4 basic things you should do to level up your brand’s social media game

You know your target audience and you know when they are online, but getting them to actually engage in your content and comment on your posts can be quite a challenge.

Whether you measure engage­ment rate or reach or both in com­bination with other metrics, en­gagement KPIs are often in the center of social media marketing analytics.

To level up your social media game, you need to play your cards rights.

For many social media marke­ters, engagement is a tough and time consuming challenge. Com­munication in social media is a two-way street, therefor, investing time in your brand’s presence on social platforms is a prerequisite of an efficient social and content marketing strategy that drives engagement.

To increase engagement, in terms of comments, likes and shares, whether it is on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or other platforms, there are some basic things you should be doing before moving on to more advanced techniques.

Encourage conversation

Community management is a cru­cial part of your brand’s online re­putation and includes everything from answering questions from your customers to generating new conversations. Once you set up a social media account on a plat­form, your customers or clients expect you to be available there. Replying to comments is not only about community management, it is also about building a stronger bond between you and your audi­ence and giving your brand a per­sonality.

Keep tabs on trending topics

While always focusing on keeping the conversation around your own brand going, try to also spend some time every day checking out current trends and hot topics.

What are some trending topics in your niche or industry? Create a list of relevant hashtags that you will follow on a regular basis and see what people are actually tal­king about. Don’t be afraid of jum­ping into conversations, even if it is not a direct question or mention of your brand.

When you put your brand out there, you also make it visible to a larger audience and in the long run it will increase your following.

Think like a journalist

When you start thinking like a jour­nalist you start focusing on your audience more than your brand. While the brand voice should always shine through and be consistent across all channels, you sometimes also need to stir emo­tions and curiousity to catch the at­tention of your audience, no matter if they are at the top of the sales funnel or at the bottom.

Content marketing is about storytelling and adding value. By thinking like a journalist, you stay focused on your target group and what is relevant for them.

Stick to the communication guidelines but don’t be afraid of addressing topics that are a little more towards the controversial side, to ignite a fire and get your followers to actually engage in your social media posts in a real way.
Ask yourself what your audien­ce would be interested in and what challenges they are currently fa­cing that you could address when creating your content.

Add value to your audience

Real engagement often only oc­curs when there is real, quality con­tent. Engagement bait, contests and discounts might temporarily increase your following or reach, but it is not a sustainable long-term strategy.

To grow your presence in social media you need to invest in quality content, where quality is more im­portant that quantity. Find ways to add value or new insights to your customers, in order to make them want to choose you and not your competitors.