A wise woman once told me to stop trying to recreate the wheel – no matter how much work or how many hours go into your articles, if it’s not what your audience wants, they’ll simply keep ignoring it.

I tried explaining that my version of the wheel was brighter and shinier and, most importantly, mine, but the audience apparently missed the memo, too. The clickthrough rates proved it.

After a few months of sluggish newsletter engagement, we finally went back to the playbook and chose Ol’ Reliable: nuke the old plan and start from scratch. The new plan is a slender, listicle-style shell of the old format. It’s meant to be scrolled and is littered with hyperlinks, a choose-your-own adventure of opportunities for the readers. The engagement rates? Spiked.

From this, I learned two great lessons:

• Don’t hold on to your plan so tightly. As communicators, our line of work dictates that we be agile, constantly rewriting and doodling in the margins of our own playbooks. Media and communications channels are continuously changing, so we need to adapt quickly to the evolving landscape. Be like water and stay fluid. Plus, it stings a little less when it’s time to hit the big red button and incinerate your beautiful little idea.
• People want bites of content. Bite-sized information. Brain snacks for busy lifestyles. Everyone has opinions that, shockingly, they want to share. Fold in social media, and those same opinion-holders are trying to ‘go viral’ authoring the next great think-piece. You don’t always have to contribute to the noise. Read some great articles lately? Hyperlink those!

Your investigative journalism style think-piece was absolutely well written, well researched and made several great points, but what are the odds your audience is really digesting it in your newsletter? Cut it in half, divide by four, and finely mince – now you’re getting closer.

The thing is, communicators are usually competing for people’s attention, and the inbox is a messy battleground to contend with. People open your newsletter and scroll, looking for keywords to hold their attention. You have five seconds (or less) to hook someone in; otherwise, it’s off to the Trash – or worse – the Subscription Preferences page.

For companies with an online presence, there are several ways of executing a successful social media strategy. In this article, we’re going to discuss effective social media engagement. Engagement shows how people are interacting with your content, and signifies that you’re dedicated to making an impact on the market. Through purposeful connections with current and future customers, social media engagement can help amplify your brand’s name.

How is Social Media Engagement Measured?

Most companies strive for a significant social media following, but maintaining an engaged audience is even more significant. Social media engagement can be measured through:

• Comments
• Likes
• Shares
• Number of followers
• Mentions
• Hashtag engagement

With so many elements to consider, it’s important to prioritize content quality as much as quantity.

Increasing Your Social Media Engagement

First, examine your current engagements. Take note of how many people like or follow your page, as well as how many of them typically engage with your posts (how many comments, reactions, or shares per post). There are several other engagement metrics you can track as well, like the Applause Rate (the number of positive or approval actions on a post), or the Amplification Rate (the ratio of shares per post to your number of total followers).

Establish a plan to monitor these numbers, so you can accurately track your growth over time.

Now that you have your numbers, it’s time to get to know your audience and determine your content strategy. Your audience will determine the tone, language and resources you use to relate to them.

Last, create and share content your audience will find valuable. Interacting with your audience through engagement with their posts or responses will create a rapport among your followers. This is more likely to spark conversations, or leave followers proactively reaching out to your brand. If you only ever talk about how great your brand is, your followers will lose interest and quickly tune out.

Keep the Conversation Going

Once you’ve finally gotten your message out there, it’s imperative to keep the conversation going. Responding to your audience shows that you’re invested in what they have to say. Respond to direct messages and reply to mentions or comments. Proactively reach out to people who are talking about you but didn’t tag your account directly. Putting in a little bit of effort goes a long way in showing your audience you really care.

I recently celebrated five years at NP Strategy. Since I began as the first full-time employee, we’ve built an incredible group of 25 individuals across two states and five cities. We provide a number of services, but I’ve always felt most ‘at home’ in our stakeholder engagement efforts, where I can combine communication skills developed during my years as a journalist with the engagement strategies I used during my time as a political operative.  I’ve relied on both while assisting corporations and small businesses with some of their most difficult needs.

However, when I think about this service and how it has affected me and the people I work with each day, the most meaningful influence can be traced to my days working with Congressman Jim Clyburn. His skill of being able to combine his notable aptitude to help his constituents with his skilled understanding of how to use his political capital at the precise time it’s needed is one of the most intriguing things I’ve ever witnessed.

Recently, national political reporters Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen released an excerpt of their book, “Lucky,” due out in March. It highlighted February 26, 2020, when Congressman Clyburn’s endorsement of then-candidate Joe Biden changed the landscape of the election, and with it, the course of our country’s future. To appreciate Congressman Clyburn’s instinctive ability to affect substantive change, thus providing an opportunity for his constituents and the country as a whole, you have to appreciate his history.

His younger years, growing up in a parsonage in Sumter, South Carolina, shaped his worldview. He has never forgotten where he came from and his best quality as an elected official has been his ability to truly listen to his constituents. He is currently in his 15th term as a congressman, where he serves as the third-ranking Democrat in the House as Majority Whip.

Congressman Clyburn has been a staunch supporter of many important pieces of legislation. He was critical in the passing of the Affordable Care Act and consistently focuses on the growth and opportunity for HBCU’s across our country. He has also introduced the 10-20-30 formula, which would fundamentally change how persistent poverty communities in our country are funded, thus giving them the opportunity to grow and thrive.

I became Congressman Clyburn’s Communications Director in 2014 and learned so much from him during our state’s most recent difficult moments – the shooting at Mother Emanuel, the removal of the Confederate Flag, and the 1,000-year flood in Columbia. For me, it was a masterclass in compassionate, effective leadership.

I’ve tried to walk a similar path in helping clients navigate their own journeys, both professional and personal while helping build our industrious communications firm. And yes, it is these blessed experiences that have shaped my history and, hopefully, our shared future.

For businesses, success can look like many things: bottom-line revenue; year-over-year growth, etc. Though, not all success is as easily defined as a metric or data point. When it comes to customer or client retention, it’s vital to go the extra mile in your service or work.

Author Napoleon Hill defines going the extra mile as “rendering more and better service than that for which one is paid.” That applies to both client and colleague relationships: remembering birthdays, sending a note, accepting an extra task if it means helping accomplish a goal. A simple “great job” note can make all the difference.

As a leader or teammate, remember to periodically reflect on why you’re here and who you’re serving.

When I recently made a career move, several new teammates took the time to welcome me, answer questions, and send greeting cards. It made me grateful to work alongside them, and we should all strive for a similar reaction from clients: give them a reason to be grateful for your partnership.

As humans, going the extra mile might not always be the easiest or convenient thing to do – we often want to cut corners or just “get by” in the most expedient way possible, but always remember you have a vested interest in your clients’ success; when they succeed, you benefit, and potentially open the doors to earned opportunities. Going the extra mile sets yourself apart. What kind of experience do you want for everyone involved?

Listen to your clients’ needs so you can know how to serve them, and how best to demonstrate your position as a partner in their success. They are giving you their loyalty. Ask: what do you need? How can we accomplish this together? Sometimes, it can be as simple as sending a note to say, “I appreciate your business.”

Providing a first-class product or service means being willing to do follow-up outreach, and welcoming any and all feedback that may follow to ensure that you’re being as supportive a partner as possible, both in client and colleague relationships.  Maximize that effort, then watch the tangible and intangible rewards unfold, like referrals and positive relationships. Give them a way to succeed and a reason to stay, by going the extra mile.

It’s easy to get complacent when planning your social media content calendar, especially when many events have shifted or been canceled due to COVID-19. Though we cannot control what happens in 2021, we can control our approach for fresh, targeted content that keeps your current followers happy and entices new ones.

So, how can you break the social marketing monotony? Use analytics from this past year to gain insights into your audience’s behavior. Analytics are imperative to properly analyze not only who your messages reach but how to best maximize those interactions.

Demographics

Most major platforms offer some level of insight into your audience demographics. For instance, Facebook can show you details such as age, gender, top countries and languages. Knowing more about your primary content consumers can tell you how to meet their needs and know who to target to join the conversation.

Social media should be seen as a means of conversation with every post. Posts with open-ended questions, polls that encourage participation, or shout-outs to a particular location or employee will be more likely to engage or be shared by viewers.

It’s helpful to review a year-end report before starting your calendar for the new year; put those patterns into strategic plans!

Performance Engagement

Part of the analysis is evaluating how well particular posts performed. Beyond the number of likes and comments, take a look at the interactions. What kinds of photos garnered the most engagement? In your videos, what was the average watch time?

Those answers can inform you of what your audience will want to see more or less of in 2021. It also is helpful to keep videos simple and brief. In an instantaneous world, our distractions are limitless and average attention spans are about eight seconds. However, with social media videos, that time is even shorter. A 2020 Nielson Research study found that “38% of brand recall, 23% of brand awareness and 25% of purchase intent result from video impressions that are less than two seconds long.”

You’ll want to keep video messages concise, with the most important and most interesting points coming in the first five seconds. Also try to find ways to break down your messages into multiple visual aides, with an infographic, bullet points or a meme (if appropriate).

Time of Day

The time of day you post is just as important as the post itself. Knowing when the bulk of your audience is online is helpful for day-to-day posts, or when launching a large campaign. On average, people in the United States spend nearly two and a half hours on social media daily, according to global research by Statistica.

Typically, there’s an influx in social usage in the mornings, before 9 a.m., and around noon, while folks are on their lunch break. Predictably, usage declines on Friday evenings, as most people check out for the weekend.

Social media insights can show you hour-by-hour when your current followers are online compared to the global average. Being strategic about these insights in the new year can help drive your messaging or branding to the right person. Be sure to merge your creative content ideas with a statistical strategy in 2021 to ring in the New Year right!

Like most people, I’m looking forward to closing the book on 2020. While this year has been full of challenges, disappoints, and fear, it’s also brought learning moments, growth opportunities, and plenty of successes in their own right. Even if you don’t typically make New Year’s resolutions, I challenge you to reflect on your year – consider what you’ve overcome, or how you have adjusted, and which of these new skills may well stick with you into 2021 and beyond.

Here are some thoughts to get you started:

What goals did I set for myself this time last year?

Personally, this year began the majority of my first year with NP Strategy. I had plans to settle into my new career path, meet with new clients, and even execute several large-scale, in-person events. If nothing else, this year proved that even when you think you are 100% prepared for all options, you never truly are.

When the year started going sideways, how did I adapt?

Like many people, this year forced much of what I do to go virtual. From day-to-day work to my children’s virtual learning, we adjusted to virtual meetings almost from the jump. Add to that the challenge of a political campaign during a pandemic, and it’s safe to say I have never used so much hand sanitizer in my life as I had this year.

Seriously, this year, we helped clients take their events online, reaching new audiences, and building new kinds of relationships with stakeholders. Virtual events and digital stakeholder engagement may not fully substitute for in-person interaction. Still, we can continue to build these skills, whether as ‘the new normal’ or a helpful back-up plan.

Finally, what did I learn or accomplish this year?

Everyone’s definition of success is different but be forgiving with yourself this year. I learned to juggle virtual meetings while ‘mom-ing,’ and, despite the challenges, I won a campaign race during a pandemic. I’ve learned to work with clients in new ways that I would never have imagined before this year.

No matter how your year ends and how different it may look from how it began, I encourage you to reflect and consider setting new goals for 2021; these could be personal or professional, long-term or immediate. Let’s continue to invest in ourselves and the people around us –our clients, our communities, our family, or our friends.