Social media has become one of the most effective tools to advertise and promote products, brands, companies, campaigns and organizations. With various platforms gaining thousands of members daily, it is important to know how to optimize your own company and brand amongst the millions of other competing voices.
Facebook and Instagram are two of the largest and most used social media platforms in the world. People are going to these two platforms to find friends, trends, news, charities and so much more. Because of this usership, it is imperative for your company and brand to be present on these platforms.
In a perfect world, your brand would do something completely unique and out of the box and get all the attention that it deserves. But the world of social media isn’t perfect, and often algorithms, such as Instagram’s, keep companies from reaching the engagement they should be obtaining.
According to recent studies, only about 10% of your followers on Instagram will actually be able to see your posts. This means it is more important than ever to post content that those within the 10% will interact with. Instagram’s goal is to monetize, and it is because of this that they prioritize accounts that keep users on the app longer (this is how Instagram makes money). Basically, they give special attention to the accounts that interact the most and the best with the followers that they are reaching.
Facebook allows the user to choose whether or not they want their feed to be shown according to the algorithm or in chronological order. This option is made available in the settings. Facebook does less monetizing within posts, but has far more ads than Instagram, which is how Facebook makes most of its income.
So, how do you beat the algorithm and increase engagement on these social media platforms?
We have curated a list of five steps that will help you and your brand and/or company increase engagement on social media.
While there are many hashtags out there, use one that is specific to your brand or what you are advertising on your social media. People search hashtags within specific niches, so using 5-10 hashtags per post, either in the caption or added in a comment, can help reach people who aren’t even following you, thus increasing post engagement.
While creating a video may seem like a hassle, (and let’s be honest, it usually is) social media platforms, especially Instagram, are prioritizing videos over other posts.
Content showing faces receives 38% more likes and 32% more comments. Why is this? It’s because viewing faces creates empathy. The expression on the face helps create emotion within the viewer on the topic of the post.
Posting a story or multiple stories each day shows the social media platform that you are an active user and willing to interact with others. The more content is produced, the more attention your account will receive.
Again, being active in various features on social media platforms shows that you are interactive and want to engage with others. Even getting on for as little as two minutes a day helps drive more traffic to your profile.