If you are in the social media world, “Engagement” is one of those terms that gets thrown around a lot, but what does it really means?
When we talk about social media marketing, “Engagement” represents the ability we have to create long term relationship with our audience.
There are many ways we can measure engagement, but it’s really important to keep in mind that the concept of engagement can vary from one platform to another. Basically it means different things depending on the platform, and we must create a specific and unique strategy for each channel.
We’ve unfolded how the major social media networks define and measure engagement. Take a look:
Facebook: Facebook measures engagements by likes, reactions, comments, shares, and some clicks on links, photos, or videos. Engagement rates on Facebook are measured by engaged users, not total engagements; if someone likes and comments on the post, that counts as two engagements, but one engaged user. Total engaged users are divided by the post’s reach to find the engagement rate.
Twitter: Twitter engagements are measured by retweets, replies, follows, favorites, tweet expansion, or clicks on links, hashtags, embedded media, the username, or the profile picture. Engagement rates are calculated by adding all of these engagements up and dividing by total impressions.
Instagram: Instagram defines engagements as likes, comments, and saves on a post. There are a few ways to calculate Instagram engagement rates, and some Instagram users include or omit other factors like shares. To calculate an engagement rate, Instagram takes these metrics and divides by the total impressions.
Although the concept of engagement might sound a little abstract, you can tell we deal with its elements constantly. This component such as likes or shares are only indicators, we need to understand the difference between indicators and our objectives. Our goal is not to increase the number of followers or likes, but to increase the quality of the connection we have with our digital community. This allows us to track quantitative data to understand progress in customer relationships.
Here are some simple tips we can give you to increase your social media engagement that will work on any platform:
- Focus on quality, not quantity.
- Establish Goals and plan a strategy.
- Avoid falling into mistakes like buying fans and likes that do nothing to achieve the objectives of your brand. This never works.
- Listen to your audience. In any relationship communication is crucial, be willing to listen and take advantage of the feedback you are getting.
