When your business is starting out on social media it is easy to want to sell to your customers all the time because this is how you make more money, right?

No, not at all, actually. As consumers, we see thousands of ads per day, what is going to make you stand out? Well, if you have a huge marketing budget and it is just a numbers game for sales, then sure. Unfortunately, most small business owners don’t have a million dollar marketing budget.

We believe that when you provide real value to potential customers they respond better. When you develop a relationship and get to know who your customers are there is a much higher chance of making repeat business. Plus, don’t you think the happy customers will tell their friends? Yeah, us too!

So, you are probably asking yourself, ‘how do I sell more without selling’ then? Don’t worry, we have the answers for you. We have created a list of 10 ways to actively engage your audience, build a relationship, and ultimately close more deals.

1. Post about relevant topics to engage your audience, so when it is time to sell, your posts will be seen by a lot more people because of the engagement you have generated in previous posts.

2. Do a video once per week about how to do something. If you’re a clothing store, help people pick out outfits for the next season. If you’re an artist, show your customers how to paint something simple or give quick tip.

3. Get in on more conversations. Find a relevant page or an influencer and jump in on what people are talking about. An influencer is someone who has a bigger piece of the market you would like who has a lot of comments from their posts.

4. Run a contest on social media for something your customers may actually want. Ask them to comment, share, or like that particular post. Make sure to follow up with everyone. There is software out there to create quizzes for free to drive engagement, one of those websites is https://www.qzzr.com/

5. Let your audience talk about themselves. Ask relevant questions about your industry and let them do the talking. The best thing about this is that not only are you engaging your audience but you’re are getting to know them on a deeper level.

6. Make your audience laugh! Entertain them once in awhile. So many people are afraid to post things that aren’t necessarily related to their brand or industry.

7. Go behind the scenes. I can’t stress this enough. People are naturally curious and want to know what YOU DO! This can be done with video or pictures.

8. Get users who follow you on one platform to do so on another. For example, if you meet them on Snapchat, send them over to Facebook or Instagram. The more places you can connect with them, the more in-depth relationship you can create.

9. Tell the story you want to tell, natively. Use the power of each social network. Do a video on Facebook, post an amazing picture on Instagram, take more selfie videos on Snapchat.

10. KEEP PUTTING IN THE WORK! Basically, don’t give up in a month, 2 or 6. If you’re really providing the value the results WILL come. The key word here is consistency.

Now that you are equipped with 10 strategies to increase your audience engagement, implement them as soon as possible. Like today.

We advise to pick 1-2 items and stay laser focused on them. When you focus on 1-2 things and are able to succeed at them and start seeing results, you’re more likely to implement others and stay on track.

If you have any questions on your next steps, please leave us a comment below and we would happy to help in any way that we can.