphone, as well as editing tools like Photoshop. This type of lo-fi photography can be created in-house with lots of ambition and perhaps a little help from YouTube.

4. Got a blog? A website? Add Social Media Buttons to Your Email Newsletters

It’s common to think of social media and email as competing marketing channels but they actually work hand-in-hand. One great way to use them together is to add social media buttons to your email newsletters. Again, we’re visual creatures, so these buttons stand out from the text in an attractive, eye-catching way and drive your email traffic exactly where they need to go.

5. Create Evergreen Content from Your Website or Blog, and Add a CTA

If you're able to capture and summarize what someone is able to find on your website on a social media post, it's likely that they will click to learn more. It’s important to always add a call to action because people can't find you unless you tell them where to find you.

6. Share Real-Life Examples, Testimonials, and Reviews

Word of mouth is a powerful tool that is underutilized, and with the world moving away from traditional advertising messaging, your pool of customers or clients are great advocates for your brand. If they use your product, and better yet, they love it, nudge them to share their experience. It's likely that you will convert sales better from someone who has told a friend about your product over someone who sees a print or website ad.

7. Be Timely, Relevant, and Part of the Conversation

An easy way to engage more meaningfully is to socially listen. There are many tools you can use that can help you keep up with what’s trending, and you can use the search pages on your social media channels to find popular hashtags, topics, trends, and topics.

A word of warning: do not hop on every bandwagon just because it’s trending. Make sure to ask yourself (or your team) if it aligns with your brand’s messaging and mission. There will always be more current affairs and pop culture references to jump on, so use this tip with discretion!

8. Host Takeovers and Contests

Implementing an influencer or micro-influencer strategy with a brand ambassador is a great way to have someone who will advocate for your brand share it on their pages. Contests are an easy way to grow your audience and gain tons of engagement. You can encourage your audience to like, comment, and share to join, and even ask them to tag a friend who will then follow your page for more opportunities to win.