Not everyone has the budget to spend out on social media advertising. But there is a small organic way to hack the social media algorithms and get your posts seen by more people… it’s called engagement!

Engagements come in many forms – likes, reactions, shares, comments, saves, video views, link clicks, retweets, pins… But all of them count towards your channel’s overall engagement, and it’s that engagement that turns fans and followers into customers and brand advocates.

Make your content engaging

This sounds obvious but before you create a post, think to yourself: ‘why would my audience engage with this?’. So many brands go into writing social media posts with their business at the forefront of their minds. But when you’re sharing something with your audience, you should be creating this content with them in mind first!

If you’re not sure what will pique their interest, do some research. People love to have their say… just keep your questions simple! You could ask your audience questions using social media polls or quizzes. Run social media competitions where to enter, they have to comment with what their favourite product or service is.

We recommend using emoji and a clear call-to-action in all your posts, even engagement-focused ones. You could ask people what they’re up to or something about an element of the image you’re sharing. A good example would be a pub posting a picture of some delicious chips and asking what sauce people prefer to have with them. These kinds of captions will prompt them to comment, without begging them or demanding it outright. It should also spark conversation between commenters, so you can sit back and watch the engagement roll in!

See where the party’s at

Look to other brands in your industry and see what works for them engagement-wise. If lots of people are liking, commenting on or sharing a post – can you take some inspiration from that post and use it in your own way?

This also applies for hashtags. If your posts are getting zero engagement, but someone else’s are buzzing, try using some of their hashtags. Remember – the optimum number of hashtags on Insta is 11. Anything over this and it can be seen to be spammy and irrelevant, meaning more people will avoid your post!

Engage yourself!

We’ve talked before on the SCS blog about why it’s important to react quickly to comments and messages on social. That’s because it’s vital that you’re not just repeatedly churning out promotional content and marketing messages. You also need to be keeping a conversation going with your audience and responding to any questions they have. Engaging with them will not only increase customer loyalty but should also bring more repeat business.

Make it aesthetic

Text-only posts are a thing of the past. All your posts should have eye-catching imagery if you want them to get noticed in the feed. Your page or profile should also look appealing when people come to visit. Keep your social media feed coherent – use your branding and a similar colour palette on all your posts.

Video is huge right now too and it doesn’t need to be high production value either. Using Facebook Live or Instagram Stories can get loads of people engaging, especially if it’s a Q&A session or a ‘how-to’. Better still, why not collaborate on a video with someone who has a large social following themselves? Then you double the chances of engagement!

Post regularly

Finally, you need to keep posting regularly. Engagement naturally drops when you go quiet on social media and this will have an impact on how many people see your posts. We recommend once a day where possible, especially on Instagram Stories.

If you’re really busy and could use a hand with posting, we have a team of expert Social Media Managers who are on-hand, ready to help!

Contact us today to find out more about our services…