Have you noticed all the changes in social media over the last decade?

We sure have seen a lot of growth within each platform and each one has evolved its own powerful algorithm.

So, how do you keep afloat in each one? 

When you are promoting your own business or brand on SOCIAL MEDIA all eyes are on you, quite literally. This can cause you a lot of stress!

When you forward your goals (entrepreneurial or otherwise) with a simple yet effective way to gain organic traction with each social media platform, your friends and family will take note and will be motivated to do the same!

These days it’s extremely rare to see the general population NOT with their phones. To a degree that health can become a question, mental and physical.

There is a concern that one might be ADDICTED to social media. While that might be true in some cases, if you are concerned with ADDICTION to social media, this blog isn’t for you. The only thing I urge anyone to do with a strong addiction to social media is to consider taking hour-long walks, 2-3 times a day. Without your devices of course. 

However, there are BRANDS and BUSINESS OWNERS out there utilizing social media platforms as tools. They require the use of social media chronically! These guidelines will help keep things where it’s not an addiction but actual production to help generate ATTENTION.

So, how does one use the different social media platforms in a timely way to grow their engagement and attention?

Here are 5 tips that will increase your social media engagement, things you can do in just minutes on each platform! This will save you a lot of time, and in the long run help you generate the ATTENTION that you need to survive as a business or brand. 

Here are your 5 NO-BRAINER WAYS to INCREASE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT:

1. YOU NEED TO ENGAGE!

No matter what platform you use, from FACEBOOK to REDDIT, each platform lives and breathes ENGAGEMENT. The KEY is to engage, both in VOLUME and consistently!

This requires you to consume content yourself. Use this time to become INSPIRED, get  ideas for your own CONTENT.

There are two groups you need to engage with:

1. The one you currently FOLLOW. 

– and –

2. The one you just discovered. 

Now, let me explain this a bit more:

The one you currently follow. This is the group of people that you have followed already. These are the people that are familiar to you to some degree, regardless if they know you well or hardly at all.

When you engage with this group you are maintaining and growing their awareness of you, your brand, or your business. Every LIKE, UP VOTE, or HEART is a tap on the shoulder that your message was received.

Other ways to engage are comments, though I only suggest commenting on posts wherein you have a GENUINE comment, regardless of how in-depth that comment is. If you go around commenting on every post the communication will start to sound robotic. That is not what you want, in fact, it’s something you should want to avoid.

You can also SAVE the post and SHARE IT. Again, only do it when you have a genuine interest.

————

The next group of people are the ones you just discovered.

This is the group you find through mass introduction, such as a hashtag or a subreddit group.

It’s the same way of engagement as the first group, only doing so with this second group exposes you not only to the person posting but also to everyone consuming that content.

Both groups need to have this kind of engagement at least once a day. Though keep in mind that Instagram has a cap of how much you can like per hour. Comments and sharing can also be TIME CONSUMING. Be aware of both these facts and give yourself a daily time limit per platform.

Don’t worry if one day you don’t find a post that you felt a genuine need to comment on. There will be days like that. Just do it as often as you can to keep the ball rolling. 

2. POST.

That’s right, post.

This part of social media is more important than ever. People want to consume content more than ever, to invest in brands. I understand that it can feel a bit overwhelming trying to get your content noticed in the seemingly never-ending onslaught of content per second across all social media platforms. But do not forget, people want to hear from you. So, the more the merrier.

It’s no longer workable to post once or twice a day. The norm these days is at LEAST 3. Keep in mind that you won’t grow or get much engagement OR attention if you are not posting.

Tip: If you are documenting your life in any way, that’s content. From images that you find share-worthy, words that melt your heart, or sounds that haunt you. Document it and share it! Keep your story alive across all your platforms. 

3. CROSS-PROMOTE YOUR OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS!

Word-of-mouth is still very POWERFUL, even in the world of SOCIAL MEDIA.

The easiest way to utilize word-of-mouth is using your own accounts to cross-promote your other accounts. It’s 2020, the majority of SOCIAL MEDIA users all understand that you’ll have content on more than one platform!

PRO TIP: Keep your profile names the same, or as close to one another as possible. You don’t want big variations if any at all. This makes it super easy for you to; a) Grow your audience, and b) Keep things from getting confusing. 

4. USE ALL POINTS OF POSTING THAT EACH PLATFORM HAS. 

The social media game has definitely changed for the better with all the new options.

With Instagram there is IGTV, STORIES, IG LIVE and FEED. On Facebook, you have the FB FEED,  FB LIVE, FB STORIES, and your FACEBOOK PAGE. Going live on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, or even on YOUTUBE is a wise idea to connect with your supporters.

A great way for you to fully use these platforms and increase your chances of being found is to create content for each of the above placement options.

It’s not just about posting to your feed anymore. It’s using  all the pathways that lead to your brand. If you use every opportunity to lead back to you and your brand or another account, then that’s just ONE MORE WAY you can gain a follower! 

5. ASK YOUR SUPPORTERS TO LIKE, COMMENT, AND SHARE. 

When your friends and family SHARE any of your posts, it adds to your credibility and trustworthiness.

On some platforms like FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM, the more your friends and family LIKE and COMMENT, the more visible your post will become in the ALGORITHM. On other platforms where that might not be a factor in the algorithm, it’s good to have visible support.

In other words Social Proof.

Therefore, when a new audience finds your post through other means, they can see that you are being consistently supported!

And there you have it! 

I understand a lot of this is COMMON KNOWLEDGE these days, however, I notice a lot of it isn’t in practice!

If you aren’t documenting, posting, or using the tools each social media platform gives you, you just aren’t going to stand out and get the attention you need.

Let this serve as a reminder when you are in a SOCIAL MEDIA SLUMP, that you can get yourself out of it quickly.

Until next time!