Social media is a wonderful tool in the marketing mix for any business. Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, Facebook, Pinterest and more are likely to be daily platforms for many of your customers, stakeholders and employees – so be sure to know how to use them well.

By making the most of your presence on social media – you’ll be able to drive awareness of your offer – whether its products or services – and ensure that you reach your target audiences.

Effective use of social media will help you to increase your reach and your followers – and customers, so follow some of these simple steps to increase your engagement on social media.

Strategy Strategy Strategy

Think about your social media activity in the same way you would your digital or communications strategy. Don’t disregard it or underestimate its importance, after all, 76% of UK internet users have a social media profile, with people having an increasing number of different social media profiles since 2015.

You should put a social media strategy in place – which should include a social media content calendar which maps out your posts – to ensure your posts are on message, targeted and cleverly crafted to suit your audiences.

Post at the right times

By using analytics tools, you can see when your followers are typically online. Time your posts so you’re putting out messages at times they’re likely to be seen.

Alongside this, try posting at different days / times and see how they perform. If you get high levels of engagement early morning or later evening – make sure you use social media scheduling tools such as Hootsuite, Sprout Social or Tweetdeck to ensure your posts go out at the optimum times of the day.

Get creative

Creative photos, infographics and videos (including Boomerangs) are highly visual ways to organically engage with your target audience – try to use new imagery, specially designed infographics and video as part of regular campaigns to drive both engagement and followers. Remember to set resource aside to create engaging media-rich content – this is particularly important considering the growth of visual platforms such as Instagram.

Don’t just put out sales messages

Show the personality of your brand or business and don’t just post sales messages repeatedly to your followers. Overtly sales based messages are unlikely to drive much engagement as followers know quickly if they’re being ‘sold to’.

Weave in organic posts alongside sales messages to ensure you keep your followers happy. Post high quality content frequently and become a great source of knowledge for your followers.

Ask for engagement

Don’t be afraid to include a strong call to action (CTA) in your posts. If you’re trying to boost awareness, ask your followers to share your messages or retweet your posts.

It may sound strange but if you ask, you’ll often find that your followers will respond and this should help to increase your reach and engagement and help you connect with your social media audiences.

We hope these tips are helpful – remember if you need any support on your social media channels, r//evolution is happy to help. Please contact our social media experts on 0191 499 8415 - or download our ebook all about how to minotir our social channels more effectively.