5 Ways to Encourage Social Media Sharing #smm

Once you get your company’s social media accounts running and generating content, the next strategy your marketing team will need to tackle is engagement. This analytics concept is a culmination of how many people share, comment, like, retweet, or otherwise interact with your social media posts.

Engagement is crucial because it can build promoters outside your usual social media networks and company channels. Here are five ways to boost engagement rates through calls to action, multimedia content, and hash tags.

• Refine Your Calls to Action

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Sales language largely died as marketing departments transitioned into the digital era. Online readers have become adept at filtering out promotional jargon, since many websites are already lined in banner and sidebar ads. This means that calls to action like, “Buy now!” usually don’t perform well online.

Social media users like to engage with content that’s personally relevant. When The Gap issued a call to Instagram followers to share pictures of their daily outfits, both the company and its fans were able to see what other Gap shoppers were wearing. How are your social media followers personally invested in your brand? Ask them to share those answers via social media!

• Use Graphics and Video

With the rise of Snapchat, Pinterest, Instagram, Vine, and other multimedia-focused social networks, companies have to think outside of the 140-character box. You don’t have to hire a professional production company to record quick snippets and take high-quality photographs; you just need to offer your audiences compelling images and encourage them to share their own multimedia.

Companies sometimes find success in posting behind-the-scene photos of their work processes, giving investors and fans an inside look at daily operations.

• Use Hash Tags and Keywords Strategically

Once you’ve got clear calls to action and multimedia content, you’ll need to tag posts with appropriate keywords. Sometimes, companies will even invent their own catchphrases and slogans to go with a marketing campaign.

If you decide to build custom keywords and hash tags, make sure they fit your campaign’s goals and are memorable. Hash tags and keywords can be instrumental while you’re collecting data, allowing you to see how successful a particular social media campaign has been.

• Ask Interesting Questions

A question is a call to action in itself, compelling your readers to leave a comment and provide their answer. If you’re having a tough time getting followers to interact with your social media accounts, start asking them questions. Miniature polls can even lead to a sense of fun competition, as fans loyal to particular products try to rally more votes.

Another great way to use questions is in the headline of your content. For example, a health-related website published an article called “Does Counting Sheep Work?” Everyone knows the advice of counting sheep in order to fall asleep faster, but have you ever wondered if it actually works? Probably!

You can use the same mentality to boost engagement. Questions are scalable – your company can pose them to small control groups, individuals, or all followers. Inquiries, such as “How did your order go?” can show customers that your organization cares about their experience and promote better relationships.

• Use Catchy Headlines

The headline you choose for your content is about 90% of the reason that someone will click on it or read it; and that’s the first step in getting social media shares. Because of its extreme importance, it’s essential to learn the basics of good, gripping headlines. Classic winners include how-to’s, Top 5 lists, and question-based headlines.

Conclusion

New social media networks, sharing features, and audiences are keeping marketing departments on their toes, as they strive to key into audience interests and needs. You can stay ahead of the game by implementing strong multimedia content, calls to action, and keyword strategies. Keep an eye on your analytics and learn from instances of failure and success.

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Gail Gardner

Small Business Marketing Strategist at GrowMap

Gail Gardner is the founder of GrowMap.com. She is a Small Business Marketing Strategist who mentors small businesses, bloggers, and freelancers. After 23 years in the field with IBM and 5.5 years managing AdWords accounts, her focus shifted to small business marketing strategy. GrowMap.com is listed by Cision as a Top 100 Site for Marketers and has received three Small Business Influencer Awards from Small Business Trends. Named by D&B a Top 50 SMB Influencer on Twitter, you can follow Gail @GrowMap and on LinkedIn.

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