7 Ways to Make Your Social Media Posts Engaging
Social media platforms and brand websites can be highly effective means of finding new prospects and building a relationship with them to coax them through the sales funnel. In 2015, for example, Facebook influenced 52 percent of consumers’ purchases both online and offline. To efficiently use this process, however, brands need to make sure that their posts are engaging and bring people into their sales funnels. Here are seven tips to make your posts more productive.
1. Write for your customers’ needs
To succeed in marketing, you need to make sure that you have an intimate understanding of who exactly your customers are and what they need to see from brands. You should know their pain points and what will help them engage with you at each stage of the buyer’s journey. The material you publish in blogs or on social media platforms should reflect this understanding so that you can engage with customers and build their relationship with your brand.
2. Appeal to what your customers can relate to
Think about what would interest your audience outside of your industry. For example, millions of people enjoy watching sporting events like football, baseball, or basketball. The start of each sport season, as well as the championship events, can be fodder for popular posts that will engage your audience.
3. Choose the right day and time to post
Different platforms and audiences tend to have various peak times for activity. LinkedIn, for example, tends to be most popular with business professionals and thus the hours at the beginning, middle, and end of the work day tend to be best. Users will log in early in the day, often between 7:30 and 8:30, again around the lunch hour, and then again between 5:00 and 6:00, when they are getting ready to leave for the day. These hours are particularly strong Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Facebook has a broader audience, so the times may vary widely depending on who you are targeting. This platform is often used by mobile visitors and is generally popular in the early to mid afternoon, even on weekends.
Twitter is also popular in the early afternoon and around the time people are getting off of work. You will want to monitor your own social media postings to see exactly when your particular audience is most engaged.
4. Use lists and bullets in your material
Online, people generally only read between 20 and 28 percent of the words on the page. Customers scan your content to see how well it applies to their question and if you seem to understand your topic. Bullets and lists are great ways to make your material easy to scan, making it more appealing to these speed readers. Users can quickly jump to the points that matter to them, helping them engage with your content.
5. Find applicable images and keep your formatting user-friendly
Images are an excellent means of boosting engagement. Twitter posts with images see 5x the engagement of those without (4) and Facebook posts see 2.3x more engagement when they contain images. Overall, color visuals increase people’s willingness to read content by 80 percent (5).
Find images that fit well with your content and make sure that any formatting you do is user-friendly. This means fast load times and responsive design to ensure that users can appreciate your content regardless of device.
6. Include your company’s value proposition
When you create a piece of content, make sure that it is clear what you bring to the table and why users should do business with you. Your value proposition should make it clear that you understand the pain points of your target audience and that you have the solution.
7. Make your call-to-action appealing
The call-to-action at the end of your piece should perfectly bring your message home. It should make an offer that is unique, applicable to your target audience, and related to your post. Think about e-books, white papers, or free trials that you can offer to improve engagement.
Creating effective posts on your website and social media platforms is an important first step in building your community and relationship with prospects. Continue to build the relationship through marketing automation with a platform such as Experiture, and watch your ROI grow.