Five strategies to boost your website’s social engagement

Instead of seeing social media as a challenge, realize it as an opportunity for your business to expand its marketing reach and be more inclusive.

However, if you’re failing to connect with your target audience and disappointed with the amount of views your website pulls in, here are five strategies that can elevate meaningful connections with your brand online.

1. Say ‘no’ to self-promotion.

Don’t fall victim to self-promotion of your brand/service on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.

You may run the risk of becoming “that company” marketers use to exemplify the cardinal sin of one-way communication, which lends little value to online conversations.

For example: GoDaddy.com’s one-way advertising on Facebook has a history of negative feedback. What GoDaddy.com failed to realize is that social engagement is not about selling; rather it’s about creating a thoughtful conversation that adds brand value and loyalty.

Companies must focus on having two-way conversations with their fans and followers online. Instead of sharing just your company’s point of view, consider bringing in other experts (bloggers, authors, journalists, subject matter experts) to add to the discussion. This provides meaningful value through increased topic awareness with objectivity that increases your brand credibility.

2. Be authentic and engaging.

Most social media users choose to interact with companies whose values are most like their own and with brands they know and love.

Harness your loyal brand followers by being true to your company’s identity and inviting customers to take part in interacting with your brand, products or company online.

For example: A toothpaste company may wish to conduct a survey on its website asking visitors to share an unusual use for toothpaste such as alleviating burns and bug bites, polishing silver or buffing out scratches. The toothpaste company could then use the following social media tools to share these new tips: via Twitter (create a unique hashtag such as #toothpastelifehack and post tips once a week), Vine (create a six-second how-to video), or Instagram (create an image of one inspirational use). Customers will realize you are interested in what they have to say and their feedback is both encouraged and welcome.

Take advantage of your customers’ desire to connect by giving them a reason to engage with your website and social channels. By staying true to your brand and company voice, you will create an authentic experience that will help strengthen your loyal following.

3. Think beyond traditional marketing by adding online tactics.

To give an upcoming promotion or sale and added boost, think beyond traditional marketing channels and add some online tactics to what you are already doing.

For example: Your company may be involved in charitable work with an animal shelter in June and you have a campaign where your company is matching every dollar donated during that month. Consider sharing this through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and asking your fans and followers to visit a specific page on your website.

The online donation form could also ask the user to submit photos or videos of their favorite pet and describe what animal rescue means to them. With this content you collect, you could create a video collage that can be shared through your website and again promoted on social media.

Don’t be afraid to create new ways for users to engage with your campaign by adding social widgets directly on your website with tie-ins to social circles. The more ways you can give customers a reason for people to return to your website, the better. In fact, your website traffic and visitor rates are closely monitored by Google and therefore greater popularity, traffic and retention increase your SEO rankings and positioning.

4. Stay on top of tech trends.

One way to ensure you are reaching your audience is to stay on top of trends in technology.

By doing a bit of research on what technology devices your customers are using, you can craft relevant campaigns that connect with your audience on a personal level.

For example: Jimmy John’s sandwiches targets the instant-gratification, hungry-now customer whose target audience is very comfortable with using their mobile phones to take photos of themselves and their food. They created a homepage pin board of customer-contributed photos engaging with the Jimmy John’s brand.

Jimmy John’s saw it as a chance to cater to this consumer behavior by placing it front-and-center on the most visited page of the website. The sandwich chain also created a feedback loop allowing customers to re-market, advocate and contribute to the brand, which wins countless referral points – all while rarely having to self-promote or direct-sell the sandwich.

According to a recent Pew Internet Research study, as of May 2013, 63 percent of adult cell owners use their phones to go online; in addition, 34 percent of cell internet users go online mostly using their phones and not using other devices such as a desktop or laptop computer. By knowing that your audience mostly visits your website on their mobile device, you can more accurately plan ways to connect with your customers in a way that reaches them.

5. Never let a social post go unnoticed.

Once your company is signed up on a social channel, continue to actively listen to ongoing conversations that are taking place.

Your company may want to designate one or two people to monitor your social channel and also are available to adjust, adapt and respond on social media with the company’s voice.

For example: You are a water-bottling company and see a negative post about plastics harming our environment. Rather than ignoring the post, invite customers to contribute their ideas on how to reduce its negative impact. Streams of unique ideas come in but one in particular piques your interest, which utilizes a crowd-funded organic bottling ingredient alternative that reduces plastic dependence by 50 percent and biodegrades in 50 percent of the time!

Often times, tweets, Facebook posts and other social media mentions that aren’t responded to resonate even louder than praises or likes, leaving your target audience feeling like you don’t care about what they have to say about your brand. Instead, consider these social media mentions as an opportunity to welcome customer comments on topics they care the most about.

Small and medium-sized businesses can bolster engagement with their website by adding meaningful social media components. By establishing back and forth conversations and a sense of community, you can build a loyal online following for your business.

Best of all, social media can help drive more frequent website visitors, better Google/search engine optimization (SEO) rankings, engaged customers and ultimately generate more revenue.