When followers aren’t enough: Taking your social media presence a notch higher through engagement

All social media efforts of many aspiring influencers are geared towards getting more followers. Some connect with other influencers within their niche to vie for a guest post spot and get exposure, while others take a shot at creating content that has the potential to go viral.

But what they don’t know is that building an audience is just the first phase in creating a social media circle. What’s more important is getting your audience to engage to your brand. After all, a mere audience doesn’t help make sales, an engaged audience does.

An engaged audience is one that pays attention to your brand because you have cultivated a deeper relationship with them. For instance, you managed to secure your follower base by getting a more successful influencer to promote you. Your work does not stop there. By now, the ball is rolling towards your court, and it’s your turn to give the audience what they need. No matter how much other influencers promote you, if you don’t do your part, your followers will trickle out of your circle one by one.

The question now is, how do you keep your audience engaged? Unfortunately, there is no step-by-step method, since every business is different in its own right. Depending on your brand, there are some things that can help you gain traction in the social sphere.

One of the easiest ways to do this is through asking questions to encourage participation. Many brands are already using this technique, but not all of them know the real power of asking.

For instance, a small stationery company could ask, “Which of our designs is your favorite?” This will surely gain a lot of responses from followers. While it’s nice to know which styles are fan favorites, they won’t be very useful for you in the bigger picture. A better question would be, “What are your style ideas for our next stationery design?” Not only will it be useful for the company, but it will also help spur user-generated content that will make your audience feel that they have a “say” in your brand.

Similarly, you should also answer the questions of your fans. Simply replying to them, even if you don’t know the answer, can help them feel that you care about them. This is especially true for celebrities, as those who are known to be good to their fans are also the ones with the highest number of following. A question and answer platform that helps fans and celebrities connect with each other is MobioINsider. Celebrities like Bella Thorne, Paul Wesley, and Cristiano Ronaldo have quite a following on the site, thanks to their regular updates and outstanding communication with their fans.

Opening contests every once in a while is also a great way to boost engagement as well as give back to your community. It can also be used as a leverage with other companies to secure sponsorship deals, providing you with free merchandise to give away as part of the competition. Sharing photos and posts and getting the most number of likes and comments are examples of common contest ideas. However, be careful not to overuse this technique, as constant posting and reposting about the contest can easily spam other people’s feeds, leading them to unfollow you or opt out of your mailing list.

Posting useful content for your followers has been said time and time again, but its importance cannot be stressed enough. Focus on creating content that benefits readers and avoid hard selling your brand. Aside from creating blog posts to deliver your content, you may also use other interesting media like photos, videos, and podcasts.

Moreover, use every interaction as an opportunity to connect with your audience on a more personal level by using their names and employing a conversational tone. This will set you apart from all the other social media rockstar wannabes out there who are only looking after themselves and not their communities.

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