Five Fun Ways to Boost Social Media Engagement

Jun 1

posted by Brittani McCray-Fleureme in STUDENT MARKETING POSTS | 40 Comments

It would be extremely hard these days to find a company that is not using some form of social media for their business. Well-known platforms like Twitter and Facebook are utilized by big corporations and small business as a way for them to promote themselves. However, just because your business is “on” these platforms, doesn’t mean that you are using them to their full potential.

The key to using social media properly is engagement. If your business is not using its social media profiles to engage with your consumers, then you are really just wasting your time. Engagement allows customers to feel personally connected to your business and builds brand loyalty. Being flat when it comes to social media engagement can truly make or break your business. Here are five ways to boost social media engagement:

1. Talk to your customers, not at them

It is easy to create a post on Facebook. The real talent is turning that post into a conversation. When people post comments on your social media, respond quickly. Give your customers the chance to actually talk to you. Allow your customers to feel like they are talking to a human being, not an automated reply system. You can post all the content you want or send it to them, but if they don’t feel as if they are a valuable part of the conversation, it is pointless.

2. Allow the customer to do the talking:

Sometimes, the best marketing comes the customers themselves. It is perfectly fine to allow people to promote your business. Allow people to share their experience with your business. Whenever you receive a great customer review or testimonial, showcase it or share it to your page or profile. Consumers are more willing to take the word of another people over yours. Welcome the opportunity for customers to comment and share their experience.

3. Host Q &A Sessions:

Giving customers a direct line of communication by hosting a Q&A session is a great way to boost engagement. A great suggestion is to let someone who is higher up in the company answer the questions directly from the customer. Host your sessions on Facebook or Twitter, since those are more than likely your most used platforms. These sessions can be between 30 minutes to 1 hour long. Just be sure to let the customers guide the conversation but not to the point that they are trolling you.

4. Contests

Who doesn’t love winning free stuff? Contests are great ways to boost social media engagement. Contests with great prizes encourage people to participate. Creating a contest that is related to your brand will boost engagement with those who are already followers and can help you increase the number of subscribers by requiring those that don’t follow or like your page yet to do so in order to win.

5. Show your Personality

Not every post has to be about your business. Show that your company has personality. Post a funny picture or video of your employees at work. It’s okay to be lighthearted sometimes. Have fun on social media. Customers will love that you are willing to laugh and that will help them to build a connection to your brand. Just be careful with the content. Make sure that it is appropriate for your audience.

Brittani McCray-Fleureme is an MBA student in the Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University. She can be reached at bm1218@nova.edu

This entry was posted on June 1, 2017 at 10:11 AM and has received 3873 views. There are currently 40 comments. Print this entry. Download attachment.

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• #1 by Flavia Rossi on 8/21/17 - 1:34 PM

  

  I definitely agree with what is being said about the use of social media by business's. When you engage in social media to expand your customer base it is definitely important to keep up with it and make the customers feel like they are speaking to someone who cares and is taking there advise or recommendations. In my personal experience, i worked for a commercial cleaning company that had no social media interaction what so ever. I recommended that we start a Facebook page and reach out to our current clients asking to spread the word and if they brought us a potential client , they would receive a discount. This made our sales go up about 13 percent in one quarter. The influence social media has on today's society is immense. The idea the blog states about Q&A's and giveaways i believe are the best ways to gain new customers loyalty.

• #2 by Jessica Crlenjak on 8/21/17 - 6:25 PM

  

  Hi Brittani,
  I agree with your blog topic in many ways, If we don't stay engaged in social media, it could interfere with business results.
  In my company, we cater to an older clientele, approx. 55 years and older. Although several guests have iPads, email, even FB accounts, we would suffer if we put too many resources into social and our Instagram or Facebook accounts.
  We continuously try to come up with a happy balance between direct mail marketing and FB, youtube, etc. Would love to learn more from the group discussions!

• #3 by Anita Pearson on 8/23/17 - 8:53 PM

  

  I wholeheartedly agree with the stance taken by Brittani McCray-Fleureme with regards to how social media could be a powerful tool in promoting one’s organization. Although it can be very beneficial, social media and the internet must be used in the proper ways in order for the tool to be a success. Personally, I think the 5 key points discussed in this blog post are all extremely important. For example, when I try a new restaurant I always will read the reviews that other customers have posted on their Facebook or Yelp page. Customer experiences are key for me because I am more likely to go to a restaurant with a bunch of raving reviews than negative reviews. The restaurant with the raving reviews is going to have more success and be more profitable. Social media has a way of bringing “life” to an organization that can be seen by customers and any target markets; I started my HR career working for an automotive technology company that currently has a steady social media presence. On Twitter, they not only post regarding organizational achievements or profit numbers, but also company activities. They had a few women in the company make the CRN’s 2017 Women of the Channel list, which was a well-deserved Twitter and Facebook post! As a consumer, seeing things like this leads me to believe that the company cares not only about the customers, but their employees as well. I think one of the major takeaways from this blog post is that not only organizations, but individuals like ourselves, need to be very careful with how we approach social media and interactions with others. We all know once something is out on the internet, it is out there forever. Even though you’re not directly interacting with the customer face to face, you would need to communicate with the customer appropriately on behalf of the organization. This is important for the customer experience, but as well for other potential customers who could be scrolling by the organization’s Facebook page reading reviews and comments.

• #4 by Jodi-Ann Burchell on 8/23/17 - 8:55 PM

  

  I enjoyed reading Brittani's blog post because I agree with many of the points that were made. ????Social media has made an increasingly strong impact on promoting a business. So much so that almost every business operating in this day and age has some form of a social media presence or page. Businesses are currently riding the new age wave of social media and experiencing much success and growth.
  
  I agree that engagement is one of the keys to having a strong social media presence and obtaining its full beneficial value. For example, Chegg, where most college students get their textbooks for a cheaper cost, has an interactive Twitter page that I have personally used before to ask questions about whether students were able to write and highlight in the rented textbooks that must be returned at the end of each semester. I have seen other Chegg customers ask about shipping confirmation and where to find certain things on their website. Permitting Q&A's reveals businesses have decided to start making themselves more readily available and transparent. Being accessible through various avenues has created a deeper connection with consumers and has created long-lasting loyalty.
  As the blog post mentions conversation, I think about the power of "word of mouth" and how it contributes to the positive or negative response and exposure of a business. This is how people decide whether they trust to buy online or go in store with most retail businesses. Promotions are also a fun way to spark consumer interest, especially with the new generation. We are seeing a lot more happy hour and late-night specials in restaurants and fast food places.
  
  Overall a business with personality, presence, and engagement can go far with their company goals.

• #5 by Dalini Dhaniram- Martinez on 8/23/17 - 8:59 PM

  

  Well written, could not agree more! Everything in this blog post hits close to home, since I used to do marketing for a company. I often tried to engage many of these concepts, but I think you might agree, it is much easier said than done. One of the messages that you discussed that really stuck out to me though, and that I have tried to implement in the past, is the importance of the incorporation of personality into the posts. When I am in my consumer role, boutiques or companies that show their unique personalities filled with weird quirks, makes the company feel much more relatable. I also really like the point made about allowing the customer to do the talking, especially since this is the era of customer review programs and video reviews on YouTube. Meanwhile, a point that also somewhat surprised me, was the suggestion to utilize Host Q&A sessions. As a consumer and past marketing director, this never ranked highly or as important personally, but knowing this information now, I am interested to see how well it works when being used efficiently.

• #6 by Gabrielle Robinson on 8/24/17 - 12:06 AM

  

  I would have to say that I agree with Brittani, but I also have seen the downside of social media as it relates to a business’ rapport. Social media definitely has pros and cons when trying to be used as a platform for awareness to a company. A lot of companies use social media because they can reach a wider range of consumers at a quicker pace. Social media is relatively free, compared to sending out marketing via mail and reaches the consumer faster than the standard 3-5 business days it may take a promotion to reach the customers’ door step.
     Personally, a company that I believe has used social media to where their platforms have brought much success to their company is a makeup brand by the name of ColourPop. ColourPop Co. has a huge presence on social media and benefits greatly from word of mouth. The company is primarily online and does not have many stores, therefore, fueling the need to have a presence online. I follow ColourPop on Twitter and they constantly engage with their customers-whether it’s asking for feedback on new lipstick or eye shadow names or even posting storewide discounts. I’ve seen firsthand Colourpop reps responding to questions and comments made by consumers on their Twitter profile. The representatives are always friendly and eager to converse with the consumers. No response is negative or rude in a way that the consumer feels incompetent or unappreciated as a customer.
     Professionally, I have seen the downfalls of social media towards a company. A vacation club ownership company by the name of Bluegreen Vacations receives negative connotation on a daily basis. They are a new age timeshare company that markets discount promotional vacation getaways in order for the consumer to learn more about a company and invest in an ownership. Due to the company’s policies and qualifications consumers feel as though the company is scam or unethical. In times like this the consumer goes straight to social media where they know their voice will be heard. When consumers post their negative feedback/experiences most of the time they go unanswered or responses lack compassion for the guest therefore fueling the fire. In situations like this a business needs to use social media to show consumers that they care and are willing to make the gust happy. Negative posts on social media can deplete a company’s reputation if not handled strategically.
     All in all, social media is used as foundation in order to bring awareness to a company whether constructive or unconstructive. It depends on the companies’ use of social media and their reputation to deem whether they will conquer the art of social media or fall due to the lack of knowledge.

• #7 by Bradley Scott on 8/24/17 - 2:38 PM

  

  I certainly agree with Brittani and her thoughts on boosting a companies social media. Engaging the customers and clients is absolutely imperative. Interest will not continue to grow with a flat online marketing presence. I also agree with the idea of showing a lighter side of the company. As we know from our studies, the original marketing four P's has shifted from Product, Place, Promotion and Price to People, Processess, Programs, and Performance. Arguably the most integral piece of Marketing are the employees. Being able to highlight and show their personality, makes a connection between the customers and the company.

• #8 by Maria Bonilla on 8/24/17 - 2:42 PM

  

  Having a business can be difficult without having any social media and any advertisement. Starting a business itself can be very challenging by itself. I can agree with you Brittani, in the world that we live in now we are surrounded with technology and we can barely escape from it. Technology has come a very long way and it has become the greatest resource for companies. For example, to hire employees, for background research, feedback from consumers, future promotions, etc. Making the consumers feeling that they are a big part of the business is very important if the role is done correctly. In my personal experience I work in a department that involves customers and I have to quickly respond to their needs in an etiquette matter. We want the consumer to have their problem solved quickly and as smooth as possible. We declare our clients our number one priority and our loyalty. It goes back to the article, One of the key factors of to boost social media engagement to your company is to let your customers do the talking. Spreading the word of the company is a great message to others, it represents experience from the consumer; a testimonial from them is valuable to the business.

• #9 by Kenisha Brown on 8/24/17 - 5:58 PM

  

  I totally agree with Brittani in regards to businesses using Social Media as a platform to generate profits for their company. As she states that customer engagement is the key that can either make or break a company. It has become a Norm to see something being sold and advertised on Facebook. However, I've seen some companies that weren't valuing the customers, instead they were impersonal and automated when responding. It was like the customer lost interest in the product once they noticed that everyone was receiving the same response. I've also witnessed customer reviews being denied and removed off pages due to them being negative. I truly believe that all businesses should be able to take criticism both good and bad and use it to make the business that much better. However, some companies take offense to what is being said and instead of listening they mute the customer's voice. I find that Q & A provides insight on what can be improved within a company. I say this because a customer may ask "Why did you feel it was a great business decision to go from Product A to Product B? Because I feel that Product A was more beneficial and did the job perfectly. It's disappointing to know that I can no longer purchase it with you because you changed it to a product that does not live up to its description."This type of question provides the company with two product reviews while comparing them at the same time. Then the company could explain exactly why they made that change and why it was deemed necessary. I feel that Brittani's 5 Fun Ways to Boost Social Media Engagement hits the nail right on the head and if some businesses focused on building customer relations on social media they could become more successful.

• #10 by Chris Merasse on 8/24/17 - 11:31 PM

  

  I definitely agree with Brittani's tips on boosting social media engagement for businesses. I think in the beginning of the social media frenzy, businesses didn't quite grasp the power or capability that social media was going to have on marketing as a whole. Social media has now become its own space in marketing in that businesses are able to get direct access to their consumers. With the advancement in technology, businesses can also track trends in the content they post, track what's working and what's not working as it relates to their marketing efforts on social media, which allows businesses to adjust their marketing dollars accordingly.
  
  I think Brittani's latter tips are very useful for businesses. Contests help build social media engagement, but it also helps businesses attract new customers and followers as well. Q & A sessions, especially for large brands with high level executives can help a brand's relatability, especially if the high level executive displays passion for the brand. I think the most important tip is for businesses to display it's personality through social media other than just trying to sell products or a service. Currently at my job, we're promoting a big music festival we’re having next year in which we’re constantly finding creative content to post on our social media platforms. We accomplish this by posting cool videos related to the event, fun posts of behind the scenes planning for the event, and fun everyday lifestyle posts that people can relate to that has nothing to do with the event we're promoting. Ultimately, all of Brittani's tips will help with customer retention and brand loyalty for a business.

• #11 by Brittany Madison on 8/25/17 - 12:14 PM

  

  Great article Brittani! I absolutely agree with her article. Companies that choose to market on social media sites have a better opportunity of reaching customers by engaging with them. I currently work for a Baby store. This company doesn’t pay for advertisement in any form. They only run by word of mouth. To engage with our customers, we post how-to videos, best products in different categories, and ask customers to post pictures of them with their babies and the products that we carry. By engaging our customers through social media we not only have the opportunity of reaching them but also a chance of them reaching back out to us. They let us know what they like, what they don’t, and what items or services that we may be missing out on. This helps us to develop a marketing plan and decide on the best way to deploy it. Knowing our customer and how to engage them ultimately helps us to sell more.

• #12 by Chris Merasse on 8/25/17 - 12:57 PM

  

  I definitely agree with Brittani's tips on boosting social media engagement for businesses. I think in the beginning of the social media frenzy, businesses didn't quite grasp the power or capability that social media was going to have on marketing as a whole. Social media has now become its own space in marketing in that businesses are able to get direct access to their consumers. With the advancement in technology, businesses can also track trends in the content they post, track what's working and what's not working in their marketing efforts on social media, which allows businesses to adjust their marketing dollars accordingly.
  
  I think Brittani's latter tips are very useful for businesses. Contests help build social media engagement, but it also helps businesses attract new customers and followers as well. Q & A sessions, especially for large brands with high level executives can help a brand's relatability, especially if the high level executive displays passion for the brand. I think the most important tip is for a business to display it's personality through social media other than just trying to sell products or a service. Currently at my job, we're promoting a big music festival we’re having next year in which we’re constantly finding creative content to post on our social media platforms. We accomplish this by posting cool videos related to the event, fun posts of behind the scenes planning for the event, and fun everyday lifestyle posts that people can relate to that has nothing to do with the event we're promoting. Ultimately, all of Brittani's tips will help with customer retention and brand loyalty for a business.

• #13 by Maira Rolle on 8/25/17 - 7:20 PM

  

  I agree with company’s using social media for their business. By engaging with consumers, a business can create a direct-to-consumer model. When businesses interact, and engage with the consumer, it makes them feel acknowledged. Getting feedback direct from the source business can provide the exact the product/service the consumer needs. As for contests, who doesn’t love the opportunity to get FREE product/services from the brands they love, so consumers will follow and stay engaged to take part of special offers and new products/services.
     Getting personal with the consumer also creates a connection. Consumers feel as part of the brand and not just another number. Continuously relating to the consumer without having to rely on tv commercial, paper ads or billboards, businesses builds brand loyalty.

• #14 by Nicole Franco on 8/27/17 - 9:45 AM

  

  Coming from an extensive background in the communications industry, I completely agree with the points made in this blog post. Social media has become an indispensable tool for companies to include in both their marketing and advertising campaigns/tactics. For a social media campaign to be effective and engaging, one must appeal to the needs and concerns of the customer. As mentioned in the blog post, customers like to be heard and they also like to feel involved. In many of the targeted social media campaigns I was a part of, we included constant communication with the customers and also demonstrated the brand's personality. In addition to social media campaigns, "word of mouth" advertising is quite evident nowadays. A company's worth is directly correlated to its' customers' perception of it, as well as its perception by prospective customers. Lastly, conducting engaging social media content is heavily influenced by the medium used. Different social media platforms tend to be used by specific demographics and target markets. Effective use of social media would tailor the message to the correct masses, which needs to be researched thoroughly. Overall, this was a great blog post to read and learn from!

• #15 by Ciera Campbell on 8/27/17 - 6:30 PM

  

  Brittani, I absolutely agree with you. As a consumer, there's nothing I love more than having direct interactions via social media with my favorite brands and companies. It makes you feel like the company isn't so out of reach. Especially when companies respond to consumers questions and concerns, it shows that they truly care about their brand and the people who support it.
  
  Having positive interactions with your consumers can either make or break a business. Through social media people can be more vocal about their thoughts and opinions of different companies and brands. And when they are unsatisfied, most aren't afraid to post about their experience. This could be bad for a business, but if the company is responsive on their social media accounts, accept the constructive criticism and rectify the situation; its shows they care about the customer and how they appear to the public.
  
  I believe that companies who make themselves more accessible to their buyers through social media appear more real and relatable and thats what customers appreciate. Brittani, the steps you've outlined in this article will set them on the right track.

• #16 by Lester Moses on 8/27/17 - 8:24 PM

  

  Social media is a powerful platform to boost business in the modern economy. An example of this was shown last evening at the MayWeather vs McGregor fight that was formed through the interactions of fans on social media. Brittani's article highlights great ways to promote business and make the business and its customers feel connected. Today posts are sent to the multitude in an instant, responses to questions on social media need to be very prompt. When working with your business and online posts, have someone professional and engaging available to respond to questions instantly.
  Wendy's responded to a customer's request for free chicken nuggets. As a result, the customer set a new record for the most re-tweeted post, breaking Ellen DeGeneres' record tweet, from the Oscars in 2015. Brittani hits the nail on the head in this post!

• #17 by Estefanny Ayala on 8/27/17 - 8:37 PM

  

  Brittani, you made a lot of valid points. In today’s Society, social media and technology plays a big part in increasing cliental and marketing their products. Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter will sometimes pay and use celebrities to promote their products. By using a well known celebrity they are trying to engage and lure their targeted market to their website where they can see more reviews from other customers. Customers rely heavily on the customer reviews and Q&As before purchasing a product they are not too familiar with. I also agree with your first point, talk to the customers, not at them. This will show they care about their customers and their thoughts on the product. This act alone will not only increase their connection with their targeted market but they will get advice on how to improve their product or business. Like you said in your post everyone loves free stuff and the feeling of winning. Holding contests and giveaways will definitely help them promote their business and bring in more customers.

• #18 by Breonni Sawyer on 8/28/17 - 11:27 AM

  

  I agree Brittani, social media is imperative to propel and promote business in our technologically-centered culture. From personal experience, I visit social media pages of businesses frequently. Not only do I search social media sites for new restaurants, salons, gyms and service providers; but I also ask fellow social media contacts for recommendations on businesses they utilize. As Brittani stated, “Allow customers to do the talking”, word of mouth referrals from satisfied customers goes very far.
  From a business perspective, not only is it important to have a significant social media footprint but, it is also important use that footprint effectively. Businesses should not only exploit themselves via their own pages, but should also use social media ads. Sites like Facebook and Instagram have tailored their ads to the consumers. For example, if I had been doing research on the health benefits of vitamins, the next ads that will appear on my social media outlets would be of vitamin shops, gyms, and health clinics. This form of advertisement is extremely advantageous to business as it aids in reaching the target market without the companies having to do the leg work.
  Ultimately, an effective social media presence can aid companies in success.

• #19 by Natalie Mero on 8/28/17 - 5:02 PM

  

  In this new age of social media, it is of upmost importance to have an online presence to have your business be visible. However, Brittani brought it a step further by saying that just because someone is visible on a platform does not automatically give the business a leg up. Before reading this blog post, I would see these engagement tactics on various businesses that I follow on social media, but I did not realize the science behind it. The point that stood out the most to me was the section on "allow customers to do the talking". This tactic works the best for me because I am always looking at reviews via Yelp, Google reviews, etc. which is user based and I always look to see if the business comments on the reviews. It's always a good business principle to have.

• #20 by Noushka Belizaire on 8/29/17 - 6:42 PM

  

  This article was a phenomenal. These are things, all companies including personal brands need to know.
  In October of 2016, I started a YouTube channel in hopes of building my personal brand.
  At first, the "social media thing" was a thorn in my side. I wanted to use my Instagram and Facebook to gain viewers for my videos, but there was one issue.
  All I just trying to sell something on all of my social media platforms.
  It was not until I started watch Gary Vaynerchucks videos, that I learned about engagement.
  Nobody wants to see a commercial all day long. They have a bad wrap.
  Now, I have over 8,000 followers on my Instagram and the engagement is through the roof.
  I average 1,000 hits per post, and it is a phenomenal community. Furthermore, it is also important to make each post native to the platform people typically do not want to leave one social platform, to go to the next.

• #21 by Gina Borges on 8/29/17 - 7:32 PM

  

  This is a fantastic article that I really enjoyed reading. Social media is a huge part of today’s society and it is very important to both big and small companies/businesses. This article has great tips and provides plenty of advice on how to properly use social media to grow business. Brittani is right in saying that just because companies are “on” social media, that doesn’t mean that they are using it to its full potential. Points number 3 and 4 are the most important in my opinion. Hosting Q & A sessions is great because it makes customers and anyone interacting with the social media page feel like they are interacting with a real person. I personally enjoy when I ask a question on twitter to a page and I get a response right away. It makes me feel like a valued customer and it makes me want to engage with that page even more. Contests are also great for encouraging employee engagement as well as promoting fun to customers and followers. I love participating in contests because of the fun environment they create and the possibility of winning something (for free!). Overall, this article was a great read and was loaded with many effective ideas.

• #22 by Thomas Buchanan on 8/29/17 - 11:53 PM

  

  I was just recently asked to take over the social media pages for my place of employment, Facebook, Tinder and Instagram. This blog gives a good bit of insight as how to run the sights, often on a company's Facebook page I will see that the administrator will simply answer the questions but not show interest in what the customer has to share or in what they are asking. I can see how taking a more personable approach can peak a customer's interest and allow their interest and experiences reach out to other potential customers. Giving away free stuff however is not something I can see the company I work for would be willing to do, yet.

• #23 by Alejandro Warwar on 8/30/17 - 10:48 AM

  

  From my professional and personal experience, social media engagement without consumer engagement is waste of resource. I have seen post from companies on the Facebook platform, where consumers have had questions and/or concern about a product and were left there in silence, or even more confused when other consumers gave feedback regarding the issue. I believe proper response time should be required by any means of communication through social media. At the root of it all we can’t have “social media” without “social”.
  
  Alejandro Warwar

• #24 by Kiril Mandalov on 8/30/17 - 3:35 PM

  

  One key word mentioned by Brittani in her article introduction is “Engagement”. It is through engagement that marketers can most efficiently gather and analyze data. I would like to link customer engagement with a specific process already familiar to us from Chapter 3 called, marketing intelligence system (MIS). “A marketing intelligence system is a set of procedures and sources that managers use to obtain everyday information about developments in the marketing environment.” Having the ability to combine these two processes through any given social media network would greatly improve a company’s costumer database.
  In her second point, Brittani talks about allowing the customer to do the talking. This makes great sense since I strongly believe that when most consumers are given the right platform to express their opinion, they will utilize it.
  For Brittani’s last point, “Show your Personality” I would like to add another perspective. From a personal consumer point of view, I would stress that to build a connection with a particular brand, the marketer should not only show the organizational personality but also integrate their product line into the mix. I’ll give an example. Yeti Cycles is a Colorado based bicycle brand that is mostly enjoyed by a specific group of semi-pro and pro bikers. Yeti’s employees found a great way to show commitment and passion for what they do, where every day during their afternoon lunch hour they take their bicycles and ride the vast number of bike trails surrounding Golden, Colorado.

• #25 by Fernando Villar-Fornes on 8/30/17 - 11:51 PM

  

  Hi Brittani:
  
  I'm totally agreed with you. Now, most business explore the option of advertise their company through social media. Lately, I'm been seen more business interacting with their customers and using the five ways presented in your blog. I consider, companies needs to be more accessible with their customers to provide a excellent experience at the time of do business with them. Social media marketing is getting bigger every second, companies interacting more with their customers and promoting their business through share their locations, events, and photos of their business. Which, help to impress and provide a detail idea of how is the business or how they provide their services. As example we could use the channel CW with their series, like The originals. They share their updates through facebook, they did a live session with the cast, share where they film the series, and keep contact with their followers through their blogs on facebook. Other example, UBER, they have a chat where the customer can ask at the moment. They share experience from customers, post their advertisement on social media, and even ask the customer how was the experience to ensure the quality of the service.
  
  However, we still have some companies which want to use social media for marketing their business, but they don't know how to used it or have certain limitations. Where the Five fun ways to boost social media will help them to increase their business and customer's expectation. Since, social media is part of our lives companies need to use this tool in their maximum potential to achieve their goal of interaction, sales, and create memories to expand and sustain their business.

• #26 by Kristina Salasevicius on 8/31/17 - 2:31 PM

  

  Brittani McCray-Fleureme’s article on Huizenga College’s Blog, Real-World Marketing Ideas and Strategies, titled “Five Fun Ways to Boost Social Media Engagement” really hit all the points, while there are countless other ways to engage your customers on social media, the point is engagement, like she mentioned. I recently just interned with Missionary Flight International, located in Fort Pierce, FL. Where I was there Development intern. Most of my duties included posting interesting and engaging content on their social media platforms (Facebook, twitter, ect..) It was challenging finding new content every day, and most of the content was repetitive. I really liked the idea of a question and answer segment, this is something I didn’t consider when working for them, but it would be beneficial for a company like Missionary Flights a non-profit organization. Their whole marketing theory relies on awareness of their company. Being able to social interact and answer questions like Who We Are? And What do we do? Would help bring awareness which ultimately leads to the donations that they need.

• #27 by Eliette Barrios on 8/31/17 - 9:15 PM

  

  As a previous business owner, I found that marketing a service or services could be daunting. Especially, when a new entrepreneur is not clear about how to attract customers using marketing strategies. In my experience, one limitation was to advertise properly my services to the community I was targeting; the use of social media such as Facebook was done solely by using the site to pay for advertising the business, but lacked the personal touch to talk to customer in a way that was alluring to them. Regardless of how much money was invested, the number of customer did not increase. Thus, business was not prosperous and after the first year I decided to closed it down. The lesson learned was that marketing is an important part of planning a business, using social media to personalize the relation with customer is essential. And, the word of mouth seems to be an exceptional marketing strategy as well.

• #28 by Tracy Villanueva on 9/1/17 - 10:22 AM

  

  First and foremost social media is suppose to be fun while still being informative and communicating your agenda and promoting your ideas. Whether it is for personal or professional use everyone and company is trying to "put their name out there". Which is fine because, lets face it, that's what it is there for.
  
  This article adequately describes how to do so. It shows how to connect with the audience in a professional and fun manner. However the best piece of advice this article provides is "Host Q&A Sessions" and "Contests". You cannot get more personal with the reader than engaging with them.
  
  Currently, I manage my employers social media and we promote events, published articles from our employees, career postings, and our affiliated institutions. Since, I am not a marketer, (nor do I even have a personal facebook or twitter account) I found it challenging on how to connect with my audience. This is an article that I will keep as a guideline for reference. This is a great informative article that everyone and business should look to.

• #29 by Courtney Desmond-Smith on 9/3/17 - 12:30 PM

  

  Great article Brittani! I agree with the tips presented for boosting social media engagement for businesses. In earlier years, marketers were unsure on how to handle the whole “social media thing.” Many were hesitant to even place advertisement on those platforms. Now social media has become an important aspect of marketing for all brands. Traditional marketing, such as print ads and television, have been surpassed by options on Facebook and Twitter. Many companies are looking to engage and interact with their consumers’ experience in real time, and have begun to have a two- way conversation via these avenues. These conversations are allowing companies to have a direct link to consumers to found out and respond directly to their needs immediately. In this world, people have no filter on social media and say what they feel. Engagement in these conversations, allows companies to learn what people like but also their frustrations, which in turns allow you the opportunity to remedy any concerns.
  As a brand, they need to share news, to educate, inform and excite the consumer. When a Brand is utilizing social media for marketing, they need to make sure that they are adding value, while brand building. Many national brands such as Charmin's, add value by having posts like “Tweet from the Seat” or Always feminine products campaign of #LikeaGirl, which advocates gender equality and positioned the brand as a company that truly cares about global issues. In conclusion if brands use social media to its’ full capacity the benefits to the company and the consumer can be endless.

• #30 by Krista Locklin on 9/3/17 - 8:35 PM

  

  Brittani this is a great article and I agree with you. I have a photography business so a lot of my advertising is online through Instagram and Facebook. I think it is interesting how you brought up the point of talking to your customers and not at them. This makes a lot of sense. I see a lot of online companies doing both of these and it definitely stands out more when people caption a photo on Instagram with a caption that talks to their followers or even asking to comment something such as an experience they have had or something like that instead of just "talking at them". It really makes sense how you put it, I never thought about it like this before. I also find it interesting how you brought up contests because some companies I would not even know of if they did not host a contest. Especially word gets around when part of the contest is to re-post a picture about the contest or advertising the company. Overall, I agree with all of your points in this post and I think that it is a great post for businesses who are on online platforms to read!

• #31 by Kailynn Blackwood on 9/25/17 - 8:02 PM

  

  Great article, as a business owner myself I really appreciate the helpful hints and tips. I haven't been as engaging as I need to be, so now I am able to see if what you stated actually works. Contest's for small businesses like mine are fairly difficult due to the lack of income I am able to put into the contest. However, it is still a good idea.

• #32 by Tanner on 9/28/17 - 1:18 PM

  

  I love this post because it doesn't just apply to one sector in the business world. Also, it does not just pertain to large businesses. The tips that you gave can be taken into consideration for any business. In addition, I think that this is a very important topic and one that many businesses ignore. The future generation lives on social media and if you want them as customers, that is the way you have to reach out to them.

• #33 by Adam Hillyard on 9/28/17 - 4:57 PM

  

  I very much agree that this is an essential aspect of the modern day business. Being on social media, I often see certain companies who comment back at their customers, or have friendly conversations with competing businesses. A great example of this is Taco Bell. I have seen several posts from this company that are incredibly funny and very current with the modern culture at that time. I can personally attest to following Taco Bell, solely to read their posts when they do appear. It's often overlooked how important social media can be for a company, and I think that this blog accurately describes how successful businesses use social media to their advantage. I truthfully think that the best point on the post was point 5. I believe that having a sense of humor can show humanity and that even though the person is running a high-tier company, they are also human.

• #34 by Deepthi Gangaram on 9/29/17 - 4:43 PM

  

  Hi Brittani,
  
  I really enjoyed reading your blog post and wholeheartedly agree with how vital custumer engagement is for a company's social media account to be successful and and effective marketing strategy. I have seen many FaceBook accounts operated by large companies where the company uploads general posts and do not engage in discussion with commenters. The only real discussion, unfortunately, is between customers. Having the company directly involve itself during these discussions will allow them to dictate the direction of conversations and allow them to be positive overall.

• #35 by Kael on 9/29/17 - 4:55 PM

  

  Hello Brittani,
  Thank you very much for your post. I believe it is essential to create that type of relationship with your customers via social media and reading your post changed my point of view. I have tried connecting with them differently, and now I know what route to take using these platforms to engage with my customers

• #36 by Shreja T Patel on 9/30/17 - 4:11 AM

  

  I think this article is an informative article about the use of social media via businesses. It is crucial for the businesses to engage with their consumers and keep up with it in order for the customers to feel as though they are communicating with someone who shows interest and is taking their recommendations into consideration. A business's social media engagement can help boost sales and is becoming more popular today. In addition, getting personal with the consumers creates a strong connection and the consumer feels a part of the brand and can give his/her's ideas on how to enhance the brand.

• #37 by Siumara Antonio on 11/2/17 - 1:00 PM

  

  I agree with what I read about engagement, there are 2 points in this article that caught my attention in such way because I've heard about I never paid so much attention until today. "Talk to your customers, not at them" and "Host Q&A sessions" are important things to do in a company because it allows the customers to feel part of the company. I never watched a Q&A session by a company, but I've seen a lot from youtubers/bloggers and I see that this helps so much to build a relationship between both parts.

• #38 by Angela Rozelle on 11/3/17 - 10:52 AM

  

  Thank you for the information, it has some very helpful information. My company is trying to grow our student base using social media and electronic messaging. I will be adding some your suggestions to our marketing process.

• #39 by Isaac Azout on 2/18/18 - 11:59 AM

  

  I couldnt agree more with this post. Social Media is in a downswing in my opinion and can use some fresh new ideas. I believe everyone will be intrigued by contests, Q&A's, and more.

• #40 by Carly Purcell on 3/27/18 - 11:32 AM

  

  This post has a lot of fun tips for boosting social media engagement. Engagement is one of the best ways to draw in new users and retain current users. I have noticed this in my experience with social media, as well.