Driving more engagement is the ultimate goal of just about any social media marketer, right?
So why do so many of us struggle when it comes to our shares and comments?
While best practices vary from business to business when it comes to encouraging shares, the fact remains that there are common threads between the types of posts that receive the most love from followers. Rather than try to conjure some sort of grand social media strategy, many marketers today could benefit from taking small, actionable steps to scoring more shares.
But where do you start?
Consider the following three must-do’s for driving social shares that are extremely efficient in terms of your time. Rather than slaving away at the keyword in pursuit of more action from your followers, these tips can drive shares without forcing you to reinvent the wheel.
Accompany Every Post with an Image
It’s well-documented that social posts accompanied by an image get shared more often.
However, what sorts of images can you use to accompany your photos beyond generic stock images? Consider some smart options such as…
- Custom social media design templates: stylized post titles and quotes from your content are incredibly popular on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest alike
- Memes: humor is always a great way to engage your audience, especially if your subject matter is a bit dry
- Your own photos: if you have a smartphone, you have everything in your power to take totally unique photos yourself
Images are often the missing piece of the puzzle for social shares. Modern marketers absolutely must give their fans something to literally look at versus expecting them to sift through endless walls of text.
Master the Art of Tagging
Tagging is a two-way street when it comes to “likes” and shares. For starters, consider that posts on Twitter with hashtags receive double engagement versus those without them. Similarly, if you’re sharing the content of someone else on Facebook or Twitter, tagging the author or site in question is a solid way to boost your post’s visibility.
That said, tread lightly when it comes to tagging. Constantly tagging the same person again and again or stuffing your posts with tags might label you as a spammer.
Schedule Your Posts in Advance
Although social media is often associated with organic, instant interactions, scheduling your content in advance is a surefire way that you’re ticking all of the boxes of an effective social post. For example, scheduling tools like Hootsuite, Buffer and Sprout Social allow you to…
- Post at the proper time: each social platform is different in terms of optimized timing
- Include the proper tags in advance: from hashtags to relevant followers or influencers, you can better keep track of who you’re trying to target in terms of shares
- Get in front of more followers: scheduling inevitably allows you to post more and recycle old content during times where you’re not in front of the keyboard
In short, scheduling allows you to reach followers and encourage shares around the clock versus being tied to specific hours.
Getting more shares via social media doesn’t mean starting your strategy over from scratch. Any combination of these tips is totally fair game for those looking for more traction from followers without doing anything drastic.
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