Do you feel like your blog, website, and social media accounts are one-sided conversations where you’re saying a lot but not getting any response back? If so, it’s a sign of low brand engagement. Whether you’re a marketer, small business owner, or entrepreneur, now is the time to boost engagement levels to grow your brand and, in turn, grow professionally.
What You Might Be Doing Wrong
If you’re unsure where you’re going wrong on social media or on your own platform, think about what you’re sending out content-wise. Is it always about yourself or are you taking time to ask questions and find out about your audience?
If you’re making it all “me, me, me,” that’s a turnoff online just as much as it would be on a first date in-person. Instead, welcome those who are reading your profile or clicking on your link and actively engage with them.
Measuring Brand Engagement
When it comes to engagement online, how exactly do you measure it? Here are some examples:
- Likes
- Retweets
- Shares
- Comments
Don’t forget about click-throughs too on your content. If you notice a lot of referrals to your website from Twitter, then keep posting similar content as your audience seems to like it!
How to Engage as a Brand Successfully
On social media, your website, and everywhere else online where you have the potential to meet customers, follow the tips below to increase brand engagement, with the goal to boost future sales.
Don’t be Overly Pushy
In past decades, reaching out to the target audience was always about selling products or services. Today, that’s not always the case.
Instead, you might have a whole conversation with someone on Facebook or using community software with the goal to build trust and loyalty. Even if you don’t make a sale right then and there, you will be on their mind when they are ready to buy the product or service you have for sale.
Have a Goal
When it comes to brand engagement, define your goal. While your long-term goal is to boost profit for the long-term success of your business, how do you plan to use social and website or blog content to positively affect your business?
Examples of goals are:
- Make your brand well known
- Change your brand
- Find leads
- Nurture leads
- Learn how people view your product/service
That list is by no means exhaustive. Think about your primary goal and, once you decide on it, then you are positioning your company to increase engagement.
Know Who You’re Talking To
If you don’t know your audience, then how can you speak to them in a way they’re going to listen to? In other words, find out the needs and wants of your target audience so you can post what they want to see.
Thus, before you even post anything new, identify your typical customer if you haven’t already done so. After all, you can’t target everyone.
When you do audience research, find out what they like, their values, behaviors, lifestyle, and more. Taking the time and effort to do so will provide you with insights into your potential customers, thus allowing you to provide solutions to their pain points.
Speak to their needs and personality in your online content to get the dialogue flowing with them. For instance, if you determine that your target audience loves self-help tips, then include this topic in your company blog or on Instagram posts.
Final Tips on Increasing Brand Engagement
Keep your pulse on the news to keep up with what’s popular and use it in a timely way to boost online conversations. In the lead up to Christmas, for example, post a clever message that indicates how your product is helping reduce stress or helping them in another way through the busy season.
Lastly, plan time in your day for social media. Spend half of your time responding to messages there and the other half being proactive by seeking out leads and posting new content.
When you start to post regularly, you’ll likely find engagement higher on some platforms than others. Decide where to spend the most time based on the results, whether to abandon any channels and which types of posts get the most engagement from your audience.
As you watch your online network grow over time, continue to do what’s working well for you and even hire a marketing team if you have the resources, if that makes sense. Cheers to quality engagement!
