The last two weeks we have been discussing how to really engage your Facebook page & Twitter followers. Fans and followers are amazing; they bolster our credibility and presence online. However, if we never truly engage with them, make them feel wanted, they will leave and go to a business that does do this for them. You don’t want that do you? I certainly don’t. I adore and appreciate my fans. They could have followed anyone, but they picked me. That is a huge vote of confidence.
Facebook:
Ah, social media the thing we all love to hate, right? I have always said if you are going to have a Facebook fan page then you should actually be on it. Last week we talked about “when” to update your status, well, the length of your post can influence engagement just as much as the time.
Tip #1 Keep your updates short and sweet, around 80 characters.
Side Tip-Statistically a full length URL offers more engagement than one used with a shortener.
Tip #2 Do you ever feel weird about asking for a “like” or a comment on your updates? You should not! Sometimes we just need to “ask for what we want”
Tip #3 Words that drive engagement: like, take, submit, watch, comment, tell us, and share
Are you using these? How are they working for you?
Tip #4 Be flexible! How things work will probably change in a few months.
Twitter:
Believe it or not, according to PC Advisor businesses need to be maintaining a Twitter account. For those businesses that refuse to be on Twitter, they can be viewed as unprofessional in the eyes of the consumer. Interesting, right? I am actually one of those that prescribe to this theory. I agree, there are some businesses that have no business (pardon the pun) being on Twitter. But, most could really benefit from it. I love the point they make that in these tough economic times businesses need to use every tool available to them.
I found a very useful article from Social Media Examiner that offers some killer tips on engagement. Let me share some with you.
#1 Publish useful tips or facts-
One of the first ways you can contribute to the conversation is to share useful information.
#2 Retweet to acknowledge others-
Retweeting other people’s tweets is a form of acknowledgement.
#3 Reach out with Follow Friday #FF-
Although Follow Friday (#FF) has been around a while, it can still be a good way to initiate conversations when you put a little thought into it.
#4 Answer other people’s tweets-
Another easy way to engage people is to respond to others’ tweets.
I was checking out an article by Tech Cocktail where they cited that mainstream media was not engaging their twitter followers. There seemed to be a pushing of content and no real dialogue with their followers. Now, most of us are not considered mainstream media outlets. However, do we find ourselves pushing content more than interacting?
Remember, your Twitter followers are technically your clients. They can be a wonderful marketing tool for you if you treat them right.
A great rule of thumb is: Share THEM more than you share YOURSELF.
Until next time!
Christina
Linnell Media Group
