In our inbound marketing line of work, we often get asked questions about social media.  Some business owners are excited to get working on that piece of their inbound marketing campaign right away because it’s been sold as a “magic bullet” that cures all your internet problems.  Others are skeptical that social media even has a place in their marketing strategies.  But across the board, there are often misconceptions about what makes social media work, and many become disappointed when they don’t see their “Likes” and “Followers” increasing by leaps and bounds. Some even wonder if they can purchase likes and followers. But business owners who want to see true improvement in their usage of the internet as it relates to their bottom line, they know that’s not what matters.  What does matter? Engagement.

Not pop-the-question, here’s-your-diamond kind of engagement. The kind of engagement where Fans, Followers, customers and potential customers actually interact with you.  What good is a Facebook post if no one Likes it? What good is a question posed on Twitter if it receives no response?  The real goal of having Fans and Followers is to get them to engage with you. How can you do that?  Here are a few tips:

• Think about the customer first – It’s so much easier to talk about ourselves than it is to think about what makes someone else tick.  Figure out what problems your customers and potential customers face, then discuss them on your social media outlets in a personal way.  If you remember the old adage “the world doesn’t revolve around you”, it makes coming up with engaging social media content much easier.
• Entertain Them – Studies have shown that when people are spending time on social networks, they’re looking for fun, escape, or to kill time.  Create posts that fill these wants, and you’ll see better engagement.  “But I’m a B2B company, not an entertainment company.” The fact is, your customers are people, no matter what line of work they’re in.  They too like to be entertained.  Think outside of the box. Link your product or service into popular culture. Browse Pinterest for popular posts that would speak to your customer base.
• Be Funny – Not everything has to be business, business, business all the time. A little bit of humor goes a long way. Some suggestions would be to tell funny stories of a day in the life of your business. Use memes to explain problems your customers might come across.  Have you ever seen the “One does not simply walk into Mordor” meme from The Lord of The Rings? Or the Philosoraptor? There’s got to be some way to apply those to your business.  For Cleriti, I might say:

Make sense?  If you have any questions about engaging social media content, memes, or anything else we’ve talked about in today’s blog, leave us a comment!  If you have your own social media engagement success stories, we want to hear those as well!