Information for this blog post was obtained from Hootsuite, Semrush, and Copyblogger. We also used ChatGPT to add ideas and enhance this blog post.
We’ve all been there. You spend hours researching topics that will spark your customer’s interest. You create detailed, quality-rich content, jammed with keywords that tick every SEO box under the sun. Backlinks? Check. Pain points of your audience? Every wound is covered. Every stitch is threaded. Your Customer Persona is on point. Your timing is spot on. Your social media posts are ready to fire off.
You press the big blue button on Wix: ‘Publish’. Your heart elevates as you half-expect your post to cut through the vast sea of tweets on X. There are five million tweets per day on average, but yours feels like that one in five million. Yours could be different!
Only, you’re up against tough odds. And as much as we’d like to beat them, we sympathize with you. Standing out amongst a sea of tweets is tough. Really tough. So here at the SMMU, we’ll try and give you a few fresh ideas to deal with our biggest pain point, which might be your biggest pain point – standing out on social media, enhancing engagements without breaking the bank, and creating the content that can allow you to do just that.
Ok… the odds aren’t quite as drastic as we first made out. You don’t have to be one in five million, but you do have to create content pertinent enough to resonate with your audience.
Why Aren’t You Getting Engagements?
One of the reasons you aren’t generating the engagement you expect (and may very well deserve) could be directly under your nose: your followers. Perhaps you simply don’t have enough followers, or maybe you don’t have enough engaged ones. Or maybe you have a huge following, tons of views and tons of opens but it still isn’t translating to interacting with your CTAs. Step in, Copyblogger. The whole idea about identifying pain points is you’re attracting people who have a similar problem. If your followers aren’t engaging with the problem you’ve identified (and are solving), you’ve either identified the wrong pain point, or your Customer Persona (Copyblogger call it ‘Audience Avatar’) is too broad.
So, assuming you have your Customer Persona on point, Copyblogger suggests the following 3-step framework to narrow down your pain points for your viewers:
Identify a key problem your audience struggles with. Perhaps it is SEO, or struggling to create evergreen content.
How have you (the author, the voice of wisdom) managed to solve this problem in the past
How can you turn your previous experience (and success) into a repeatable process that you can describe step by step.
Engagement Tactics
Implement engagement tactics such as asking questions, encouraging comments, and responding promptly to audience interactions. Actively engaging with your audience fosters a sense of connection and loyalty, leading to increased engagement over time.
How to Turn Views into Reviews
Building on the previous framework outlined by Copyblogger, Semrush guide marketers to always include images with their socials. Posts on Facebook that include images average around 2.3 times more engagement than posts without images. If you combine these images with a sleek and consistent Brand Consistency (i.e. using a standard look across all social media platforms), you’ll come off as more professional and stay top of mind too. Consistent branding helps build brand recognition, encouraging your audience to engage with your content.
If you want to really strike a chord with your viewers, Hootsuite encourages us marketers to include some user-generated content (UGC) from your followers. As long as it aligns with your company values and branding, UCG is an excellent opportunity to capitalize off original content about your company from someone who is simply engaging in a brand they like – and for all you know, by posting their stuff they’ll probably be converted to a superfan and spread the word about your organization verbally to peers too. After all, who doesn’t want to be shared by their favorite brand?
To conclude, if you can manage to put yourself in the shoes of your audience, and really empathize with them – then there’s a strong chance you can grow your follower base, re-invigorate your existing ones, and galvanize a strong following that will lead to successful CTAs, more views and if you are a business, more purchases.
The Power of Storytelling
Use storytelling techniques to create compelling narratives that resonate with your audience on an emotional level. Share authentic stories about your brand's journey, customer experiences, or impactful initiatives to connect with your audience on a deeper level.
Emotional Connection: Stories have the ability to evoke emotions and create a connection with your audience. By sharing authentic and compelling stories about your brand's journey, values, or customer experiences, you can tap into the emotions of your audience, fostering a deeper connection and loyalty.
Memorability: People are more likely to remember stories than facts or statistics. By weaving your brand message into a narrative, you can make it more memorable and impactful. A well-crafted story sticks in the minds of your audience, increasing the likelihood that they will recall your brand when making purchasing decisions.
Differentiation: In a crowded marketplace, storytelling can help your brand stand out by highlighting what makes you unique. By sharing stories that showcase your brand personality, values, and mission, you can differentiate yourself from competitors and attract customers who resonate with your story.
Engagement: Stories are inherently engaging and can captivate your audience's attention. Whether through written content, videos, or visual storytelling, sharing stories on social media can increase engagement by prompting likes, comments, and shares from your audience. Hootsuite encourages marketers to engage in digital storytelling, particularly if their followers are on photo-friendly socials such as Instagram or Pinterest.
Authenticity: Authenticity is key to effective storytelling. Audiences respond positively to genuine and relatable stories that feel authentic and sincere. Avoid overly promotional or scripted content, and instead focus on sharing real stories that reflect your brand's values and personality. If you can find a voice in your storytelling that is on a similar wavelength to your audience’s, then you’re on a good path. Try your best to sympathize, to empathize, to connect with your audience (Copyblogger and Hootsuite).
Inspiration and Aspiration: Stories have the power to inspire and motivate your audience. By sharing stories of success, perseverance, or positive change, you can inspire your audience to take action, pursue their goals, or support your brand's mission.
Longevity: Stories have a timeless quality that can endure over time. By creating evergreen content that tells a story, you can continue to engage and resonate with your audience long after it's been published.
Influencer Partnerships
Collaborate with influencers or micro-influencers in your industry to amplify your reach and credibility. Partnering with influencers who align with your brand values can help you reach new audiences and drive engagement through authentic and relatable content. Hootsuite encourages using influencers that align with the customer’s wants and needs and are a recognizable face. Paying for these services is always an option if you have the budget, of course. Paid social media such as partnerships allows businesses to increase visibility, drive traffic, and generate leads by investing in targeted advertising strategies on social platforms (Hootsuite).
Here are some of the advantages that influencer partnerships can give to address your engagement pain points:
Audience Reach: Influencers have built loyal and engaged audiences across various social media platforms. Partnering with influencers allows you to tap into their existing follower base and reach potential customers who may not be familiar with your brand.
Credibility and Trust: Influencers often have established credibility and trust with their followers. When an influencer recommends or endorses your brand, it can lend credibility to your products or services and increase trust among their audience.
Targeted Marketing: Influencers typically specialize in specific niches or industries, allowing you to target your marketing efforts more effectively. By partnering with influencers whose audience aligns with your target demographic, you can ensure that your message reaches the right people.
Authenticity and Relatability: Influencers have a unique ability to create authentic and relatable content that resonates with their audience. By integrating your brand seamlessly into their content in a natural and authentic way, influencers can promote your products or services without coming across as overly promotional.
Engagement and Interaction: Influencers often have high levels of engagement on their social media posts, including likes, comments, and shares. Partnering with influencers can help increase engagement with your brand and foster meaningful interactions with their audience.
Content Creation: Influencers are skilled content creators who can produce high-quality and creative content that showcases your brand in a positive light. By collaborating with influencers on sponsored posts, branded content, or product reviews, you can leverage their expertise to create compelling content that drives engagement and conversions.
It hurts us to say it - but pain points as a marketer, and as a customer, are here to stay. And the thing is about generating engagement with your content is that it's probably only going to get harder to stand out as more firms pay closer attention to their marketing, further investing time and resources. Fortunately, there are a host of things you can do to stand out. Being authentic, identifying consumer pain points, using influencer partnerships, incorporating effective storytelling and connecting emotionally with your audience are all valuable techniques that you can use to enhance your content marketing strategy today.
Resources
Connell, A. (2024, April 14). Gravatar. WordPress.com. https://secure.gravatar.com/Avatar/Ab77c97882da324a8ddeb0db6a5a286b?s=80
Mahoney, M. (2024, March 1). How To Get More Followers On Twitter (Top Mistakes). Copyblogger. https://copyblogger.com/get-more-followers-twitter/
Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard - Hootsuite. (n.d.). Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard. https://blog.hootsuite.com
Open Graph Meta Tags: How to Boost Social Media Engagement. (n.d.). Semrush Blog. https://www.semrush.com/blog/open-graph/
Comments