Social media was first developed to help people connect with their loved ones. Nowadays, it has become a cost-effective marketing tool.
However, we also know that social media marketing can be frustrating.
After all, how can your brand compete against the algorithm, cat and dog videos, and dreamy interior design inspiration?
But if you think it is always the algorithm’s fault, think again. The reason you are not generating enough engagement is that you might be making these eight mistakes:
1. Not Posting Enough
Here’s the thing: People engage with your brand through your post. So, if you are not posting enough, do not expect people to engage with you.
After all, if you do not post anything, there is nothing to show on your followers’ feed.
But the question is: How many posts would be enough?
You can for once a day or multiple times a day. This will depend on what your social media analytics will tell you. It will give you an insight into when your followers are most active, indicating the best time to post.
If you do not have enough data to know when is the best time to post, we suggest that you start once a day. And then closely observe when you are quick to receive likes, comments, and share versus slow days.
On the flip side, you should not post too much, either. It might piss off your followers, compelling them to hit the unlike or unfollow button.
2. Not Leveraging Stories
A Story is a feature that is available on both Facebook and Instagram. It is another avenue to share status in a time-limited and short-lived video format.
Moreover, a recent study on Facebook Story showed that it could help improve declining engagement on the core platform.
The best part? You can maximize Facebook or IG Story for hard selling and non-promotional content.
Hence, you should start thinking and researching content ideas that you can post via Facebook or IG Story.
3. Not Using Visuals
If you want your followers to pause scrolling on their feed as soon as they see your post, you should produce striking visual content. It can be an image, GIF, or video.
For one, Facebook and Twitter favor content that has visual content. Meanwhile, Instagram and Pinterest are visual platforms, so you have no choice.
However, posting graphics or videos is not enough. It should be engaging. Using corny stock photos, busy illustrations, and dark images are easy to pass up. Meaning, it is likely that they pique your followers’ interest.
As much as possible, you should do your photoshoot. If you will use stock photos, ensure that the images will resonate with your followers. You can use free photo editing tools like Canva, VSCO, and Lightroom to improve the quality of your pictures.
4. Not Understanding Your Audience
People are not engaging with your content because you forgot the “social” part of social media.
Remember: Such platforms were designed to help people connect with each other. Hence, you should use your social media channels to communicate with your audience.
To do that, you need to consider two things:
(a) Audience Demographics
Demographics refer to the essential collective detail of your target audience. This includes age range, gender, education level, location, occupation, and more.
You should keep your audience in mind when creating social media content. That’s because what resonates with a single lady aged 30 – 35 may not be for a married woman of the same age range.
(b) Type of Content
Whether your social media post gets high or low engagement has something to do with the content itself.
If you see that one type of content is getting more engagement than others, consider that. It can mean that people prefer those kinds of content.
Identifying and understanding your target audience may seem tedious. Hence, you should hire a social media marketing company. It can be as simple as typing in “SMO services India“ on Google.
5. Not Engaging With Your Community
In relation to the previous point, you lack social media engagement because you are not doing it in the first place. It can be as simple as sharing the post on your personal account, responding to comments, and so on.
Mind you; Facebook favors posts with high engagement. The more attention a post receives, the more likely it will appear on your followers’ feed.
If you are the one managing your business’s social media pages, spend 30 minutes to an hour engaging with your community. Respond to comments and be part of the conversation whenever your business is tagged.
You can also take the time to do customer service when some leave a negative review of your products or services on social media. Doing so showcases that you aim to provide excellent service to your customers.
6. Not Leveraging Groups
Speaking of community, an excellent to build a community around your brand is by creating groups.
For instance, you can create a group dedicated to social media influencers you want to work with.
Another example is to create a community of your target customers. From there, you can share exclusive content or give them first dibs on what your business is working on.
You can also use social media groups for market research.
Regardless of the purpose, take advantage of Facebook or LinkedIn groups. If you posted a significant announcement on your business page, do not forget to share it with your group. That’s because content shared in groups will inherently drive engagement.
And as mentioned earlier, the algorithm favors content that has high engagement.
7. Not Running Social Media Ads
Here’s the thing: You cannot build a community around your brand if they do not know it exists. And the brilliant way to build brand awareness is through social media ads.
Sure, you will have to shell out some money to do. But this can be the most cost-effective marketing expense that you will do.
That’s because running social media ads will require you to set parameters regarding your target customers. Doing so ensures that only people who are interested in what you can offer will see your ads.
This can lead to higher engagement, conversion, and sales.
But keep in mind that your ads should adhere to the social network’s guidelines. Otherwise, your ads will be rejected, and your efforts will be for naught.
8. Not Using Hashtags
Hashtags allow you to categorize your content on social media. This makes your posts discoverable as a result. After all, there is a plethora of content being published on social platforms every day.
The more people who discover your content through hashtags, the higher the engagement you can generate. Hence, you should have a hashtag strategy when developing a robust social media marketing campaign.
Conclusion
Keep in mind that social media was initially created to build connections. As such, your marketing strategy should revolve around this premise.
This includes determining and understanding your audience and providing value to them. Doing so will encourage social media users to engage with your content.
Remember: Engagement can lead to exposure. The more people like, share, or comment on your social media posts, the more audience you can reach.
This can create a ripple effect that expands your market reach and boosts your revenue.