Capturing Attention in Social Media Ok, so what does it really mean to secure engagement in social media and why would this be important? Basically, you have accomplished more than just ‘turning their head’, you are now engaging in a ‘conversation’ with them. You have posted something that they want to know about, are interested in, hit an emotional nerve, enjoy the photos of, or the like. And now the reader is mentally engaged with your information … at least for the moment. This is very important, as if you can’t get this engagement, the reader will most likely disengage and continue on with the multitude of other forms of online information that they have to choose from. So how do you avoid being the dusty book on the shelf? It turns out that there are many ways in which to improve the success of your words or ideas gaining the attention of others. Starting at the top, it appears that your Blog title is very important in gaining attention and engagement from those who might be scrolling by (Wainwright, 2017). Things like playing around with alliteration, using strong language, making the value clear by adding quotes, by focusing on the “whos” and not the “whys”, and finally simply by adding the word “photo” (Wainwright, 2017) can greatly increase the number of people who take the time to look at your post. Studies show that even just adding numbers to your blog post can increase the traffic by 206% (Ellering, 2017). Then of course you have the old saying of make it ‘short and sweet’. It seems that this holds true for your title as well! Research points to the fact that “headlines between 8-12 words in length got the most Twitters shares on average”, and you want to keep it “under 70 characters so it doesn’t get cut off in search engine results” (Wainwright, 2017). Of course, there is other research out there that points to keeping your title around 6-8 words (Jain, 2017), so let’s just go with keep it short. But wait … that’s not all! There is more research that shows that it’s not just about the title of the post, but the timing of the post as well (Ellering, 2017)! It appears, much like most things in life, that there are a multitude of things you can do to make something ‘better’. Maintaining Engagement in Social Media Ok, so what does it really mean to secure engagement in social media and why would this be important? Basically, you have accomplished more than just ‘turning their head’, you are now engaging in a ‘conversation’ with them. You have posted something that they want to know about, are interested in, hit an emotional nerve, enjoy the photos of, or the like. And now the reader is mentally engaged with your information … at least for the moment. This is very important, as if you can’t get this engagement, the reader will most likely disengage and continue on with the multitude of other forms of online information that they have to choose from. Well now that you have someone’s attention … what are you going to do with the next 8 seconds before it fades again? Some of the top pros in the field suggest using photos and infographics to help keep engagement (Hemley, 2013). The magic ratio seems to be roughly one picture for every 350 words or so (Wainwright, 2017). You can even sharpen the edge by taking photos of real people, thus making “sure to expose your human side” (Hemley, 2013). Another key aspect, especially in today’s world of growing technology is making your post mobile-friendly (Hemley, 2017). With today’s person always ‘on the go’, and always doing so with their mobile devise attached to the hand or hip, having your information available to browse at their convenience can help increase engagement (Hemley, 2017). Last (for this list) but definitely not least, research suggests that asking questions from your readers will have a big impact on more engagement (Hemley, 2017). Specifically, you can “tap into the interests and lifestyles of your fans,” ask “competitive analysis questions” and probe with “feedback questions” to find out what your readers “like most and what areas you can expand into” (Hemley, 2017). References
Ellering, N. (2017). Here are the 101 catch blog title formulas that will boost traffic by 438%. CoSchedule. Retrieved from https://coschedule.com/blog/catchy-blog-titles/ Hemley, D. (2013). 26 tips to create a strong social media content strategy. Social Media Examiner. Retrieved from https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/26-tips-to-create-a-strong-social-media-content-strategy/ Jain, G. (2017). How to write catch blog post titles that get clicked like crazy. Jeff Bullas. Retrieved from http://www.jeffbullas.com/write-catchy-blog-post-titles-get-clicked-like-crazy/ Wainwright, C. (2017). How to write catchy headlines and blog titles your readers can’t resist. HubSpot. Retrieved from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/a-simple-formula-for-writing-kick-ass-titles-ht
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