The thing about social media marketing is that you’re never finished developing a strategy.  Social media behaviors are constantly changing, and what worked six months ago won’t necessarily work today.  Keeping up-to-date with the behaviors of potential leads online will help keep you ahead of the curve.

An article ran on SocialMediaExaminer.com recently, outlining 9 tips that will improve your social engagement on Facebook.  The article is lengthy, but makes some excellent points. Here is a slightly different take on the same concepts.  These are proven, successful methods for increasing engagement, but that doesn’t mean you need to adopt them all.  It’s important to be mindful of what it means for your brand, and how these tips fit in to a strategy that targets your desired audience.

1.  Be Comfortable Being Informal – Social media is all about engagement, and people don’t feel comfortable engaging a sterile corporate shell.  Facebook profiles should feel inviting and intimate.  With an element of personality and personal investment in a Facebook page, users will get the impression that you care and have time to address their comments.  Create an atmosphere that invites people to participate.

2.  Images – Simply put, people engage visual content more than just text.

3.  Contests – Contests continue to be an excellent boost in engagement, and a quick way to increase likes on your page.  The downside to contests however is that many new page-likers will never return, causing your percentage of active users to drop.

4.  Use Humor – One of the best ways to get users to share content is to make it funny, which often goes hand-in-hand with #1.

5.  Web Philanthropy – Everyone loves a cause.  If you can’t get them to talk about you, then get them to talk about something else!  Fostering relationships with other organizations online othat support a cause or foundation through your social channels is an excellent way to get people talking.  You know what publicists say: any news is good news.  They might not be talking about your services, but they WILL be using your name.

6.  Take Advantage of Facebook – Facebook does more than post pictures and status updates.  Use all the options available to engage your audience, including highlighted posts, apps, and other back-end developer options.

7.  Use Personal Profiles – This isn’t for every brand, but if your business provides a one-on-one service, it’s something to consider.  If your brand image is tied to you personally (like the realtor example in the SME article), people will be ready to engage with you on Facebook.  Many organizations use a personal profile for a spokesperson, often very successfully.

8.  Connect Your Audience With Each Other – This can be a huge advantage!  If you can get users to engage with each other on your page, you become a hub for them to continually come back to.

9.  Show the Love – It can be as simple as thanking your customers in a meme, or offering coupons and rewards.  Show your customers that you appreciate them and they’ll keep coming back.