Using social media to expand your business is certainly the right decision in the current digital era. However, it is not without challenges, business actors actually have to be more creative and innovative to market their products on social media. This is why business people must know how to increase engagement.
Talking about building a business on social media cannot be separated from the engagement rate. A social media marketing strategy that works effectively can be recognized by a good engagement rate. Hmm , so actually, what is engagement?
Read this article carefully to learn it.
Meaning of Engagement
What is engagement? In short, engagement is a term used to refer to the interaction between a brand and its audience on digital platforms, be it websites, social media, or others. Increasing engagement means increasing the frequency of participation from the audience.
Now engagement is used as a measuring tool or metric for the success of business strategies to build relationships with customers. In practice, engagement is represented by many forms of action. For example, the number of clicks, shares, likes and comments.
The higher the engagement rate, the better the brand awareness of a business. Apart from that, an increase in the engagement rate can also affect the breadth of brand reach. This is why many entrepreneurs are now starting to become digitally literate, especially in terms of building good relationships with customers on social media.
Types of Social Media Engagement
To know how to increase engagement, of course you need to learn the types first. The three types of engagement that can be found on social media are as follows:
1. Conversation
This is a type of engagement that measures metrics based on conversations that occur between a brand and its audience. This metric is measured by reviewing conversations that occur in the content comments column and Direct Messages (DM).
This type has different applications in each social media. For example, on Facebook and Instagram, conversation metrics are measured by the number of comments and story replies. Meanwhile, on Twitter, this metric can be seen in the Reply column.
2. Reaction
The reaction your audience gives to your content influences the level of engagement. This form of reaction can be in the form of a like or a response using emoji. The application of this metric is almost the same on most social media. So, if you want to increase engagement, you must be able to apply strategies that make your audience want to respond to your content.
3. Amplification
The next type is amplification, which is a metric that measures how much a piece of content is shared with other users or stories . Apart from that, this metric also measures how much content is shared on other social media.
On most social media, this metric is measured from use of the Share feature. For example, like on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook. Meanwhile on Twitter, this metric is seen from the use of the Retweet feature.
The Importance of Engagement for Business
Does engagement have a significant impact on business? Increasing the engagement rate can provide a number of benefits for business development, especially on social media. Below we have summarized some of them.
1. Build Customer Trust
Good engagement can build a good business reputation. Of course, this is related to the increasingly strong customer trust in the brand or business. Naturally, people want to respond or interact with content that they find interesting or trustworthy.
Not to mention if this information is validated by brand products or services that are proven to be of high quality. This will certainly really help the company in building a good image in front of customers.
2. Increase Brand Awareness
Increasing engagement on social media can help you increase brand awareness. Now the means of promotion are not only through brochures or posters. Digital platforms are now even considered a better promotional medium because they can reach audiences in a more measurable and targeted manner.
On social media, the higher the level of interaction that occurs between the audience and the brand, the better the engagement will be. Customers who continuously view and like your content over time will feel more familiar with the brand.
3. Accelerate Business Improvement
Social media is an open and very free promotional medium. You can get feedback from customers easily through this digital platform. If the social media marketing strategy is maintained well, then this feedback can be used as support to develop the business.
Through social media, it is easier for customers to convey the problems or problems they are experiencing regarding your product. By providing fast and appropriate responses, this interaction between brands and customers can certainly increase engagement significantly.
How to Measure Social Media Engagement Rate
So, how do you measure the level of interaction on social media? This interaction measurement uses the ER or Engagement Rate formula. This formula differentiates into several types of interactions.
1. Engagement Rate by Post (ERP)
This formula is used to measure follower interaction on certain post content. The calculation formula: ERP = Total post interactions / Total followers x 100 . Meanwhile, to calculate the average, use the formula: Average ER by post = Total ER Post / Total posts .
2. Engagement Rate by Reach (ERR)
This formula calculates the percentage of the audience who interacts based on the number of reaches of the content. The formula for calculating engagement rate by reach: ERR = Total interactions per post / reach per post x 100 . Meanwhile, to find the average value, use: Average ERR = total ERR / total posts.
3. Engagement Rate by View (ER View)
For brands that use a video marketing strategy , use ER View to calculate engagement. The calculation formula is: ER View = Total engagement on post video / Total video views x 100 . Meanwhile, to find the average: Average ER views = Total ER Views / Total posts .
4. Daily Engagement Rate (Daily ER)
This formula is used to find out which days the audience interacts more often. The calculation formula: Daily ER = Total interactions one day / Total number of followers x 100 . While the average formula is: Average Daily ER = Total interactions for Y days / (Y days x number of followers) x 100 .
How to Increase Social Media Engagement
So, now that you can calculate engagement, now you just need to start increasing interactions on your business accounts on social media. Be aware that it may take time for you to get results. For optimal results, follow the methods we have summarized below!
1. Perform Periodic Analysis
The first step to increase interaction is to conduct regular engagement analysis. Not without purpose, this step is needed to measure the effectiveness of your content topics.
To check it manually, you can record all aspects of social media starting from the number of followers, likes, comments and other elements. To make your work easier, you can also use analytics tools to do this work. Some of them include TalkWalker, Urchin Traffic Monitor, and Google Analytics .
2. Determine the Right Strategy
After carrying out the analysis, next you need to decide on the right strategy. For example, collaborating with other brands, working with KOL Influencers, and so on.
Apart from that, you can also update your business brand identity. Of course, each strategy needs to be applied to conditions that suit your needs.
Collaborative strategies can be implemented to overcome cases of decreasing number of followers or enthusiasts. Meanwhile, updating brand identity can reach new audiences and increase the loyalty of existing followers.
3. Create Interactive Content
Lastly, don’t just create interesting content but also interactive. Content that is informative may be very useful for the audience. However, if you continue to dwell on it, your audience may get bored and slowly choose to leave you.
Therefore, try to create informative content and package it in an interesting and interactive form. You can create interactive content by involving audience participation. For example, by creating quizzes, competitions, or Q&A.
Now, you know how to increase engagement and its importance for business, right?
We hope that our brief explanation can help your business to develop and be more successful in the future!
