Wow – we’re already at Tip #4!
This week’s tip on getting better engagement is yet another simple idea – ask your readers.
I’ll throw out a few popular websites and let’s see if you can guess what they all have in common…
- YouTube
- Yelp
Yes, they are all social networks but the key here is User Generated Content.
Want more engagement? Stop talking
So much of the social media stream is people and brands broadcasting at the top of their voices, to all that haven’t blocked them yet – “I am the BEST! Look at me! LOOK AT ME!!“. It’s perfectly fine to do that once in a while but when it’s always – it gets annoying. I know it might seem like it when you close your eyes but you are not the guy with the mic onstage surrounded by all the screaming fans. You are just a human being like the rest of us human beings trying to get along in this world with all the other human beings.
(except for you 😉 )
SUCKY TACTIC #2
You’ll see other asking questions instead. You see this all the time on Facebook. Brands and People asking silly questions like “Black or White?”, “iPhone or Android?”, “Ford or Chevy?”. Heck I even started one of my own (with a twist)…
Asking on a site like Facebook is fine.
You’ll get short little answers, an increase in false engagement, a boost in EdgeRank, but that’s about all.
It’s not the right answer. (there’s a pun in there somewhere)
Nowhere on Facebook are you going to find lead capture, incubation and all the wonderful things your website has (or should have). We also would like to have a little more ‘meat’ right?
So instead of the silly “what would you prefer” game, simply ask for User Submitted Content.
“You can’t ask your readers to write a whole post could you?”
It depends on how you ask. We’re not looking for a guest post.
Let’s say you are a real estate agent working in Sunny Acres. Ask your readers to share their “Sunny Acres Story”. Why they chose to live there, what they like best, why they stay.
By answering your questions they’ll pretty much write the post for you. Frame that post into a series and you’ve got something people will want to read, share, and discuss!
You can do this manually, or you can set up something as a passive system. Want to see this in real life? My friend Janie Sederberg has a button right on her site.
We’ve done the same with FresYes too.
While I don’t have a geographic area to use like these two, there’s no limit to the user generated topics you could feature.
If you are a Food Blogger – ask for restaurant reviews.
Travel Blogger? – packing lists, favorite destinations, worst vacations gone wrong.
Mommy Blogger? – Recipes, tips and tricks, best pediatricians.
The topic list is endless!
Of course you already recognized that I’m doing this exact thing with my 5ive Question series, right?
Read the complete series as it builds…
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He's an avid hockey fan, rides a mountain bike, sometimes rides a road bike, has a few motorcycles (he had a really fast one, bought a cool orange one, rode a really slow one, and now,a perfect "BDR Weapon"). If that isn't enough, he makes cheese and sourdough bread, loves strong beer and good red wine, and poorly plays the Mandolin.
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