… or in the case of our small business community who are trying to improve their social media reach... What came first? Social media engagement, or the followers?
WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT?
Quick sidebar… For those who aren’t familiar with the term, it is a measure of the shares, likes, and comments for your online business' social media efforts. Engagement has historically been a common metric to measure social media success, among others.
Most of us know that social media is a way to reach our target customers. It is more important now than ever as we are living through a pandemic where we have limited face to face access to our customers.
WHY IS ENGAGEMENT IMPORTANT?
What do we do now that we have our customer’s attention after posting a wonderfully curated, totally valuable piece of content? We must engage with them! Yes - log back into our accounts and respond to comments and shares. Think conversation, not broadcast after you’ve completed a post. It’s always nice to thank someone who compliments your business! On the flip side, discovering a negative comment and responding to it quickly is a win-win. The more likes, shares and comments you can interact with, the more people your business will be visible to. No matter what kind of business you have, this is a very important step in the sales funnel.
THE ULTIMATE MEASURE OF SUCCESS
Imagine you threw a party, (HA! I mean...post covid) and all your friends came. But everyone just sat there quietly. No one chatted or danced. Was the party a success? Did the guests have fun? Did they love your homemade guacamole?
Unless we are spending time in the comments to see what people are saying, we won’t know if our content was meaningful or valuable to them. Seeing your audience’s responses will help you realize if your content is working or if you need a bit more salt in that dip.
I know, I know...it looks better to have 1000s of followers, but it isn’t a popularity contest. It’s about making meaningful connections with current and future customers. This will serve to lift your brand both online and when we can be face to face again.
Ultimately, the greatest measure of social media success is an engaged audience, not just a large one. We should strive for quality, not quantity. (Unless of course, we’re talking about guacamole...cuz then it’s quantity 😉)
-Amanda @ Thrive Digital Marketing Co.
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