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By Julia Wilfong
- Utilize the story feature.
There are many ways to engage followers via Instagram stories. The questions, polls, and other stickers can be used to understand many things about your followers. One way your business could connect with its followers is to ask a question about your story, specifically something fun, exciting, and following social trends. Once your page has gathered a few responses, posting those back on your story with reactions will make the commenter feel seen. Polls, specifically when asking about your products or the business itself, can also be a great way of getting your follower’s input. Overall, the Instagram story function is trendy and has many tasks that would benefit interacting with followers.
- Have engaging content.
While this might seem obvious, it is not helping your business if your posts are identical. Creating an outline for social media content will significantly help your responses. Each post should be directed towards your following, taking note of the average age, location, and gender of the audience. Following social trends and engaging with them will also significantly help. Especially if you have a younger or more Gen-Z audience, keeping up with popular trends will be a great way to create content. Another idea for engaging content is to incorporate your customers into your feed. Post pictures of real customers with their products, reviews, and positive feedback.
- Post frequently.
While creating enough content to post frequently might be time-consuming, your business account should post multiple times a week on Instagram. Creating and following a social media plan will significantly help this process. At the beginning of the week, think of three or four things you can post on your feed or story. This will help space out your content and allow you to think ahead about what you must create for that week. Posting frequently will allow your followers to stay engaged and curious about your business and feel connected to the account.
Hi Julia!
You have some great tips here. I like that you emphasized the benefits of interactive content. It can be a great way to gain a better understanding of an audience, make them feel involved and increase the feeling of transparency and connection. I think you highlighted these points really well!
Hi Julia,
I really enjoyed your three-step process in keeping followers engaged. It is definitely something important that can be overlooked by small businesses. Having repeat information and inconsistent posting is common for local/small businesses. These three steps make it easy for people to understand the importance of social media for revenue.
Hi Julia!
I think you did a really good job of formatting this post, it made it extremely easy to read and engage with. With that being said, the point that I liked the most out of the ones you made is about how it is important to have interactive content for your followers. I personally use social media a lot, and a majority of the content that I actually engage with is the interactive content, and I think if companies emphasized this concept more, they would have a better time with engagement.