These days social media can be very competitive! That's why it's important to use strategy to stand out, and to catch people's eyes when they are fed your post in the algorithm.
Here we lay out how to get attention on social media, but if you want to see these tips in video format, check out our Instagram reel all about the topic!
Put Effort Into Your Social Media Visuals
If you want to someone to actually "stop the scroll" when they see your post, you need to make sure what you are putting out is visually appealing. This means using high-quality images, videos, and graphics.
If you really want to make an impression, here's a few ideas on how to be unique in your visuals:
- Study what your competitors are doing. Is the current content climate flooded with a certain type of transition, or cold, stale visuals? Maybe it's time to try a different opening and a warm tone, to make sure your video is more appealing when compared to the rest. This will help you get that attention to your social media post!
- Stick to your brand design. And if you don't have one yet, you need to get one! Your brand design is the visual and verbal identity of your business, and helps you remain cohesive across all marketing efforts. Without it, you are going to confuse any potential current or new followers with constantly changing colors, fonts, and messaging. That doesn't really inspire a follow, so it's time to get consistent! Check out our free Branding Basics guide for more ideas!
- Find Your Unique Niche. This could be in the way you design (like using interesting text placements and design elements), or it could be a series you start that is unique to you and your brand that keeps people engaged. Whatever it is, if you can find something that only you do, it's going to help you stand out among the rest of the posters.
Use Intentional Text On Posts
Any wording you are saying or displaying needs to be intentionally placed, and have some sort of meaning or value to the viewer. This means writing in a way that tells the full story, but concisely (people don't want to read through a ton of text!) It also means using underlines, bold text, or other design choices such as italics to bring the attention of viewers to key parts of the verbiage.
If you are posting a video, you can even use animations in text to keep movement on the screen, and therefore eyes on the screen as well. People love to follow movement! Try out features such as having the text type across the screen, fade in or out, or anything else that matches your design aesthetic but keeps things interesting.
Add a "Hook" To Your Social Media Content
If you haven't heard this one yet, I will be surprised! It's all the rage these days, but for good reason.
There is so much competition in the algorithm of each platform these days that if you want any chance of directing attention your way, you need to start each post with something eye-catching and interesting to the viewer. Or, a "hook"!
For videos, this usually means an interesting starting transition, movement, or something that really makes them go "what's going to happen next?"
For text posts, this usually means a verbal hook that will catch their attention and make them want to read more. Lean into things that they would want to know more about in your niche, like "10 Ways You Can Achieve __", or "How I Finally Mastered __". You can also start with a request, like "Stay till the end for ___!"
You need to make sure these actually make sense for your content, but once you master adding a hook to your posting, it's going to make each of them go a lot farther!
Find the Connection
Similar to the hook, you need to find a way to not only originally capture interest, but to keep your viewer interested. This usually means finding some sort of value to offer them, or an emotional connection you can establish.
For value, pick goals people want to achieve in your niche and tell them exactly how to do that. Or take a more story-based approach, and tell them about how you achieved those goals!
For emotional connection, this can come in all sorts of ways. But the point is you need to make them feel an emotion. Usually these are best done in story-telling ways. Talk about a struggle you have had in your industry, or a particularly difficult customer. Or, tell a harrowing story of where you started on a goal, and how you made it through the trials to finally get to an amazing place and achieve it.
Take people on a journey with you so they connect not only to the content they are seeing and continue to stay engaged, but also so they connect with you personally. This is a great way to boost followers and engagement on your full account vs. just the individual post.
Always Add A CTA!
Despite how it feels being on the posting side of things (just hoping and praying when people see the hard work you put into your content that they will hit the "like" or "follow" button), unfortunately that's not always how it works. People are used to scrolling on social media, and seeing a LOT of content, so engagement is not always top of mind for them. So how do you combat this and actually boost your engagement? Well, you tell them what you want them to do.
If you put "follow us for more tips!", or "like the video if you agree!" type of sentences in your post, it reminds the viewer that they can engage with you to show you they liked your content. When they are mid-scroll, even if they did enjoy it, they might forget without that reminder.
It's so important to add a CTA, or "Call to Action", on every post you put out. Bonus points if it's actually designed into the image/video itself AND also mentioned in the caption.
Closing Thoughts
There are so many ways to boost your engagement and following on social media, but I hope you found these helpful! My name is Lauren Howey and I am a marketing and design expert at our small, women (and twin!) owned design studio, Sproutouts. We post all kinds of tips to help businesses grow, including weekly blogs, daily social media inspiration, and free guides/courses. Check us out, and if this was helpful to you, please repost us on Pinterest!
If you want more social media growth ideas, check out our How To Set Your Social Profiles Up For Success (Or Fix Them) free guide! This helps you not only learn how to get attention on social media, but to make sure you are starting with a solid foundation for success.
Thanks for reading,
Lauren
