5 minute read
TELL THEM!! How to start getting engagement on your content
By Kayla Zigic
“I’m a simple man; I come with instructions” is usually the conversation that flows when my beautiful husband forgets to do the simplest things or when I ask him to help me with something that’s generally out of everyday routine. For example, when I leave work, he is responsible for caring for our two children, packing school bags, and the usual parenting things. And it’s not that he isn’t capable of doing them; in fact, he is better at parenting than me; it’s just sometimes because he’s not used to doing certain things, he needs instructions or “Prompts” to help him get the job done.
I like to use this analogy often when I am talking about the term engagement with salon owners because the truth is, we are all looking for that magic hack to crack the algorithm where we finally start getting Engagement on our content and all our social media prayers have been answered. “Low Engagement or Wanting to Increase Engagement” are the two most significant conversations I have with salon owners; however, when most salon owners think about Engagement, they think about “likes” on their content. Likes = Engagement, right? The truth is, Engagement means so much more than a “like”; it doesn’t have to be as complicated and confusing as you think. Let’s break it down together.
Firstly, what is Engagement? As mentioned above, it’s more than likes. Engagement accounted for various metrics on your social media, such as comments, saves, shares, and direct messaging. And I think it’s important to understand that “likes” on your content don’t put “bums on beds.” “Likes” as a metric is what experts call vanity metric. Something that feels good spikes your dopamine and makes you feel appreciated, warm, and fuzzy but doesn’t convert to anything further.
Great if we’re using social media as just a place to share photos, but the landscape has grown so much, social media is not very much a part of our entire business landscape, and to truly get results, we need to be focusing on more than just a “like” and focus more on metrics that are going to get us results.
If you wanted to build your brand awareness and get more eyes on your brand, the engagement metric you would aim for would be “saves” and “@” comments. The goal behind creating brand awareness content is to create sharable posts that resonate with your target audience so much so that they feel compelled to “share” your content onto their stories (allowing you to reach a wider audience by being seen by their audience) or tagging friends, a colleague that they also think would resonate with your post.
The feeling you want your audience to feel when looking at that type of content is, “Omg, that’s so me!”. Suppose you’re into horoscopes and see a horoscope post that 100% resonates with you and your horoscope personality. In that case, that’s the feeling you embody, and chances are, you’d want to share it, so your audience knows you’re a Gemini ;).
As a salon example, if your target audience is mums, and you create content about being an amazing mum, the struggles of being a mum, or a funny piece of content that showcases “just” surviving school holidays, if that resonates with your audience, that becomes shareable content.
If you want to establish yourself as an expert and build trust with your audience, create content that educates your audience, builds confidence, and showcases you as an expert. If you were looking at engagement metrics, look at comments and saves. Creating saveable content or content that educates and opens conversation is a great way to solidify your expertise and quickly build trust with your audience. Education content might be about the importance of double cleansing or how to layer AM or PM skincare. Think of content your audience wants or needs to “save” for later.
If you are waiting to build more connections and a community, the metric you strive to achieve is increased comments and conversation. Comments on your content can 100% lead your audience down the purchasing funnel faster, but that is only if you acknowledge them and continue to engage back. This may seem a little harsh, but your audience doesn’t want to comment on a post that you’ve posted of skin or brow before and after with the caption saying “skin” or “brow” goals.
So, now that we have established what Engagement is and what it looks like on a social media landscape, how do we get our audience to engage? Firstly, we do have to create captivating content with a caption that directly speaks to our target audience, but just like my husband, our audience comes with instructions. We have to tell them what to do.
If you want to get more shares, TELL THEM. For example, “Share this to your stories if this resonates with you” or “Tag a bestie who needs to hear this.”
If you want to get more saves, TELL THEM. Example: “Save this Post!” (yes, it’s that simple) When I use this at the top of my content, I get more saves than likes.
If you want more comments, TELL THEM, or better yet, ask them a question about themselves: “Comment below your thoughts.” “Tell me what you think?” “Tell me something I don’t know about you.” “Tell us your favourite product.”
What I want you to take from this article is understanding and leveraging different engagement metrics can significantly impact the success of your social media strategy. By creating shareable, saveable, and conversation-starting content and providing clear instructions to your audience on engaging, you can build brand awareness, establish expertise, and foster meaningful connections within your community.
Remember, Engagement goes beyond likes, and by focusing on the right metrics and encouraging audience participation, you can genuinely elevate your social media presence and drive tangible results for your salon's social media.
