How To Engage Your Audience On Social Media

One of the best ways to build trust and strong relationships with your audience is to have a great social media presence. Engagement is crucial: the more you engage your audience on social media, the better your organic reach. Algorithms prefer content and accounts that are teeming with likes, comments, reposts, and excitement.

So, how can social media managers and event marketers engage their followers on social media and promote their brands and events? We’ve outlined seven essential steps that will help you engage your audience on social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and more.

Post Regularly To Engage Your Audience On Social Media

When it comes to social media, it’s crucial to be consistent. Use a social media content calendar to lay out the various posts you’ll use to engage your audience on your preferred social media platform.

However, do not just post for posting’s sake or to sell your event. Your posts should be versatile, interactive, personable, and should add value.

• show the faces of your team, the time you spend together, and how you are preparing for upcoming events behind the scenes,
• use countdowns and urgency marketing techniques to drive sales,
• video typically performs better than photo-based posts,
• publish teaser posts, keeping your audience on your toes,
• go live and talk to your followers in real-time,
• encourage your audience to reach out to you on social media platforms.

Do not be too formal or distant. Content that performs best on social media platforms is funny, emotional, and relatable.

Get Your Followers Involved With Polls & AMAs

To truly engage your audience on social media, make sure to interact with them and include them in the overarching storyline. Every once in a while, it would help if you created polls. Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn all support polling. Instagram is also great for AMA (ask me anything). 

Create & Use An Event Hashtag

Create an event hashtag. Make sure that it will resonate with your audience and that it hasn’t been widely used for any other purpose. Use it consistently before, during, and after your event. Ideally, you should strive to include it as part of the copy rather than always adding it at the end.

Encourage your attendees to use it in their posts, too. That way, you will have an excellent overview of user-generated content. Additionally, you can quickly reply to them and make them feel seen.

Engage Your Audience On Social Media With An AR Filter

Snapchat was the first social media platform that introduced AR filters. Today, anybody can make their own custom AR filters for Instagram or TikTok. Many businesses have taken this opportunity to promote their brands or events. 

Create your own branded AR filter with your brand’s logo or the name of the event. Make sure it’s fun and engaging, so your attendees will enjoy using it and sharing it.

Show Off Social Media Activity On A Social Wall

Social walls showcase all social media content (including user-generated content!) on a big screen. By showing off their content and posts, attendees co-create your brand voice. You can use a social wall on your website and all types of events, including hybrid and virtual events.

Event Gamification: Giveaways & Raffles

A great way to engage your audience on social media and promote your event is to organize a giveaway. Incentivize your attendees to share the event and tag colleagues that might be interested in the event, too. Giveaways can do wonders for organic reach and boost brand awareness. 

Remember that the best time to promote your next event is during the event itself. Organize raffles and giveaways on social media. For example, attendees can win tickets for your next event or a yearly subscription to your online community.

Let Influencers Engage Your Audience On Social Media

Many of the above advice can be enhanced if you employ an influencer marketing campaign. Let a thought leader or famous content creator spread the word about your giveaways, photo booths, hashtags, AR filters, and the event itself. Influencer marketing is powerful; in fact, 80% of consumers have purchased a product, recommended by an influencer.

Post-Event Social Media Engagement

Do not forget to engage your audience on social media after the event, too:

• share highlights and best user-generated content,
• share any press about your event,
• ask attendees for feedback via social media,
• give those who have missed out on the event a sense of what it was like.

Remember, your event footage is the best marketing material you have for future events. Do not let all that precious content go to waste.

Conclusion

Your social media presence should be strong if you want to effectively engage your target audience. Post content that will resonate with your attendees consistently and keep it versatile.

Use hashtags, AR filters, giveaways, live streaming, polls, and other tools social media provides. Always keep a pulse on social media analytics. See how many accounts you’ve reached and which posts have performed well. Emulate the best performing posts; if your audience likes AMAs, make sure to host more of them in the future.

Even though event planners can promote events without social media and use event platforms as a substitute, social media is still one of the most powerful ways to reach your audience in organic and exciting ways. 

Endless Events has helped countless event marketers manage and produce events with high success. We help organizations strategize, produce, manage, and design their events so they enjoy the highest levels of event ROI. If you’re looking for a reliable event partner, reach out. Our team is here to help.