Research from Socialbakers has revealed the average reach of a post on Facebook has halved.
Social Media Today suggests this could be the result of users becoming fans of more pages, causing their newsfeed to be clogged with information from a number of brands.
Businesses will now be forced to improve the quality of their content in order to engage customers and compete with other brands on Facebook.
Engagement on social media is important for businesses because it can provide valuable feedback, build a good reputation for the business, increase customer’s trust and attract new potential customers through word-of-mouth marketing.
Engagement is all about creating conversations and encouraging your customers to communicate with your business to build a relationship with them.
Here are some ways you can increase your engagement on social media.
Stick to what you know
Make sure the majority of your posts relate to your business and industry. Research conducted by Facebook found “speaking about subjects related to your brand is the best way to generate engagement”. When people ‘like’ your page they are obviously interested in your business and want to receive information on your area of expertise. If you start posting content on other topics your followers will lose interest and unfollow you.
Respond to questions and complaints
The best way to maintain engagement with customers is by always responding to comments, questions and complaints on social media. If a customer comments on your profile and you ignore it they may never comment again or even unfollow you.
Customer service
People will be more likely to engage with a business if the business is friendly and responsive on social media. If your business comes across as negative or rude it could turn into a potential social media crisis or you could lose customers. It’s therefore important to maintain great customer service at all times to encourage customers to build a relationship with your business.
Make it easy to share your content
One way to measure engagement is by how many times your content has been shared by other users. This means you need to create interesting content that is easy for people to share. For example; pictures are great shareable content because they are easy to consume and are eye catching.
Ask questions
Questions are a great way to start conversations online and allows many users to express their opinions.
Be active on social media
You can’t just sit and wait for people to comment on your social media platform if you haven’t bothered to comment on anyone else’s. Get active on social media and interact with other users by commenting on their posts and sharing their content. The more you communicate with others the more likely they are to communicate with you.
By engaging with your customers on social media you can create a mutually beneficial relationship with them. Customers will feel valued by your business and you can gain important customer feedback to help you grow the business.
How do you engage with customers on social media?
Download our FREE Guide to Social Media Success and learn how to get ahead of your competitors and build your business using social media.
Sydney Social Media and Public Relations Agency, CP Communications blends cutting edge offline and online PR and social media to help you gain a competitive advantage. Contact us today. For more great tips visit our website www.cpcommunications.com.au.