8 Hacks to Increase Your Engagement on Social Media

September 18, 2018
3:25 pm

Posted by DMA Solutions Team

According to Pew Research Center research, in 2018 74% of Facebook users say they visit the site daily, with around 51% saying they do several times a day. 60% of Instagram users also say they access the platform daily. So how can you create opportunities to capture engagement from all of those people each time they scroll through their Instagram feed looking for pictures of cats and most importantly, FOOD? It’s possible to increase your engagement on social in a tactical way that will foster brand loyalty and intrigue new users to hit follow.

Understand Your Audience

First and foremost, the key to getting better engagement is to first understand who it is that’s engaging with you. Use social media insights to learn when your audience is online the most, which will allow you to post at more effective times for engagement. You can also learn about your audience’s interests and craft engaging content that will appeal to them beyond simply sharing recipes.

Go Live

Facebook and Instagram live videos are a great way to connect with your audience. There are several ways to use live streaming to your advantage; during company culture or community events go live to showcase behind the scenes and give a face to the brand. Chat sessions are also an entertaining way to create engagement. Before going live, send out a post announcing that you will be answering questions in a live chat session. This gives you access to real queries instantly and can act as a tool to answer other questions from social media.

Create Polls

Polls allow you to see what is on the minds of the people who purchase your products. For example, if you wish to know if people prefer to cook with lemons or clementines, a one-day poll creates an opportunity for users to be heard. The poll results are shown to your audience while the poll is running. This is a great tactic to also get the social audience discussing their preferences.

Create a Branded Hashtag

We’re all familiar with hashtags, but branded hashtags can encourage users to post their own content and stories using your brand’s unique tag in the hopes that they will be featured on your social pages. You have to go ALL IN on your brand hashtag in order for this to be effective, however. Be sure to include the branded tag on your social platform bios so users can see it when visiting your pages.

Post User-Generated Content

Imagine if you tagged one of your brand crushes in an Instagram post and they added it to their story. You would be really excited, right? It’s not hard to understand that people love to feel included and heard. Whether you incentivize them to give you content with a giveaway or you just give them an opportunity to be featured, your audience will participate for a chance to be acknowledged. This is a great way to use your branded hashtag and feature your favorite user-generated posts on your social pages and stories, tagging the people who provided them to you to make them feel loved.

Ask Questions in Your Captions

Asking questions in your captions is an authentic way to let your audience know you are open to a dialogue with them. People like to share their opinions and experiences around your products. This can be as simple as asking them what recipes they like to make with your product. We also encourage you to consider asking other questions that show you are interested in your audiences’ lives and interest. For example, “Mini Book Club! What is your favorite book on your summer reading list?”

Ask for Feedback and Reviews

This can be a bit tricky because you will have to be open to the idea of receiving a not-so-stellar review, but if you lead with a positive voice, chances are you will get positive responses back. Just be intentional in the way that you ask – “If you love our avocados write us a review!” You can also ask for users to send examples of delicious meals they cook using your product as reviews. Should a negative review come through, be prepared with a helpful reply.

Host Giveaways and Contests

Giveaways and contests can help to boost likes, comments and shares easily based on the prize. Brand swag and product is always good to include when looking to create a giveaway opportunity. You can also partner with influencers on giveaways to spread the word. Simply post to your Instagram, Facebook or Twitter announcing the opportunity to win one of your products. Include a high-quality picture in the post. Giveaways with high-quality images are more likely to catch the eye of the user and have better performance.

It is never too hard to reach your audience if you use the right tactics to engage them. Creating content that inspires a response, like, click or share is the key to increasing your engagement, and thus increasing your community.