Social media is a valuable marketing channel. It is an outlet where you can freely promote your content and brand. However, today, it has merged into a pay-to-play environment, which is a cost that can be difficult to justify for some businesses. 

Along with competing with social media ads, showing up in your customer’s organic feed is also necessary. You want to ensure that your business and what you offer remain top of mind while nurturing customer relationships. 

To do this effectively, you must create social media engagement posts that will effectively increase comments, likes, and shares. 

Do you need help coming up with new and innovative ideas? If so, we have you covered. Along with offering ideas here, you can also rely on our affordable SEO for small businesses, which includes ensuring your social media channel is full of the right types of content that will increase engagement. 

Social Media Engagement Posts Defined 

A social media engagement post is content that will promote your brand while nurturing customer relationships and helping develop deeper connections that will eventually encourage sales. The posts must include conversion sales as their secondary goal, while the main goal is to boost engagement – subscribes, follows, shares, comments, likes, etc. 

When creating engagement posts, it is possible to use paid and unpaid tactics. The paid posts can be targeted to a specific audience, while organic posts will show up to individuals who already connect with your brand or page. 

How to Create Effective and Engaging Social Media Posts

Now that you know what engagement posts are and why they matter, it is time to learn some tips to help you create them. Let’s dive in. 

Post Quality Content Regularly 

If you want to grow a social following over time, you must post regularly and consistently. Each audience will respond differently based on how often you post. It is up to you to figure out what is right for your business and brand. Comparing posting frequency and total engagement rates to the competition is also possible. 

Also, engagement posts will have to please the algorithm used by the social media platform. A consistent posting schedule will signal to the platform that you are a dedicated user. Hopefully, at this point, the algorithm will reward you for this. 

Remember, your daily or weekly scheduling is less important than having a process and plan to create compelling posts regularly. Remember, “neutral” reactions do not exist on social media, so if you don’t have something good to post, don’t post anything. 

It can be tedious to post all the time, so it may be beneficial to outsource this. With our affordable SEO for small businesses, you can have our team take over social media content creation and posting, freeing up your time and ensuring you post regularly. 

Showcase Positive Testimonials and Reviews from Customers

Product reviews are invaluable. They can provide interesting insights into what real users think about your offer. You will also find they can be effective at boosting your sales. 

You can use apps to send automated messages to customers to leave a review after they have completed a purchase. 

Connect your social media accounts for your business and post your review to the pages directly. The reviews will help provide new, fresh content while driving engagement. 

Create Micro Content 

Consider how most users browse social media. Maybe they are on a mobile device while commuting to work or taking a quick break while at their desk at work. They may also be trying to kill time waiting for a show to come back from a commercial break. 

There is one thing that each of these scenarios has in common – social media users typically use these platforms while taking a break from doing something else. This is what bite-sized content is made for. It can be used to captivate your audience’s attention. 

Educate Your Audience 

It is possible to showcase the expertise in your niche by educating your audience about something relevant to what you do or offer. For example, if you sell sunglasses, share content on how to care for them. If you sell kitchen goods, offer free recipes for which the items can be used. 

Creating educational content for your audience focused on using your products is also possible. A how-to video is an extremely effective way to do this and will likely get more views than traditional, written content. 

Share Animated GIFs

Some social networking sites include libraries of animated GIFs. With these, you can add them to your feed. The animated GIFs are great content and require very few resources and minimal effort. Even better, they help create engaging posts. 

Take Your Audience Behind the Scenes 

No matter what social media channel you use, you can give your customers a look at what goes on behind the scenes. Let viewers see how your product is made or provide a tour of your warehouse or office. You can also take followers through the steps of setting up a pop-up shop. 

Use the Right Hashtags 

Hashtags have helped to organize the social web-based on conversations going on. They make it simple to join in on conversations and events by posting under the ones that are related or relevant to your brand. 

You should not use hashtags the same way on every social media channel. Some best practices to keep in mind when using hashtags can be found here. 

  • Twitter: Create posts with one well-placed hashtag. These tend to generate more engagement than a tweet with three or more hashtags. 
  • Instagram: Unlike Twitter, posts on Instagram with multiple hashtags, even 10 or more in a post, get the most engagement. 
  • Facebook: It is best not to use hashtags here. 

If you have an upcoming event, create engagement posts ahead of time to ensure you are ready to “spread the word.” The more targeted these posts are, the better results they will get. 

Usually, events with customized hashtags are popular. However, if you want to do this, ensure you do so in a meaningful and natural way. 

Align Your Posts with the Latest Trends 

Another way to drive more engagement through social media is by creating posts that are aligned with current trends. If you watch news cycles and hashtags, you will likely find the chance to add something meaningful to a parody or conversation about what is going on in the world. 

You can predict some trending topics. Events and holidays make great trending topics to use. 

Use Trending Sounds

You can add music to the content when you create videos and Instagram Reels. The music will be shared with Instagram users, which is then a type of tag. When someone taps on the song, they can see all the videos using the same song. This can help increase your visibility and boost the engagement you get for your posts. 

Don’t Be Scared to Get Personal

More people want to see the human side behind the business they are supporting. Social media is the perfect channel to help you showcase that. It is not only suggested that you get more personal on social media; it is recommended and welcomed. 

Create and Post Content That Aligns with Your Brand Values and Mission

You should ensure your brand mission is clear with every communication you send. This includes your social media posts. Topics you can find that relate to your brand mission are great options for engagement posts. 

Showcase Complementary Products 

You can add more value for your customers by giving them information and discounts on complementary products you may not sell. This is an especially good idea if you are going to advertise on Pinterest. Here you can create a board just for complementary products. 

Show Off Your Retail Location

Do you have a physical retail location? Consider adding content about these locations in your engagement posts if you have a wholesale location or storefront. Be sure to showcase videos and photos of the space’s exterior, interior, staff, product displays, and anything else that is interesting or unique. 

Create an Influencer Campaign

Influencer marketing is a common marketing strategy used today. If you can find influencers with engaged audiences that reach the people you are targeting, it is possible to create a post and have them show off the services or products you offer. 

Sometimes, influencers request a free product for the post, while others want payment. The key is finding influencers with similar values to your brand. 

Social Media and Increased Sales

As you can see, there are more than a few ways to increase your sales and engagement through social media. It is smart to explore the tips here, which will help you with this. Being informed and knowing what to expect will help you get the best results possible from your social media efforts. 

We offer affordable SEO for small businesses if you need help with these goals. Our services can help ensure you get the results desired and that the posts created improve engagement and sales.