Always Watching: How to Get Started With Social Media Engagement

In May of 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau announced a 7.7% increase in retail e-commerce sales. Most of those online sales start with social media engagement.

Read on to learn about the basics of social media engagement and how to harness it to increase sales.

What Is Social Media Engagement?

At its core, social media engagement is a measure of how your social media posts perform. It is a more in-depth measurement than just followers on your Facebook or Instagram page. Social media engagement quantifies how your followers/fans/customers interact with your social media.

Presently, social media is the avenue to increased sales. First, customers like or share your posts. Next, they visit your website. Re-targeting, a part of social media advertising and website structure, sends them more information on the content that speaks to them. Ultimately resulting in a sale.

Ideal social media engagement includes:

• visual content (pictures/videos)
• includes a call to action
• is relevant and authentic
• is proactive, not reactionary (sets you apart as a leader in the industry).

When to Post on Social Media

Just as you have to know your audience and the platform they prefer, you also have to engage them when they are online. The best time to post on LinkedIn is during the day; this site is primarily for business people. Facebook and Instagram prefer Wednesdays. Tweeters, people using Twitter, tend to like workday mornings.

Knowing your platform will help determine the ideal time for your post, but ultimately you should analyze your posts to see when your clients are spending their time online.

What Is the Role of a Social Media Marketing Agency?

Now that you have an idea of the impact of social media, it may be useful to bring in a marketing agency that specializes in Social Media Marketing. An agency can help you do more than create content.

A good social media marketing agency can help you analyze your current content to see how it is performing. Social media analytics can help you

set more specific metrics than post likes or shares. Then you can use that information to create specific social media engagement goals. Social media engagement goals have to be S.M.A.R.T.:

• Specific.
• Measurable- using social media analytics.
• Achievable – is your budget adequate, and are you spending resources in the right places. 
• Realistic – this is more than budget but also time, content, staff.
• Time-sensitive – this will include short and long-term goal planning.

If you use a social media marketing agency, you will be assigned a social media manager to help you implement your online marketing strategy. They become your coach to help you push your business forward.

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We can help you learn to promote more social media engagement and the benefits of hiring a website designer.