HOW TO MAINTAIN HAPPILY ENGAGED SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWERS?

10 Aug HOW TO MAINTAIN HAPPILY ENGAGED SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWERS?

One of the most important pieces of advice on social media that every expert will vouch for is not to get hung up on the size of the audience, rather, put effort into keeping them. It is true; a large follower base will be automatically created if consistency is maintained.

The trick is to know how to engage people on social media in a friendly and fun manner. Here are a few strategies to maintain a loyal fan base.

• Create memorable, easy to understand posts

Creating something memorable is not easy, especially with people’s short attention span; it became harder even to get the message through.

One quick and easy way is using visual. According to Ekaterina Walter, co-founder and CMO of Branderati, rather than texts, images and videos are easily understood by everyone. They act as shortcuts to our brain and capture attention much faster.

And they are easy to create too. A picture with a catchy caption or with little description can replace a whole paragraph.

• Consistency

The habit of posting regularly means the followers know something is coming every other day also creates anticipation for the next post. A common rule is to post 2 or 3 times, daily. Even one post a day will work, but erratic posting is a strict no-no.

A consistent posting habit also helps in SEO. It helps a user stay on top of the search results.

• Inspire, and gain attention

Inspiring the followers to do something is important. No one likes a constant sales pitch in their daily feed. Entertaining, offering resources to the fans will make sure they see the value of following.

• Giving them importance

A courteous reply, offering a quick Q&A session, all these are something that can be offered to a dedicated fan base. Such a gesture represents the importance of the followers, and a polite ‘thank you’ for their time.

A more material approach will also work. A Facebook promotion for a prize, some downloadable content; things like this excites and engages existing fans and spread one’s presence.

• Solving problems

People turn to social media for various reasons, and looking for some solution is one of them. People often look at other people to gain some insight, maybe to get inspired by something. Being helpful, inspirational and insightful is one of the important aspects to maintain a fan base.

Sharing inspirational quotes, blog posts, eBooks helps people to understand the point of view and solve a problem.

• Providing an incentive

Everyone likes to win gifts. Small contests, giveaways strengthen the bond between a social media success and a follower. Asking the audience to post their favourite experience, posting winners pictures in the feed shows love and care. A must have to maintain a follower base.

Showing them that they are valued is very important. The only way to keep the social media followers engaged is to keep nurturing their needs, listening to their interests and problems. This will prove to be a successful path to gain a rock steady group of social media followers.