For years, marketers have tried to get their followers’ attention by posting photos of kittens, memes and inspirational quotes. While these posts are certainly popular on social media, they’re not exactly interactive—and that’s what makes them so easy to ignore.
I’ll just be honest with you: It’s hard to connect with someone who doesn’t want to connect with you in the first place. But when your audience actively engages with your brand? That’s when the magic happens! And when you make it easy for them to participate in certain ways? Well, then I’m convinced that it could be one of the best things that ever happened to your business!
So, here we plan to explore some of the best ways to make highly interactive social media posts for your audience and for your social presence.
Use questions.
Questions are a great way to get people talking. You can ask questions that answer something you’re thinking about, or you can ask open-ended questions to get feedback from others. This is one of the best interactive social media posts that you can use every week.
Also, if you want to take it a step further and truly start an online conversation, try asking questions that are designed to inspire thought. These kinds of questions prompt you not only to think about what the response might be but also to consider what your own response would be.
Here are some examples:
- “What was your favourite childhood memory?”
- “What do you most like about my work?”
- “Where do you see yourself in five years? What will your life look like then?”
Ask for feedback.
You’re probably familiar with the phrase “the customer is always right.” But have you ever considered what that actually means? It’s not just a way of saying “customers like to complain,” but an opportunity for your brand or business to improve in a way that benefits the consumer. Eventually, the importance of customer feedback cannot be stressed enough. So, you could ask them directly:
Or, if you’re feeling extra creative, pose the question in the form of a poll:
Other ways to get feedback might include surveys or even live calls during which customers can call in and leave comments on air! Getting a positive review helps generate trust among the new audience. So, these kinds of interactive social media posts are always helpful for every online business.
Create interactive polls.
You need to get people’s opinions on many aspects of today. Like,
- What are the current shopping trends?
- what are the latest careers to look out for?
- What’s your favourite dish for a meal?
- How can you go your social following?
Such interactive social media posts make it easier for the audience to interact and engage with your content. Thus creating your image in their memory for easy remembrance.
People love to share their thoughts and creating polls is a great way of improving user engagement with such interactive social media posts in the form of questions and polls.
Encourage sharing.
You can also encourage your followers to share a post by including a call to action. This is the copy that asks them to do something, like “Share this!” or “Tag someone you know who would love this product.”
- Reward your followers for sharing their content on social media. If you want users to engage more and share more of your posts, then reward them for doing so with discounts or coupons on products from your store.
- Post photos and videos that are easy for people to share. You don’t need any special skills for this – just make sure the subject matter of your images is clear, and make sure they have enough text so that anyone can understand what they see (especially if it’s an infographic). Also, consider making it easy for people by providing links in the caption itself:
- For example: “Click here! Click here!! Click here!!!” Or even better: “Try our new product line today at www.yourwebsite.com
This kind of interactive social media post helps the audience to engage more and a reward is always tempting.
Showcase user-generated content (U.G.C).
If your business is anything like mine, you’re always on the lookout for new ways to engage users and get them talking. User-generated content (U.G.C) might be just what you need! U.G.C is content created by users, not you—it can take many forms: a video of an aspiring musician performing your company’s product; a review of one of your products; or even just a photo that shows off how much fun people are having with it.
Do something fun with your followers.
Every once in a while, it’s important to do something fun with your social media followers. Here are some ways you can spice up your engagement posts:
- Create a hashtag game. Have your team members create silly hashtags that people can use in their posts. For example, if you’re known for making delicious cupcakes, have them come up with #cupcakefun and #sweetsavvy.
- Host an Instagram story contest! You can make it simple or complex—the choice is yours. Just make sure that prize money is involved because people love winning prizes!
Create a two-way discussion.
To engage your audience, you could ask them questions about something you’ve posted. You could ask them to share their experiences with a certain topic or product. Or, if they’ve shared something with you that’s particularly meaningful or important to them, you could ask them to write a review or article about it.
You can also ask people to share their opinions on a certain topic relevant to what the post is about. This might be an opinion poll where people pick the answer they most agree with (e.g., “Which country has the best food?”) or it might be in the form of an infographic (e.g., “Here’s how I rate these toys”).
Two-way discussion is one of the most fantastic interactive social media posts. People explore and gather in discussions, thus giving your page and post an engagement boost.
Involve your customers’ interests and passions.
This is a strategy that you can use when you have an idea of what your audience likes and wants. If you know that your customers love sports, for example, then it’s a great idea to create content about sports-related topics.
However, if you want to be more creative than this, there are other ways in which you can involve their interests and passions:
- Listen to their feedback. Listen carefully when your customers leave comments on social media posts or send emails detailing what they like about the brand or product. This will help give insight into what kind of content would be relevant for them in the future.
- Focus on their interests and passions—not just what people say they want but also how they act online (e.g., if someone watches lots of videos on YouTube).
Spark a conversation around curation.
The art of curation is the practice of collecting, organizing and presenting the information. It’s a great way to share articles, videos or other content that should be seen by your audience.
And if you’ve been reading posts on this blog for any length of time, you know that one of my favourite ways to share new ideas is in roundups:
- My Top 10 Posts on Social Media (So Far)
- The Best Resources for Bloggers (in 2017)
- What I Learned Writing 1000 Words Per Day For 30 Days In A Row
Share fun facts or educational info.
If you’re looking to engage your audience, consider sharing fun facts or educational info. People love knowing things they didn’t know before, which is why trivia games are so popular on social media. That’s not to say that all of your posts should be trivia questions, but if you have an interesting tidbit of information related to your business or industry—or even something about yourself—share it! You could also use facts as a way of creating a story around your brand.
For example, A few months ago we introduced our new line of [product]. It’s been selling well ever since then! But did you know that the inspiration behind this product came from my childhood? When I was young I had an imaginary friend who would play with me every day after school and into the evening hours sometimes. She was always there for me until one day she just stopped showing up for no apparent reason…
Now let’s be clear here: this isn’t true at all (it’s just an example). However, if I were really selling some sort of stuffed animal toy aimed at children ages 5+ who loved their friends dearly but sometimes needed help finding them again when they got lost somewhere inside their own minds due to excessive time spent playing video games online without mommy knowing about it (again), then yes — this would be relevant content.
Because one thing kids need more than anything else these days is an escape from reality while still maintaining healthy relationships with adults who care about them as human beings rather than just consumers waiting around until they turn 18 so they can finally make money off them legally without getting into any trouble afterwards for doing so illegally before now — which is exactly what makes this product so interesting!
Create a challenge or game to play.
- Create a challenge or game that can be played on social media.
Many brands have found success with creating fun challenges and games that are playable directly in their posts. It’s a great way to engage your followers and get them interacting with each other, but it can also be a great way to drive people back to your site or app where they’ll spend more time engaging with your brand.
Social media users want to interact with your brand and learn from you!
If you’ve ever wanted to know what makes a social media post popular, look no further than the users themselves. Social media users are looking for interesting content—not just any old thing, but something that adds value to their lives. They want to learn from brands they trust and interact with other people who share their interests.
So how do you stand out? Try some of these creative ways of making your posts more interactive so that your community will engage with and share them:
Conclusion
Remember that the ideas listed above are just examples, and there are many ways to make social media posts interactive. You might find that one idea works best for you, or you might decide to try all of them in different formats at different times. What’s important is that you find what resonates with your audience and share the most valuable content with them—and hopefully even make their lives easier in some way!
13+ Yrs Experienced Career Counsellor & Skill Development Trainer | Educator | Digital & Content Strategist. Helping freshers and graduates make sound career choices through practical consultation. Guest faculty and Digital Marketing trainer working on building a skill development brand in Softspace Solutions. A passionate writer in core technical topics related to career growth.