Anyone can create a social media profile, but the key to a really great profile is engagement! Fostering engagement is not an easy task, and it does take daily commitment, but you will see a tremendous amount of growth on your profiles even from just spending 30 minutes of engagement a day. Keep in mind that engagement on different platforms can vary drastically. For example, engagement rates on Instagram are approximately more than six times higher than those on Facebook. The following tips are a great place to start for all social media engagement, but adjustments may need to be made for each of the different platforms (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Tiktok, Youtube) to get the best results.
What is Social Media Engagement?
Social media engagement is the sum of all of the likes, comments, and shares you receive on your profile. When someone just views your social profile, it doesn’t do much for you. But, when someone ENGAGES with your profile, it not only helps with the algorithms but also makes your page look more active to other viewers
You may be wondering: how do I make people engage with my profile? The answer is easy: YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW. You receive engagement by participating with engagement. Now, that isn’t the only way, but it’s a great place to start. High-quality and valuable content is the most important part of getting people to engage on your posts, but not being a “ghost” follower is also key! The thing is, everyone wants something in return whether they admit it or not. Especially when you are starting out, followers aren’t going to take the time to like or comment on your posts unless you reciprocate the gesture. Engaging with people you may not know on social media can be awkward at first, but luckily, we have some tips to help you through it!
Create a Daily Checklist
One of the key factors to creating effective engagement is consistency. Some people believe they only need to engage when they make a post, but the truth is, your followers are smarter than that. If they notice this relationship is only one-sided when you need it, they won’t feel the need to engage with your content anymore. That’s why setting aside time to engage DAILY is important. Ideally, you want about an hour of engagement on each platform a day, but that is A LOT of commitment. When you are just starting out, 30 minutes a day can still help boost your profile. We recommend the following checklist:
Reply to all comments and messages on your profile
Engage with 5 large accounts
Engage with 5 small accounts
Engage on hashtags/explore pages
Put Actual Thought Into Your Comments
One of the biggest pet peeves of engagement is comments that have no value. Generally, these comments are the ones with a couple of emojis. The problem with this is that it doesn’t feel genuine. People put a lot of work into their content and want genuine comments and feedback, not just people who feel like engagement is something “they have to do”. Find topics or companies that you have a valid interest in or that make sense to collaborate within your business. Take the time to actually read through the post and give your genuine thoughts on it. You’d be surprised how a genuine and valuable comment can spark a really great conversation. (And then sometimes a follow-up message or email!) We know emoji comments aren’t completely avoidable because sometimes creators ask you to drop an emoji in the comments, but even adding one word or a short phrase can make a difference.
Be Smart About When You Engage
Your account will eventually grow your follower numbers, and these followers can be anywhere in the world. So sometimes when you post you may not get a lot of activity, but when you wake up your post could be booming. Engaging before and after your post goes out can help smooth out this gap of low activity. Although both times are important, engaging after your post is a necessity. Your post can easily get lost in the mix, especially with people who follow thousands of accounts. When you comment on someone’s post after your post goes out, generally they will click on your profile, see you have a new post, and give it a like or a comment. If you only have 30 minutes a day to engage, then be smart about when you do it. Separate 10 minutes of engagement throughout your day so you can hit ALL your followers!
Turn On Notifications for Accounts
After you’ve been engaging for a while, you come to know your “go-to” accounts. These accounts are the ones that you know you comment on EVERY one of their posts and they comment on all of yours. These are great and you need to keep those relationships up. But, what about those huge accounts that have hundreds of comments and you feel like you may never be seen? The key: turn on post notifications. Turning on notifications will allow you to be notified every time they make a post and you have the potential to be one of the first people to comment on it. The benefit of this is that generally, people are active on their socials right after they post so they will likely see your comment right away and give you some recognition. To turn on post notifications on Instagram follow these steps:
Go to the profile you want to be notified for
Click the bell at the top right corner
Turn on notifications for all of their content
Don't Get Stuck in Your Feed
You may find after a while that the same people comment and like all of your posts. This isn’t a bad thing, but you may be wondering how to reach the people you don’t follow already or who don’t follow you. The hashtag and explore pages are a great way to boost this! When you stay within your feed, the algorithm is going to keep pushing the same people you interact with every day. Head to different hashtag pages to find content from people everywhere to help boost your reach and possibly gain new followers. The steps to do this are:
Go to the explore page (the magnifying glass at the bottom)
Type niche-specific keywords in the search bar
Click “tags”
Choose a hashtag
Click "recent"
Scroll and engage
It's better to explore the most recent posts because these will be fresh posts with low likes and comments which is better for you to stand out!
Include a CTA and Answer EVERY Comment (Even the Emoji Ones)
Finally, one of the BIGGEST ways to boost engagement is to provide a call-to-action (CTA). Not everyone is outgoing or creative and they need a little help on what to say. Your posts should include a CTA to tell your followers what you want them to do. Do you want them to drop a comment or share your post? If gaining comments is your goal, it’s best to assist them in what to comment on. Ask them a question or tell them to say something with a certain emoji. This helps people who are too scared to comment because it helps guide them on what to say. If you are getting lots of comments, don’t forget to like and reply on every single one of them. Yes, that includes the ones with little emojis too. Not only is commenting back important to building relationships, but it also helps with your algorithm
Engagement can be awkward at first, but we promise once you get it going, it really does become fun. Daily engagement is a great way to not only boost your profile likes, comments, and followers, but it’s also a great way to build genuine relationships with similar people. You never know where one comment can take you! If you need help with your engagement strategy, we’ve got you covered! Reach out to 30|90 Marketing today to see how we can help boost your engagement strategy.
