One headache for small businesses and new online entrepreneurs regards the fact that everyone always seems to make social media marketing and engagement sound easy.

In principle it’s simple. You create social media profiles for yourself or your business and you start publishing content. Social media users will then become so enthused by your content and brand identity, that they will like and follow you. The result? Greater brand awareness and hopefully more qualifying sales conversions.

Why Some Businesses Struggle with Social Media Engagement

While social media is, in theory, one of the most exciting marketing tools which has ever been freely available for people to use, the truth is that it’s harder than ever to enthuse and attract new followers. That said, attracting a strong social media following is still possible. People and businesses new to social media marketing, simply need to do everything they can to stand out from the proverbial crowd and show off their uniqueness.

Stop Simply Re-Posting Content

In order to start engaging with social media users more effectively, the first thing people need to do is cut back on how much content they repost without actually contributing to the conversations in question.

Are you about to share an article? If so, don’t just repost it, rewrite and critique it before adding your own branding and accompanying media. The chances are that several people will be reposting the same media as you. In this case, by adding your own opinion or at least paraphrasing key points of interest, you can make such content vastly more appealing to your own social media followers.

Reward Social Media Users by Featuring Their Comments

If someone comments on an article you post, they do so because they feel that they have something important to contribute. This being the case, a great way to inspire better engagement is to not just reply to comments but to also feature particularly insightful comments in follow up pieces of content.

Use Intriguing Images & Media

While the pen might be mightier than the sword, it’s no secret that social media users absolutely love engaging images and media. Don’t therefore, just publish written pieces of content. Instead, always complement articles and tweets with inspiring images and other thought-provoking types of media.

Don’t Over Exaggerate

Lastly, if there is one way to resolutely kill off social media followers, it’s by over exaggerating your own status or ability. Are you really the best ever pet store in New South Wales? Or are you a small, family owned enterprise which specializes in the bespoke kind of services which bigger businesses simply can’t provide?

In short, don’t tell any tall tales. Be who you are, focus on your legitimate unique selling points, and social media users will quickly start focusing on you more, purely because of your apparent integrity and legitimacy.