3 ways to boost your social media engagement

#1 - Use hashtags - What Are they? Hashtags are categories for your thoughts of posts. They collect into groups that are searchable so if people are interested in a certain thought or topic they can look up associated or related products, thoughts, conversations.  You want to be joining conversations because that is how you meet people in your neighbourg=hood, industry, field. It social. It helps to get your posts in front of the right people who you can build mutually beneficial relationships with. You're all like-minded people looking for the same thing =, answers to a question or insights around a certain topic.

#2 - Get social! Respond to questions, ask questions and participate in conversations. When people comment on your posts try not to just respond with a smile "thanks". Try your best to draw out a conversation, not just for the sake of it, but because you're truly trying to get to know your followers (there's always time for market research). The Instagram algorithm keeps changing and although we don’t know what it is 100%, we can be pretty sure it factors in engagement as one of the key pieces it uses to rank your posts. The more engagement you have on a post the more likely it will be seen by other people because Instagram will bump it to the top of newsfeeds. This happens because Instagram notices you've created a piece of content people are organically enjoying. 

#3 - Tell your Story.  I harp on this because it's true and it works! People don’t buy from brands or companies, they buy from people. The more they know you the greater your 'know like trust' factor. That means they will be more receptive to what you do or what you offer simply because they know, like and trust you. Super easy ways to tell your story are to just let people know a bit more about you. Give them a behind the scenes peek at what you do and how you do it. Show them a picture of your office or workspace. If your in an industry where that changes constantly then doing a daily or weekly "today's office" post is ideal content. If you have a pretty standard office show them your morning routine or how you get pumped or energized for work. If you deal with photography or video show them what program you use or how you produce a certain look for an image. If you run a bakery show them how you decorate muffins or a cake or mix batter.  People love that sneak preview feeling so why not give the people what they want? If you are a sanitation worker you can show them what happens after garbage is picked up. Maybe what happens to recycled items, or where unrecycled waste goes. If you're a municipal worker you can show people a sneak peek of a council meeting or the agenda. This might buy you some patience in the eyes of a demanding public as well. Take people along for the journey. They will love you for it because they will feel like they’ve gotten to know you better.

Hope those tips helped. What have you been doing to build up your social media engagement lately?

Keep rising,

Rhoda