Engagement dipping? These tips

Sahail Ashraf posted on 3 October 2022

Sometimes our engagement dips on social media. It happens, and the end result could affect everything else in a negative way. If this is the case, try these quick tips below to make things right.

Engagement is important, as you know. But if it suddenly starts to fall off a cliff, you need to act fast. These tips will help avert a disaster.

Be engaging

Your first job is to make sure that you are actually posting content that is worthy of engagement. Take a look through the last few days of content to get an immediate look at the situation. If it isn’t grabbing you, there is a problem.

This kind of audit is really important, because you can sometimes fall into a trap of just churning out posts that mean nothing and help no one. Create and post content that will have a positive reaction and get people doing things. If you’re in the dark on this, then take a look at your data on previous posts. You should be able to find content that resonates.

Actively encourage engagement

Take the time to go through all those posts and include a call to action every time. If you’re not asking for engagement, you won’t get it.

There is an innate need to respond when we see a post that engages us, but it is always best to include a request for a comment or a Like at the end of that post. It seals the deal. Take a look at your most popular posts and you will see that some form of call to action will be there.

Contests

Run contests and giveaways to increase social media engagement. Ask people to take certain actions on your website, such as visiting a landing page (which you can retarget). 

Contests are incredibly powerful when it comes to re-engaging people. They are fun, and if you are able to offer a valuable prize then you will have an almost guaranteed boost in people who want to get involved in your brand.

Check your images

The images on your posts are absolutely crucial to engagement. If they’re not arresting and of high quality, then people won’t stop while scrolling. 

Of course, not every single post needs images, but when you do use them then you need to go all out. Source the best quality (invest money if you need to) and make sure this vital part of your engagement arsenal is up to scratch.

Work on your audience

You can’t grow engagement without a suitable number of followers and fans. As a team, take a look at your follower counts. If you don’t have thousands, work on getting the numbers into the thousands. 

Always be in a position where you are looking to grow your audience. If your audience is always on the up, your engagement will be.

Up your post rate

Sometimes it is all about increasing the number of times you post daily. While you shouldn’t go overboard, it is worth testing out a slight increase in frequency to see if it affects engagement.

Remember that there are lots of different kinds of posts, and a simple UGC (user generated content) post is as valid as a post solely created by you. Mix it up and test the frequency aspect of your posting schedule. A good guide is 2-3 posts daily. If you can up that a tiny bit and see results, it is well worth continuing with.

Capitals

You can try capitalising part of your post titles. For some brands, it works well because it is all about that scrolling interruption thing. By using all caps at the start of a post title you could easily make it so your followers will stop scrolling and engage.

Like all things on social media, don’t abuse this. See it as part of your experimenting and work out if it makes a difference by trying two posts that are the same. If the one with capitals gets more engagement, you have an answer as to how you can boost interactions. 

Really interact

This is a hard one for some brands to crack, but it pays off in dividends if it is done right. 

Every time you receive a comment on your accounts, jump back in with some meaningful responses. Aim to get a conversation going. If you know your audience well enough, you will be able to interact in a way that resonates with them. Even making them laugh is worthwhile, because it shows a human side to your brand.

Many major brands have teams that respond to comments. The job is that important. Bear that in mind and really talk to your commenters going forward. This will naturally boost engagement and make a huge difference in the long run.

Emoji up

A number of studies have shown that brands that intelligently use emojis in their social media posts tend to see increases in engagement. 

What does this mean for you? Again, it’s a question of testing your usage. Across a number of posts, sprinkle emojis in natural spaces. Then test the outcome as regards engagement. If emojis make a difference, make them a tactical part of your social media marketing strategy.

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