If you’re like us, you’re well aware of the grip that social media has over society. Each social media platform has its own unique purpose and capabilities, but they are all similar in that they effectively consume our time and influence our decisions. In fact, as of January 2023, data collected by Kepios showed that 4.76 billion people (59.4%) use social media globally. As you can tell, that’s quite the reach. In this blog, we will share the importance of social media marketing and how to increase engagement on social media.

Importance of Social Media Marketing (SMM)

Social media allows marketers to connect and engage with potential customers through platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Implementing a strong social media strategy enhances the effectiveness of building brand awareness, generating and nurturing leads, measuring KPIs (key performance indicators), and building a community. 

To further support the information we’re sharing with you about social media marketing and its importance, we have provided statistics from Sprout Social (a social media management and intelligence tool). 

• 55% of consumers learn about new brands on social media
• 68% of consumers agree that social media enables them to interact with brands and companies
• 43% of consumers increased their social media use to discover new products in 2021
• 78% of consumers are willing to buy from a company after they’ve had a positive experience with them on social media
• 91% of executives will increase social media marketing budgets in the next 3 years
• 72% of companies use social media data to inform business decisions

How to Increase Engagement on Social Media

Now that we’ve highlighted the importance of social media marketing, you’re probably curious about how to increase engagement on social media. We have compiled a list of recommendations that will help you to drive more meaningful engagement and connection with your online audience. So, without further ado…

1. Engage with empathy: Social media sometimes makes us forget that a human is behind the profile. Engage with them in a personal, empathetic way. Take time to interact with them outside of just trying to sell to them.
2. Solve their problems: Use social media as a tool for solving problems and pain points. Add value to your audience’s social media experience to help you stand out. This can look like answering their questions or pointing them toward helpful resources. 
3. Stop selling: People don’t want to be sold consistently. We understand that it’s important to highlight services and products, but make sure that you’re also focusing on listening, observing, and providing content that your audience wants.
4. Be authentic: Odds are, you have competitors selling and doing very comparable things as you. So, what makes you different? What is your story, and what are your lived experiences? People want authenticity at an increasing rate, and social media can act as an opportunity to provide this to them. They can go elsewhere for similar products/services, YOU are what makes them want to not only come to you in the first place but keep coming back.
5. Interact: Share social posts that spark conversation, answer questions, and engage with your audience’s content. Don’t let their social media experience with you be one-sided. This is where a real community is born, and this type of interaction increases your audience engagement.

How MindStream Creative Can Help

At this point, it’s easy to see how important social media is to your business and its overall growth. At MindStream Creative, we want to help make the process of implementing and maintaining social media within your business as simple as possible. That is why we developed a social media implementation package to help make your social media marketing experience effective and painless. If you want to learn more about this, head to our website!