5 Social Media Networking Tips to Engage Prospects

While brands have been leveraging social media channels to find qualified prospects, many companies still need to approach the strategy effectively. Social media can be a powerful tool for lead generation; however, it’s crucial to know how to get people to interact with your content. When prospects are engaged, they are more likely to convert. Here are five social media networking tips for engaging candidates.

1. Define the goal

Define your goal and build your social media networking strategy around it. In social media networking and marketing, selling a product isn’t the only goal. Social media can increase brand awareness, manage brand reputation, increase website traffic, deliver customer service, and generate leads. To improve community engagement, your goal should also include building authentic connections that promote trust; the community needs to feel personal and invite positive interactions.

2. Pick the right channels

We all know the biggest social media channels – Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. However, your target audience may not prioritize these platforms. Professionals tend to look for opportunities on LinkedIn, while TikTok is increasingly becoming the platform for people to discover new products and services. According to the Pew Research Center, 95% of teens use YouTube, with TikTok as the next platform they use the most. College students preparing to graduate and enter the professional world also use LinkedIn. This is valuable insight, particularly if you are a higher education institution and your target audience is teens about to graduate high school or your company wants to hire fresh college graduates.

3. Communicate a relevant message

To increase engagement, you need to create and share relevant content. And this is why it’s crucial to know your audience. Generational gaps can make it challenging for us to relate to people younger or older than us. If you’re attempting to engage with teens and young adults, such as high school graduates or college kids, you need to know what topics are meaningful to them and would spark a conversation. Remember, what interests a first-year college student may differ from a college senior who already has their sights on becoming a professional.

4. Expand your reach

Reach a wider audience by sharing user-generated content and tapping into your team’s networks. User-generated content gives your brand a face, making it more relatable to new users. Make your brand identifiable and searchable by creating a brand hashtag, which you should encourage people to use when they post content that relates to your community. To encourage even more user-generated content and fan posts, you can hold contests or tap into micro-influencers within your community.

5. Analyze your performance

With social metric tools, you can analyze engagement, reach, sharing trends, web traffic, and follower growth. Evaluate what works and what doesn’t. Some content may drive higher engagement than others, and it’s important to understand why. Your content may not be driving engagement because you’re posting it on the wrong channel.

With data-powered contact lists, you can ensure you’re sending the right message to the right channel. Provide us with a list of names and emails, and we can provide you with social media handles, links, and the most used communication methods. It may be time to update how you communicate with your target audience, particularly if your contact list is old and the people on it have changed demographics.