7 Tips to Creating Social Media Posts that Engage

Studies have shown social media posts have a very low direct conversion rate for organic traffic. Whereas emails and organic search have ranked to be the best sources for conversion.

So, then why use social media posts at all? Because social media can be a great source for conversion, indirectly. Social media posts can be a very powerful method for inbound marketing that enhances and draws awareness to the brand. If positioned correctly, it can drive targeted organic traffic to sites while improving the site’s SEO and quality engagement with the audience and potential customers to build authority and strengthen connection that transforms and converts. This helps with social proof and attracting more audience targets.

When it comes to modern branding, some posts inherently draw more discussion and attention than others. The goal is to use social media posts to engage. You engage to be social and connect. You connect with real people by asking and answering questions, responding, recognizing, and being present.

Remember, the reason why people access social media is to socialize, not to be led to an offer. So, it takes a few extra steps to distract and drive user’s mindsets to take action on an offer.

You can’t just post anything. It needs to be proper to your brand with appealing content. Focus on developing content that captivates, is relatable, and connects.  

Focus on building authentic social media following. Additionally, if you are selling within the US market yet 30% of your followers are from international markets, in areas where you do not even have projection to expand to, then your metrics will not provide you proper data for growth.

By incorporating some of the types of posts we have outlined for you below, you most likely will start seeing an uptick in your overall social media interactions to help increase engagement. Here are 7 tips:

1 - Ask Questions

One of the best ways to get people talking, both in life and online, is to ask questions!

Depending on your platform, this may be as simple as adding the question to the beginning or end of the post, or it could be as complex as creating a poll.

For example, if I want to create an online training platform for Engage 2 Engage and generate awareness about an upcoming program, I might ask which brand name sounds better either through a question or poll, like:

  • Engage 2 Engage Academy
  • Engage 2 Engage Institute
  • Engage 2 Engage Training Center
  • or Submit Your Thought

These sorts of posts get your audience engaged by giving them a chance to provide their own input. They can be serious, or they can be fun. What the question will be and what format it is in will depend on what you’re offering, what the platform is, and your brand style.

2 - Answer Questions

Answer questions that demonstrate your brand authority with the focus on building your customer’s trust.

Some potential and existing customers have fears, anxieties, worry, uncertainty, and other felt emotions. By answering inquiries and helping them solve problems not only builds credibility, increases conversion rates, it can also boost social proof.

You can also answer questions about a trending topic you are an expert on to demonstrate authority. Share educational or reminder tips and tricks.

3 - Offer Behind-the-Scenes Looks

Invite your target audience on a journey. If I am going to host a workshop event for Engage 2 Engage, I want to offer glimpses into the inner workings of it all coming together. Not only does this draw up excitement to the anticipation event but it is like providing a trailer for what is to come.

Another post style would be to thank others that were valuable to a launch come alive. For example, I have a patent pending product and working on a prototype to commercial stage, and there are many valuable people that have contributed behind the scenes. So, I might give a teaser post by thanking others without revealing what my product is until I am ready.

These two examples above are hooks to keeping audience members engaged and excited for what is to come next without revealing the launch.

4 - Share Memorable Stories

I personally love it when others share motivational and inspiring stories of how they got started to get to where they are at now. A great way to connect with followers by being real and sharing hard time moments too. For example, Sara Blakely, CEO and Founder of SPANX, shared how her idea came to life 20 plus years ago as described in the image below.

I shared a memorable story on LinkedIn about my mother based on a trending event, as can be seen in the image below:

5 - Inspirational Quote

The Scholastic publishing company is great at posting fun graphics to promote their books and the perfect source for an example. Some of their most sharable and easily identifiable posts come in the form of an image with a quote from one of their published authors.

In the above example, the company promotes a new book (Lala’s Words) through a visually appealing quotation from the author. Importantly, they ascribe the relevant source to the image and include their logo in the corner. This means that, even if the image were to be saved and shared elsewhere, it will always redirect back to them.

Here is one of mine on Instagram:

6 - Videos and Images

Research shows that video gets the most exposure and engagement on social media because it captures a viewer’s attention the longest.

So, if you have a new feature, program, offer, hack tip, basically anything that can be visually displayed, including something entertaining, showcasing a product, or an inspiration talk, then video it. It can reach more audiences across different platforms too.

Video has a more personable way to reach and engage with your audience. It humanizes the message, adds personality, and connects better with the community.

However, producing video is not so easy. That is why you can produce other content first – like text, photos, graphic images, infographics – to then get your storytelling strategy aligned before you do a video. Then your video can compliment and add more value to your other content types.

For example, let’s say you want to produce a video on a family nutritional recipe. You will first write the content of the recipes down and take a few image snap shots; being creative in the way you highlight your product. Coming up with graphics that are appealing, enticing, and is a teaser to want to know more. You can also create an infographic about the nutritional breakdown or other data about the recipe.

Then you can reveal the video in a near future post to create engagement and conversion. Maybe you are selling a special seasoning needed for the recipe.

With one content, there are many content types that can be produced, and several posts that can be created to drive the audience to take a desired action.

7 - Drive Towards a Desired Action

What is the desired action you want the content viewers to take? Do you want the social media post to take them to a blog, document download or trial, an offer landing page, or maybe it is a contest or giveaway?

What is the content strategy or campaign you want viewers to drive towards? Here are some things to consider depending on how you want to posture and position your social media post:

  • Include call-to-action words and images
  • Ensure the post is visually appealing to your campaign direction
  • Make sure your post is traceable and includes social media handles, logos, etc.
  • Encourage your audience to share and tag others as relevant.

Engage 2 Engage is Here to Help

Still not sure about what sort of social media posts will really make your company stand out?

That’s okay! Here at Engage 2 Engage we have a program to help small businesses and entrepreneurs get the most out of content and design that drives results. We are happy to guide you through the difficult, confusing, and ever-changing world of social media.

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