5 tips to increase online engagement
Oh, social media…the thing we hate to love! It has revolutionized small business, freelance careers, and community building. It helps us stay connected with our tribe in the most intimate of ways (their phone!) and yet we can show up on our terms. Most people believe having an account or camping out on their platform of choice all day will rake in the dough. When their experiences quickly disprove this theory, they assume they’re not cut out for “this,” whatever “this” they have been chasing.
What if it could be different?
Before I go any further, it is important to stress that profitable social media is about quality over quantity.
Quality followers = increased sales
Quality photography = increased sales
Quality posts = increased ROI (your time!) which means MORE SALES!
In short, spend time crafting meaningful posts with great photography to connect with paying customers in your niche market. Let’s focus more on 50 followers that are all customers and less on getting to 10k so we can use the “Swipe Up” feature.
So how do we create these posts?
1. Ask questions! (then interact with those who respond)
Questions can range from personal preference in horse tack to fashion, favorite kid stories to favorite vacation destinations and beyond! Their responses create a conversation, the basis of any healthy relationship. Those comments also help your profile’s ranking in the algorithm which sounds like a win-win to me!
2. Consistent posting routine.
Post your post. Like your post. Share your post to your stories, your personal page, groups, etc. Repeat.
Liking your own post helps in the algorithm, especially on Facebook, especially when done immediately after posting.
3. Build out an ideal customer avatar then write to them.
The biggest content creation mistake I see is luke warm copy. It may not offend anyone, but it is certainly not attracting your ideal client.
For example, if you want to create custom cinches for the cutting and reining crowd, then demonstrate that you understand your customers in that niche!
- Talk about why your cinches are the best ones for folks who show.
- Talk about the lengths you have gone to in order to color match pads or deliver for a special show.
- Talk about your memories in the show ring or the horses you have today.
Give them a reason to know, like and trust you and your brand!
4. Tell stories.
Stories demonstrate your brand’s value in ways a salesy post never can. By talking about your years in a culture (showing, for example) you demonstrate community. Explain how you have shown up for customers. Tell them about the hard choices you’ve made in your business and how that turned out. In a saturated market, give us a reason to support your brand wholeheartedly.
5. Create, state, and restate your brand’s values.
Imagine giving a speech to a revolving audience. All audience members must receive a checklist of information, hopefully without repeating yourself. Try to insert a post on one of these topics weekly where you directly tell them your brand’s stance or share a story that demonstrates it!
- Introduce yourself as the maker, business owner, etc.
- Explain how your brand started and the mission it is trying to accomplish.
- Tell us what sets your product or service apart.
- Share your philosophy about and/or process for customer service, shipping, custom orders, etc.
As with anything worth having, cultivating a loyal, online community takes time. This will not happen overnight. The sooner you see social media as an opportunity to make a stranger feel less concerned about sending another stranger (YOU!) money, hoping for the outcome (your product or service) they desire, the sooner the real community cultivation begins!
