You’ve set up your social media pages, created a variety of content, and figured out a schedule for posting. You may think you’re finished, but don’t forget about one of the most important parts of having a business page on social media—interaction.

Rather than posting and forgetting about it, you need to continue engaging with your audience. At our Tech Talk in January, we discussed ways you can do this, including:

• Ask questions: Get your followers to interact with your posts by asking questions such as: “What is your favorite book?” or “How would you cook this ingredient?” Try to keep the questions related to your business.
• Encourage comments: People love to share opinions or ideas. Have fun and ask them to comment with a photo of a pet, favorite emoji, or gif. This can also be helpful when you are deciding on a new product—have customers comment their ideas.
• Reply: If you ask a question or encourage a comment, you need to respond back in some way. You can simply like their comment or reply and have a conversation.
• Share posts: People also love to see their posts shared by businesses. If someone leaves a review or posts a photo of your product, make sure to acknowledge them. You can like, comment, or share it on your own page.
• Follow other businesses: It’s also important to interact with other businesses online, especially those you work with or are located near you. Follow their page as your business page (contact the Chamber if you need tips for doing this), interact with their posts, and tag them in your own posts.

Social media is more than just sharing information with your followers—it’s a two-way conversation that can allow you to interact with your customers and build relationships.

We invite you to join us at our next Tech Talk on Friday, February 21, at 8 a.m. at the Venango Chamber. We’ll be discussing how to create and document a strategy for posting on social media.

This article was published in the Venango Chamber’s February 2020 VenangoWorks! Newsletter.