Social Media Community Engagement: Why and How

Recognizing the power of social media, particularly in the world of business and marketing, is a no-brainer in 2021, the era of smartphones and rapidly evolving technology.

Image by Oberlo

As the number of social media users grows year after year, reaching nearly half of the population, online presence and social media visibility are becoming especially prominent for businesses to thrive in their corresponding competitive markets.

High-speed Internet, smart devices, and the newly added factor of increased social media use, isolation, and physical social distancing are all contributing factors.

Sumeet Anand describes the current COVID-19 pandemic as a “catalyst” that further adds to the statistics.

Not only do individuals spend more time on social media, but the number of businesses that employ social media marketing for better results is also noteworthy.

Anyone may effortlessly set up an account on their preferred social media platform and begin developing their brand or image.

The same situation is relevant for businesses, no matter big or small.

However, is it good enough to have a social media community?

What are the metrics for measuring the success of a social media community?

Is the amount of followers and likes sufficient to generate profit, which is the primary goal?

To Know Is To Engage!

Nope! A small number of followers and likes is not the end of the world, and your business is not deemed “unsuccessful” if you do not earn enough shares on your postings.

In reality, not all of these figures should be in the forefront of your thoughts while you prepare your marketing efforts.

The most crucial aspect of social media marketing is to get the utmost engagement.

8traordinary elaborates on this matter by expressing how social media engagement or participation transcends number of followers.

It is not how many people are following you but how are they interested to know more and be proud to interact with what you have to offer.

Therefore, instead of focusing exclusively on raising those figures, focus on how to develop an engaging community.

Why Social Media Engagement Matters

Social media involvement is extremely powerful, and businesses should not underestimate it.

Here is why it matters for a clear picture and better analysis of the importance of an engaging social media community on a brand or business’s image.

Customer Royalty

Social media is a platform to connect, share personal interests, and become linked to the things that are just right for us.

Customers are more likely to follow brands with whom they have had prior experience or involvement.

An engaging social media strategy will thrive on this sense of loyalty and connection, as people will be more compelled to participate in dialogues and interactions.

In other words, an engaging social media approach helps keep your leads because they are less likely to leave as followers if they are given fascinating content to engage with.

Engaging social media approach also significantly helps to keep your company or brand’s image imprinted in your followers’ minds.

Be the first to come to mind!

Brand Awareness

Retaining the sense of royalty from existing leads or people who have had previous interactions with your business is essential but it does not stop there.

To expand your brand, you must always grow and move forward; increasing your circle of “fans” is vital. An engaging social media approach is the promising way to achieve this goal.

When a potential audience comes across your business profile, they will spend a few moments scrolling through it, especially for Instagram users. The first few seconds are rather crucial.

The key goal is to gain new followers by making them feel drawn to remain and learn more.

Make sure they have something fun to discover and interact with!

Shows Credibility

Engaging content that is more than product promotions and sales purposes will eventually show your brand’s credibility.

Intrigued followers who interact with your posts and join in conversations will be the living proof of how your page is deserving of attention.

Preparing content that are both relevant to your brand and interesting to your audience gives the idea that you know what you are doing and that is all potential customers need, they will put their trust on you.

How To Deliver An Engaging Social Media Approach

Setting Up Definite Goals

Infographics by Brent Barnhart via SproutSocial

First and foremost, it is critical that you always begin with clear and attainable goals.

Goals that have been carefully determined and established will undoubtedly take centre stage in the creation of your engaging social media strategy.

The SMART goal technique is by far the most ideal to use, especially if you are having difficulty focusing on what is most important for your social media community to prosper.

Sproutsocial has shared a free SMART goal template available here.

Aim To Give Value

Giving your company a human face is the smartest thing you can do, especially in this day and age when people have better judgments and seek for a more humanitarian side to their favorite brands.

Always remember that there is more to it than just trying to generate revenue; we are aiming for something perpetual.

To make your followers stay engaged, a reason should be given. Tips, entertainment and educational content are just a few to name.

From our article entitled “Marketing Strategies To Fuel Your Business Growth: Optimal Use of Social Media”, we have mentioned the significance of being authentic which shows how you care for them.

We used Converse as an example to demonstrate how they value diversity and take a strong stance on societal issues that are important to their audience.

Aside from pumping out content that will benefit your audience, displaying empathy and showing your audience how much you care about them are two more instances of “values” to provide.

Know Your Audience

Every social media expert’s advice in striving for effective strategies would be to know who your audience are.

Previously, we discussed about SEO, which works around the idea of collecting data from your audience in order to understand their demographics and backgrounds.

The aspects that are important to gather information of according to Informatics are:

-Age
-Gender
-Geographic Location
-Interests & Behaviors

Get to know your audience and the rest will follow!

There are several analytics tools that will help you obtain data about your audience, and we have highlighted a number of them in our article, “Core of Online Presence Engagement: Understanding Analytics”.

As always, this is to take cognizance of tailoring your idea and content to suit your target audience.

This will not only keep them from leaving, but it will also make them happy to tell others about your page.

To wrap it up, high and meaningful engagement is the root for successful social media marketing strategy.

While the goal to gain as many follower as you can is reasonable, putting effort in knowing and giving your audience, what they want to see and interact with will definitely give more in return.

Apart from the mentioned strategies, choosing the best platform for your content is a cherry on top.

According to an infographic by SocialPilot, Instagram is chosen by many as the best platform for social media engagement especially for its features that allow media such images and videos to be shared in a more efficient way.

Infographics by Gaurav Sharma via SocialPilot

Then again, it is all up to your strategy to choose from – choose what is best for your brand and image!