If we all thought we were sucked into our social media before, COVID-19 changed the name of the game. In the U.S. and Europe alone, data usage soared up 47% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the first quarter of 2019. Because of travel restrictions and ever-evolving CDC guidelines, individuals and businesses alike have had to rely heavily on their devices for interaction, whether it’s through FaceTiming out-of-state relatives or businesses increasing remote work by adapting their technology.

With the major usage increase across social media platforms, how can businesses keep their followers engaged when there is already an influx of information zipping through the internet every second?

1. Host a giveaway or contest

People love free products – and offering an incentive through easy social media interaction is sure to increase your engagement! Host a giveaway to celebrate the changing season or show off a new product.

2. #TagAFriend

We often see the giveaway requirement to “tag a friend in the comments;” even without a giveaway post, this callout is still smart to include in your caption. Tagging other users raises the outreach potential across the platform and adding industry-specific and trending hashtags to your caption can also help you with more engagement and audience-targeting.

3. Repost fan-generated content using products

When in doubt, see what your fans are about! Any sort of testimonial-type post engages followers because it shows that other people are digging your company’s products. Check out your tagged photos or reviews and curate some fan-generated content for your next post (with proper tags and attribution, of course!). There are plenty of repost apps your social media manager can download, too, to keep the caption and user’s handle while adding your own original caption for value.

4. Live Q&A or polls

Got a new product or rebrand coming up? What about guest speakers and influencers? Host a live Q&A on your social platform of choice and open the comments section for live questions for your speaker to answer during the session (a moderator might be wise to include as well). Absorb what’s trending and relevant to your company and create a poll for your followers to participate in. You could also work this engagement option into an incentive-based giveaway if you have the right tools (i.e. “Take this poll and be automatically entered to win a $250 gift card for our online shop!”).

5. Emojis!

Whatever you do, add emojis (just don’t overshadow your message with emojis, unless you are creating a “Decode the Message” challenge for your users 😜). The use of emojis shows your company is in with the times and can match trends.

Making a social media strategy to continue capturing the attention and engaging with your followers is a major move toward success as technology evolves and continues to be a major part of our personal and professional lives. Best of luck in your digital journey!

Julia Trupp is a Content Writer at Affirma.

Comments are closed.