How to Make the Most of Social Media Tools to Drive Engagement, Part II

Social media is a great tool to build your relationships with your customers. Properly engaging them online requires a thoughtful strategy and smart, winning content. In the first part of this two-part exploration into social customer engagement, we dove into the essential steps you’ll want to take to foster those connections. We focused on developing your engagement playbook, digging into your social analytics, and determining the best time for your posts across platforms. But we’re not finished yet; here are the last two steps on your journey to great social CX.

If You’re on Social, You Need to Utilize Video

For yet another year, video stands as the king of content marketing. 

While Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, and Pinterest lead the pack, it feels like another video channel or app comes online by the week. Don’t simply post your clips on video-giant YouTube and call it a day; boost engagement across platforms. Creating informative and engaging videos is a great way to improve interactions with your online followers. It’s also essential to optimize video content for mobile devices because consumers watch most videos on their phones.

The rule of thumb dictates that videos should be under two minutes. Four minutes is the average length for most videos, but length varies depending on the platform, your brand, and content.

• On Instagram, make your short videos 30 seconds in length and cover vital information within the first 15 seconds. However, on IGTV, you can stretch the video to 10 minutes and longer for live posts.
• On Facebook, the average length for in-feed videos is between 24 and 90 seconds. However, on Facebook Stories, 20 seconds is an ideal length. For Facebook Live, you can broadcast for hours if necessary.
• On YouTube, the ideal length for pre-roll ads is 20 seconds, and six seconds for bumper ads. For long video posts, take at least 10 minutes and roll for hours where necessary. However, two minutes is enough for B2B videos.
• On Twitter, two-minute videos are ideal. For ads, 20 to 45 seconds are enough.

Use Polls to Inform Your Decisions and Entertain Your Followers

Polls are excellent for engagement because people love participating. After all, there’s no pressure to come up with the correct answer. It’s a great engagement tool to roll out when you’re launching or trying to compare products. Your followers have a bit of fun, and you get crucial data.

Polls are also quick and easy — unlike surveys, which may require followers to interact with you in direct messages or outside the app. Many people will also feel compelled to comment below a poll to support their opinion.

When conducting polls, remember to:

• Keep them short and relevant. Get straight to the point and ask your audience to vote and comment.
• Conduct polls when your target audience is most active for high engagement.
• Tie your polls to relevant trends and avoid repetition.
• Boost engagement by responding to comments.

Driving engagement on social media requires planning and practice. Understand the type of content your audience likes and know when to post and how to respond. Use interactive features and content that give your followers what they want while providing you with a great way to learn from and speak to your audience. Once that conversation is bustling, there’ll be no stopping you. See you on social media!