The Role of Social Media in Customer Engagement
If you’re like most entrepreneurs and marketers you are doing pretty good at posting content to social media and on your website. But the problem is no one sees it, engages with it or ends up taking the action you want them to take.
It can be frustrating to go through all the right motions but not get any fruit from your labors. So what can you do to get more people to your website to make purchases or interact with your company on a regular basis? Let’s answer that and some other important questions to help improve your marketing.
How do we make our Facebook posts such that more people will actually interact with them?
In order to get your followers engaging in your social media content you have to make a post that catches their attention. So, what makes up a great post?
The first thing to remember is that nobody goes to Facebook to research. They are on that platform to catch-up, to be entertained, to see what’s happening and keep up with news. But it can still be a great way to get your customers attention as long as you are creating content worth their while.
The base of a social media post is obviously the wording. Creating a text based message is your baseline and should be added to. Yes, you can publish a text only post to Facebook and LinkedIn, but those are not the types of posts that “wow” or catch someone’s attention.
Did you know that images are 68% more engaging than just text?That means that by just throwing an image up with your post, you are 68% more likely to get your customers to engage with you. Sounds worth it, right?
But what’s even better? Video is better than just an image, by 38%!
Adding a call to action is like directing your customers to do exactly what you want them to do. If you want engagement, try creating a poll style post. Ask if they prefer A, B, or C better. People love seeing an option of images and selecting their favorite. Giving them an opportunity to share their opinion makes them feel important.
Another great call to action post is a contest or giveaway. Give the requirements to comment, follow, visit etc. When they have the option to win something they are likely to follow multiple call to action tasks!
Just like the poll option, everyone likes a question because again it gives them the opportunity to share their own thoughts. Ask them a question related to your brand, or even completely off topic.
“Did you know that August is the most popular birthday month? What month is your birthday? We want to see if August rings true for our customers”
Another great way to get your customers to show more engagement is to “take them offline”. Advertise a good cause that you are supporting or invite them to an event that you will be at. You can also invite them to just stop by your business. See who you are, how professional your office is, what kinds of things you do, etc.
Now that you feel like you have a good idea of how to get the engagement on your posts, how do you know the topics people are searching for so you can adjust your website or online content?
How do I know the topics people are searching for so I can adjust my website or online content?
There are a few different websites that as a marketing team we use on a regular basis to answer this exact question. In order to know what content to produce you first need to know what types of things your customers are wanting.Using a website like Ubersuggest, you can put in a keyword or website and it will give you some really relevant information.
You can see everything from:- keyword suggestions
- content ideas
- competitor’s rankings
- successful keywords
- link building information on competitors
Competitors = Others in your Industry
Something that is important to remember is that even if you are just starting out with a brand new venture, someone else out there is already doing it. Using a tool like Ubersuggest helps you to see what they are doing well or not so well in. You can see what keywords they are ranked well for as well as topics that are outlined on their website. You can then use this information to help create content for your brand.
Another fantastic website that you can utilize on a regular basis for content ideas is Answer The Public. Ever wonder what questions people are typing into the search bar? This is a website that gives answers based on search volume in Google. It literally tells you what people are using Google search to find answers to. You simply put in a keyword and it shows you:
- Who
- What
- When
- Where
- Why
Now you have a giant list of questions that get asked about your company’s industry…answer them! Use that as content for your website, your social media channels, video creation and even on webinars.
The last resource we use regularly is Semrush.Semrush helps you to see what are some good keywords for your brand but that are less competitive while still having some good traffic. It can help you uncover keywords both nationally and locally searched!
Semrush also has a content marketing section that will give you content writing suggestions based on your keywords. They pretty much are doing the first step for you! Now that you have done the research on keywords and questions your customers are searching for, make sure you use this information to educate your customers. You are the very best at your job, so now it’s time to decide how you are going to explain that to people.
One major suggestion is to use layman’s terms as opposed to technical terms. You are the expert and know what all of the terms, jargon, acronyms etc mean. Your customers don’t understand that. Think like a kindergartener. What kinds of words or phrases would they use to explain? Start at the very beginning and work it out for your customer.
One last question to touch on today is about spending money on your digital marketing:What is the best use of my marketing dollars when it comes to online marketing In order to get a clear answer to this question, you need to ask yourself what you would like the end goal to be. What do you ultimately want to accomplish and how can you make it so that whatever marketing objectives you have help you reach that end goal?
Is your end goal to:- Build revenue
- Build traffic
- Build engagement
- Improve your brand
Work on your branding. It doesn’t matter who you are, if you are Sony, Toyota, Best Buy, or the NBA; everybody can use branding help.
Start Dot – What is the brand message going to be? End Dot – What’s going to be your end goal? Now, how do you create your line to connect those two dots? First thing you need to do, that we already discussed, is to set up tracking. If you haven’t done that already make sure to check out our How do we keep track of our digital marketing efforts and what is working well guide. You can’t improve what you don’t measureSign up for your free marketing evaluation and strategy session
Here are our 3 suggestions for your online marketing
Our first suggestion is to use social media. Social media is a great way to make a brand introduction. You can produce information and get things happening because there’s already a good audience and good traffic at those places.
The top social media platforms you are going to get traction really quickly:
- TikTok
- Youtube
Social media, however, isn’t designed to be the end all, be all. It’s just where people come to play. They are there for fun, but you can use it as an invitation for your customers to learn more. We call that a call to action. Once you have introduced yourself and gotten their attention, guide them to your website and away from the other distractions social media present.
Our second suggestion for your online marketing is SEO in Content Writing
You can use SEO in:
- What you write
- What images or graphics you come up with
- What videos you are putting together
SEO really helps in two areas. When someone is researching a topic/brand/company and Google recommends you, you are slowly earning the trust and the potential that they could become a customer, patient or client. It also helps you pull them away from social media or other places and have them on your website where you get 100% control of the messaging. Take advantage of that. There are distractions from other people and businesses when they are on social media. When they are on your website all of the information they come across is only about you. Those outside distractions disappear.
The third suggestion is paid search. Either Google or pay-per-click ads. You can appeal to the right kinds of people. It isn’t a question of if the correct demographic will see your post, you get to target a specific target audience. With pay-per-click ads they tend to be the people who are ready to buy or make a decision. The traffic percentage may be lower, but they typically have better action rates.
Now if you have set up and done your tracking you will be able to see, after a while, what is working and what is not working. You can then say “I spent this money in these different areas and this one is working better than that.”
One last thing to think about is your customers. Pay attention to who they are. If they are senior citizens, ask yourself “where does a senior citizen hang out online”? If you are targeting moms and families with kids, ask yourself “where do moms hang out online?” Then focus your attention on that area.
Be where your customers are!
Following these guidelines, tactics and strategies will help you engage with more customers, get more people to your website, and see a larger number of purchases from your company on a regular basis
Could you and your company use some additional support and help when it comes to improving your online digital marketing? Even if you’re already working with another agency we’d be happy to provide a complimentary marketing campaign analysis and website evaluation to show you exactly where the gaps are that are keeping it from being even more successful.
Be sure to schedule your complimentary marketing campaign evaluation today. We look forward to helping your marketing perform even better and your company to grow even higher.
Nathan Hawkes
President & Founder
Arcane Marketing
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