Unlike direct marketing messages, social media is a two-way
conversation. You have to engage your audience to interact with
you and others to achieve the desired effect. Here are 10
creative ways to do just that.
1. Acknowledge. It's no accident that this is #1. Comment on
your friends statuses and posts. Reply to their tweets.
Interact. Acknowledge when they say something bright, funny or
helpful. The fastest way to engage others is to meet them
halfway.
2. Like and retweet. Maybe you can't respond to everyone, but it
only takes a second to give a like on Facebook or retweet on
Twitter, and it makes the other person appreciate you all the
more.
3. Don't tell – tease. Next time you post a new article or blog
post, don't tell all. Instead, simply post a teaser that gets
your readers wondering what the post is about. And don't forget
to add the link – the better the tease, the more clicks you'll
get.
4. Play caption-this-photo. Find a weird, strange, bizarre,
humorous photo, and then ask your friends
and followers for funny captions.
5. Offer weird trivia and facts about interesting things related
to your nice. Random trivia examples, “To keep food from
freezing, Eskimos use freezers.” or “In the 1830's ketchup was
sold as medicine.”
6. Variation on #5 above – ASK weird trivia questions. You can
do this one of two ways: Either ask a question they can find
online, such as; “How many dimples are in a golf ball?” or “What
is the only domesticated animal not mentioned in the Bible?” The
second way is to ask a trivia question they cannot find online.
Example: “How did I earn $674 in one day when I was 12 years
old?” Or if you're good at research, you can find something
online that's obscure, such as; “About 100 people choke to death
each year on what common object?” (Answer: A ballpoint pen.)
7. Play “who-said-it.” Post a quote from a movie you're watching
and ask people who said it and what's the name of the movie they
said it in.
8. Update your photo. This works better on Facebook than on
Twitter, because on Twitter the photos are so small to begin
with. But on Facebook you can post a new photo everyday if you
like, and because people notice photos before anything else,
they'll notice yours.
9. Play “fill-in-the-blank.” You make a statement but you leave
one or two of the words blank. This way your followers and
friends can complete it. HINT: Always make the statement about
THEM, not about you. Try to use potentially humorous subjects.
For example: “I like to ___ while I'm ___.” or “In bed, I often
___ while thinking of ___.”
10. Ask. Ask for thoughts, opinions, help, advice, etc. People
love to be asked and will take the time for surprisingly
thoughtful responses. NOTE: Be sure to THANK them!
