Some companies think that being professional on social media means being boring as well. To that, we say poppycock!
Social media posts from small businesses, startups, and other professional organizations can be both fun and engaging if you know the right way to go about it.
In this blog post, we’ll share six of our top ideas for building social media engagement in a fun, fulfilling way that will connect with and have an impact on your audience!
1. Make Up Your Own Hashtag
There are billions of hashtags out there for you to use already, but what if you feel that none embody your small business as a brand?
Well, what’s one billion and more hashtags, right?
Creating your own hashtag is fun, as you get to inject more personality and personalization into your social media posts going forward.
You can also engage with your audience by encouraging them to use your hashtag and tag your account in those posts.
Who knows? Your hashtag could just start the next viral trend!
When cultivating your own hashtag, remember to be careful about the context.
Capitalizing words in a hashtag can be inconvenient for some users, so the hashtag should read properly if all the letters are lowercase.
Triple-check that your hashtag doesn’t accidentally promote some sexual, political, or religious innuendo. Make sure you get somebody else to take a look at the hashtags before you post them on social media for the first time.
Read also: What to Post on Instagram: 21 Creative Ideas
2. Do an AMA
AMAs, short for Ask Me Anything, is a trend on Reddit that’s bled over to other social media sites as well.
Although the AMAs with celebrities usually gain the most attention, anyone with a title and respectable achievements within their industry is a good candidate for an AMA.
You can use the AMA format on nearly any social media platform.
You could have Twitter users tag you in questions, then you respond directly to the question in a comment.
You could ask users to submit questions on Instagram and then answer them on Instagram Stories. You can even create a Highlight of the best answers on your profile.
AMAs give your customers a chance to get to know more about your small business than what’s on your LinkedIn profile or the about page on your website. They’re exciting and interactive!
Read also: One Simple Guide For the Best Time to Post Reels on Instagram
3. Make Your Own Graphics or Images
The world doesn’t need another social media post (or blog post, for that matter) decorated with a boring stock photo.
Jazz up your social media content by producing your own images and graphics.
It’s easier than you think to make both. Canva is a well-known design tool that you can use to create your own graphics and images from scratch. You could go for a more artisitic rather than rigid look with Procreate tool along with amazing fur brushes to add realism to your graphics.
You can also hire a graphic designer to create a series of graphics and images for your small business that you can post gradually.
Make sure that you add a watermark or identifier to your images so that others on the Internet can’t steal them and take credit.
Unfortunately, photo thieves are a common phenomenon online. A watermark will allow you to get the credit for the hard work that you deserve!
Read also: 12 Best Practices for Instagram Stories
4. Promote User-Generated Content
Does your small business or startup sell products or services that are conducive to user-generated content such as video reviews or UGC photos? More than likely, the answer is yes!
These people have taken time out of their busy lives to review your products and services without expecting any form of compensation in return.
The least you can do is retweet, reblog, or otherwise bring attention to the UGC centered around your company’s products and services.
In a way, it’s blatant self-promotion, but it’s also promoting the great work of your audience. Sharing content through your channels can help generate things like TikTok likes, which the content creator will appreciate.
Be sure to leave a positive comment on the content you see to encourage more of your customers to consider posting their own UGC to the Internet.
Read also: Get Noticed on Instagram with These Classy, Unique, and Quirky Bio Ideas!
5. Post Some GIFs
Here on the EngageBay blog, we’re big fans of GIFs, which we’re sure you’ve noticed if you’ve read our other content.
GIFs are a great means of self-expression. They’re more fun than still images and have more personality to boot.
If you’re worried that your small business is perceived as too stuffy on social media, then one way to loosen up a little, so to speak, is by posting GIFs.
Now, just like you should limit your use of emojis on social media, you want to take a lighter-handed approach to GIF posting as well.
The more GIFs you use, the more it becomes like information overload. No one can appreciate a single GIF when there are four more right after them.
It’s like trying to watch four phone screens or televisions at once. You’re getting a jumbled assortment of messages.
GIFs are a lot more effective when alone, especially in the confines of a social media post or comment.
Read also: Creating The Perfect Social Media Handle For Your Business
6. Do a Poll or Survey
What’s on the mind of your audience?
This is a question that you won’t have to ponder much if you begin issuing regular social media polls or surveys.
What should your poll be about? That’s up to you, but make sure that you’re surveying your audience on a topic that they care about.
For example, asking them what you should post on your blog next week might not be the best poll topic.
Instead, you might ask them which product or service they might unveil next.
Keep in mind that your polls don’t always have to center around you. Remember, the key is to have fun and build engagement, not toot your own horn all the time.
For example, Walmart has posted an assortment of polls, this one being about the Star Wars series.
It has nothing to do with Walmart outside of Walmart selling Star Wars toys, games, and DVDs, but that’s a stretch.
Provide a means of entertainment for your audience and they’ll keep coming back to your social media feed.
Read also: 40 Social Media Marketing Quotes for Today’s Business Environment
Conclusion
Fun and engagement on social media are not only for big-name personalities, influencers, and people with personal accounts.
Your business can find a way to enjoy posting on social media as well. When you make your social media posts creative, fun and engaging, you’ll see people engaging with your posts more often 🙂
