What Do I REALLY Need to Know About Engagement?: Marketing Q&A

First things first … understand that even us experts can sometimes feel confused by this, because the social media platforms are constantly changing and updating their algorithms, so it’s always a moving target. Right when you learn how to aim, the target moves!

Here’s a few tips:

• Remember that engagement is measured through the interaction on your post – commenting, sharing, and liking. But commenting is where you can have a conversation, and that is what will make you more memorable.
• Also remember that engagement on social media does NOT equal traffic to your website or conversions on your website (which is where most conversions happen and should happen). 
• Focusing on engagement rather than the number of followers or other metrics is always recommended. Social media platforms are meant to be social, and the one metric where that is most reflected is engagement.
• You get what you give. Focus more on building a community than your analytics.
• Talk to people. Followers mean nothing if they don’t engage with your content; likes don’t mean as much as one would think they do.
• Being genuine, intentional and targeted to specific people (your ideal customer persona) will make your engagement a game-changer for your business.
• Kindness and generosity is contagious, so you can always start there. 
• Be consistent.  Even if a post, or more than one, don’t see the engagement you had hoped for, don’t stop posting. You do want to evaluate to understand the TYPES of posts that are receiving engagement so that you can replicate what works, but don’t just stop.
• Keep growing your network organically. There’s not much point in just posting things if you do not have audience who resonate with your content and take value from it.
• The algorithms of different social channels vary. Therefore, just because something works great on one platform, that doesn’t mean it is optimized for all platforms. If you’re handling your own social media, you may need some trial & error to figure out what works best with your audience on each different platform.
• Don’t forget to engage with your current followers as much as you engage with new connections!

Hope these tips help! And don’t forget, when trying to keep up with social media feels overwhelming … it’s likely not the most critical piece of your business for YOU to do daily. You may benefit most from outsourcing your social media marketing so that you can focus on your zone of genius.

Vicky