Welcome to Part 3 of our awesome series where we are looking at the 37 Elements of User Engagement. In Part 1 & 2, we looked at such elements like “Trust†and asking the question: What’s in it for me? Today we will be looking at the importance of social media and how it has changed the way we interact with each other. At one point the effectiveness of social media was in question however it has truly become an awesome way to get content in front of your readers and increase social buzz. Think about it this way…
At one point it would take months for people to find your content however now your post can go viral in seconds. Social media is a great way to grow your business and brand awareness. Think how many Fortune 500 companies are using it in their marketing campaign with great success?
Let’s look at how to effectively use social media to increase user engagement.
Join the Right Social Networks
There are so many networks it can get confusing and very time consuming trying to handle them all. When I’m on social media I try to limit my interaction to “3†of the most popular platforms: Facebook.com, Twitter and Google+. Many might argue Google+ is NOT as engaging, but I like to keep Google happy by using their network. You never know how it might contribute to your search rankings. Either way, I would start by joining these “3†and then testing along the way to find out which one provides the greatest interaction. I’ll be going over testing later in this content.
Joining these social platforms is absolutely FREE and make sure you add the relevant information to the accounts. For example,
- Correct email address
- Business information
- Profile picture
- Other relevant information to increase the user experience
Once you have setup your profiles, you can start using them by “sharing†content.
Sharing Process
There is so much content being circulated online and I believe it’s important to keep up with your competition. This means giving them ONLY the best content because it’s very easy for them to skim right by. You don’t want to keep bombarding your social followers with inadequate content because they can find that somewhere else. I believe in writing only the best content and sharing every 2-3 days, but when I know it’s worth it. Think about how many people have a huge social following and don’t even own a blog? They have a huge following for a few good reasons:
First, they share ONLY the best information and have established themselves as a one-stop shop for amazing content. Secondly, they research the market and provide trending news which wouldn’t be found anywhere else. Third, they are very consistent in their approach so followers know when and where to find the best content. The equation is very simple however very effective.
After sharing content you need to tweak and optimize along the way for performance. Here is how I keep track of social statistics.
Analyzing Social Data
This is where things get tricky and in the beginning you might find it difficult to finding the right social tools. However, here are some ways I track social media and you can implement them too.
First, Google Analytics has always been a great way to find where traffic is coming from and it continues to be vital in my success. Whenever I post on social media I’ll add a special link which will allow me to track click-through. Secondly, Bitly.com is improving is statistics and you can find a lot of information through their platform. For example, I will shorten my link and track CTR in their backend. They provide:
- Clicks per day
- Location
- Trends
- Etc
Depends on the social media platform your using, you might be able to track data in their backend. If you use Facebook.com Ads then it’s as easy as paying close attention to the statistics they provide. They provide an awesome breakdown and you can tweak along the way. Your objective is to find ways to improve your performance so you continue to build momentum on social networks.