Get ’Em Engaging
Ideas for Engaging and Building Followers on Social Media
At Foster Marketing, we often say, “You don’t get just one of us, you get all of us.” To that end, our team frequently hosts brainstorming and innovation sessions to generate ideas for our clients and address specific areas where we can improve results. A group of six Foster Marketing digital team members from our Houston, Lafayette and UK teams and three all-star summer interns recently gathered for a Brown Bag Digital Brainstorming Session focusing on social media, engagement and building followers. Here are some tips from our group that you could put into action to see immediate and lasting social media gains.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
In the spirit of engagement, we invite you to add your ideas to our list by email or by posting a comment on one of our social channels such as Facebook or LinkedIn to keep the ideas coming.
STAY INVOLVED
Responding and responding quickly to social media comments and private messages is a powerful way to amp up your engagement. Remember, you are building a relationship – even if it is online. Say “thank you” for a positive comment. Manners still matter.
GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO DO
We’ve all at one time or another fallen down an online rabbit hole only to emerge and wonder where the last 30 minutes went. If you give social viewers something to do, you are more likely to keep their attendance beyond a passing glance. It could be a test-your-knowledge post, an interactive tool to play with or something more fun that welcomes them to play along.
SURVEY SAYS
Want to maintain and continue to build your relationship with your clients? Boost your social engagements by asking questions using the “poll” feature on Twitter. Then, interact with followers’ answers and opinions to stimulate a discussion.
MULTIPLE VOICES
Social media is about people; multiple people engaging and interacting online. Getting your staff involved beyond your key marketing team has potential for amping up your engagement level. It offers more voices and perspectives to attract multiple social followers – your experts, the faces people see at industry events, those who have institutional knowledge of your organization and your team members who are out promoting your company name and giving back to your communities, just to name a few.
BONUS TIP
Making it easier for your staff to get involved can reap rewards. Set up an email box where they can easily submit images, video and ideas. Use your online web forms and CRM to turn customer questions into Q&As for your social followers. Video the next time they are giving customers a facility tour or while a loadout is happening. The more you grab videos and photos in the moment, the more your team will get used to it … and start doing it themselves.
MAKE IT A GAME
Contests and giveaways often get a bad rap online or seem unfocused or spammy but if you target your specific audience and manage it correctly, you can make these useful ways to increase engagement. The main key is creating a plan that speaks to your specific audience so you are attracting the right kind of attention for your brand. A tie-in with an energy industry event is one possible way to hone your target.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO GO LIVE
OK, so the idea of a live stream is still a bit scary for some of us in the oil and gas industry. Take your cue from the fearless Millennials and jump in. Social video is here and a tool you are missing out on if you are still avoiding it like the common cold. Live stream from an event using Facebook or Twitter. And look for LinkedIn to offer this option soon. Also, you can host a live event without video concerns. Consider promoting an online Q&A from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on a Thursday on a specific topic such as a new product release or a new regulation impacting your specific industry segment.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!
In addition to “live video,” all social videos have merit when leveraged correctly. Create an ongoing feed of expert videos or product demo videos on YouTube and tag it to a landing page on your website (good for SEO, too)! Give them a tour of your facility, share a thought on an industry trend from the trade show floor, use a time-lapse video to show project progress …just jump in and see what works!
BE A STORYTELLER
Stories are something you will continue to hear more of across social media channels. Currently, many are using Facebook to post online stories of who they are as a company, what is happening in their specific industry segment or region, reacting to changing regulations and much more. This allows you to engage in a bit longer format than your typical quick-hit post and photo and bring more meaning and context to your social feed.
START A DIALOGUE ONLINE
Using features such as Instagram’s “Ask a question” option, you can seed a conversation and engage to keep it going online. Everyone has an opinion and most want to share it.
A PICTURE IS STILL WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
Make sure all of your team members are out snapping photos with their phones for potential use on social — whether at a job site, at an industry event or a great photo op of the Midland sky. Your social team can always vet them later but unless you have something to work with, you are missing a key opportunity. This also opens the potential of photo galleries, which can gain a lot of clicks from your social followers, as well as tags and likes!
BE INFORMATIVE
Some companies are still unsure on the value of social media in light of personal posts and photos that are daily in your inbox. Don’t miss this opportunity by confusing how individuals versus companies can leverage social media. Sharing useful information, using product demos, expert videos and CAD click-through images have value to allow you to reach a broader audience beyond what you can do with one-on-one meetings.
BE PERSONAL
Social media is about communicating with people – for companies, business people. You can still successfully add some humor to your posts to connect with your viewers in a manner that doesn’t harm your brand. Using direct messaging options also is a way to continue a more personal conversation when the specifics are not relevant to your general audience.
TIMING IS EVERYTHING!
You have to take into consideration where your audience is. If they are in the UK, you need to post at an appropriate time. If you are targeting an event, post with this timeline in mind. There are numerous social scheduling options and tools to allow your post to appear to a North Sea audience while you are tucked in your bed. Also, creating content for specific themed days could be a way to get viewers coming back weekly such as #TriviaTuesday or a #FunFactFriday.
USE YOUR STOREFRONT
Your dentist, favorite restaurant and almost every consumer business is promoting their social media channels offline; why can’t you? Trade shows and events offer a great way to create a storefront experience and move offline visitors into the online social conversation.
GOALS ARE GOLDEN
For your internal team, set clear goals on what you want to do – more followers, increased engagement, etc. When creating content, ask, “How will this aid my goal?” If it isn’t in line with your goal, it is likely not the best use of your time.
GO FULL CIRCLE
Create a way to engage with users on social pre-event, during the event and after an event. If someone on your team is presenting at an industry event, this is a great opportunity: Promote on social pre-event with something like, “Mr. Smith is speaking on this important topic in 30 minutes at OTC”; encourage live Tweets such as “Mr. Smith at OTC just noted that 4 of every 5 projects is lacking this one thing – Great point!”; and engage after the event with “Thank you for attending”, “Thanks for the comments on Twitter” and “See highlights from the presentation on LinkedIn” or “Have a question you didn’t ask, ask it on Instagram now.”
We get it, social media can seem like a never-ending chore; however, applying a few of these tips into your planning can help reinvigorate your efforts when you start seeing positive results. The team at Foster Marketing is here to help. Our full-service and strategic perspective on marketing and the energy sector is a great resource to our clients who are ready to amp up their social media and broader digital efforts