Increase YoUr Engagement on Social Media

Have you ever been texting someone and you want to keep talking and asking them questions and they consistently find ways to end the conversation? Many businesses do this exact same thing to potential clients on social media while others still don’t even give people the opportunity to respond.

If you are looking to generate leads and form relationships online, why would you cut off the conversation before it even gets started? I see too many tree services who are active on social media miss opportunities to engage with their followers. To cultivate true online relationships, you must intentionally integrate a strategy to get your followers to interact with you.

Below are a few tips for branching out of your comfort zone and encouraging your followers to engage with you on social media.

Ask Them Questions: Yes, this seems like a no-brainer. But do you know how easy it is to spew content at someone and never bother to ask them how they feel about something? I once unfollowed a shall-not-be-named-brand because they were constantly pushing their own product and not once did they reach out to their followers. #SeeYa Write a post about the fun activity you are doing that night, and ask them to respond with their activity for the night. Post photos of two or three different trees and ask them which tree they would rather have in their backyard. Play “Would you rather” or “Spot the difference” in two photos. All of these options allow your followers to feel included in your business and help them feel more comfortable with you!

Conduct a Contest: One of the easiest ways to get people commenting and engaging with your posts is to hold a contest and provide free items. Everyone loves free stuff. Ask them to identify a tree or piece of equipment you use to win a gift card. Partner up with another business or company and ask your followers to like both of your accounts, your post, and tag three friends on your post to be entered to win a free tree pruning!

Use Trends to Your Advantage: Everyone loves memes, trends, and viral videos. Use these to your advantage! Remember a couple of years ago, there was a dress photo trending online and everyone was arguing about whether it was blue and black or white and gold? Posting a copy of that photo and asking your followers what they think is a great way to get people talking! Everyone loves sharing their opinion, especially on the internet, and viral trends are a great way to show followers that you are engaged in the world and you are willing to give them a platform to share their opinions.

Share photos or @ Them: Include your followers in your posts! One of the best ways to get involved on social media is to engage with others yourself! The more opportunities you have to include other individuals and businesses, the farther reach your posts will have. Also, people are much more likely to comment on posts when they know a person that’s in them!

Share Your Stories: If you don’t share anything personal on your social media, why should your followers? By keeping yourself private, you’re creating distance between you and your followers on an already distant medium! The more personal items you are able to share – why you started your business, what is a weakness of yours, who inspires you – the more likely people are to open up and share with you. And when you’re done sharing, ask them to share their stories! You will find that people are easily persuaded to open up when they feel safe doing so – so give them that opportunity!

The most important thing to remember, is that people follow you for a reason! They want to get to know you and they want to feel like you are in this together. Reaching out to include them in your social media will only strengthen your relationship in the long-run.