You’re showing up on social media, posting regularly, trying all the “right” things and still hearing crickets. Sound familiar? It’s such a common frustration faced by marketers when it comes to social media. Building a big following is one thing, but turning followers into an engaged audience? That’s where the real impact happens!
In this blog, we’re breaking down how to create an engaged audience that wants to be part of your conversations. We’ll cover practical tips, mindset shifts and small tweaks you can start making right away to build trust with your target market, encourage interaction and create content that feels good for both your brand and your audience.
1. Define Your Audience
Here’s the truth: your audience isn’t going to be everyone. But, that’s a good thing!
Trying to speak to everyone often means you’ll end up connecting with no one. The most engaged brands on social media are the ones that know exactly who they’re talking to and craft their content with those people in mind. When you really understand your audience, their goals, pain-points, interests and how they communicate, you’ll be able to create content that makes them feel seen and understood.
If you’re not sure who your content is really reaching, your social media insights are a great place to start. Most platforms will give you demographic information, like age, gender and location, and channels like LinkedIn will also share job role/industry and other employment related insights. You may also be able to see when your audience is most active and what content they’re engaging with the most. Taking a look at this data regularly can help you understand who your audience is, and whether that lines up with who you want to be reaching on social media.
Alongside platform insights, tools like Glimpse can help show you where people are talking about your brand online. These tools track emerging trends, conversations and mentions online, giving you an understanding of not only who your audience is, but where they’re engaging. It’s a great way to spot opportunities and join in with relevant conversations.
It’s also worth thinking about where your audience spends time online. Not every platform will make sense for your brand and if your audience isn’t hanging out on an app, you don’t need to be there either. Focus your energy on where they already are and avoid spreading yourself too thin. We took a closer look at how you can get to know your audience in a past blog.
2. Make It About Them
One of the biggest shifts you can make in your social media strategy is moving from thinking “what do we want to say” to “what do our audience want to hear?”
It’s easy to fall into a trap of posting what you think will land, without taking a minute to ask if it’ll really resonate with the people you want to reach.
Audience-first content is all about making your posts valuable to them, not just reflective of your brand. For example, this could be some helpful tips, answers to FAQs, user-generated content or behind-the-scenes moments that show the faces behind the brand. Efforts to create exciting, high-quality content could be wasted if your audience doesn’t really resonate. Use what you know about your audience, and what you continue to learn along the way, to craft content that helps to solve their problems, tap into their pain-points and interests.
A good step to gaining this understanding is to take a look at your past content. See what’s performed well and try to identify patterns. What’s resonating? What type of content gets people commenting or sharing? Those are clues that those posts are speaking your audience’s language, and that’s exactly what you want.
3. Find Your Voice
Your tone of voice is one of the most powerful tools you have for building trust with your audience and standing out on social media. It’s not just about what you say, it’s how you say it.
On social media, sounding human matters. People don’t want to talk to an AI bot or try to communicate with paragraphs of corporate buzzwords, they want real conversation. So, write how you speak. Keep it clear and kind, use contractions, ask questions and bring in the little touches that show there are real people behind the brand.
Consistency with your tone of voice beats perfection, so make sure you’re sounding like you every time. Whether you’re replying to a comment or posting on LinkedIn, keeping the same tone of voice builds familiarity, and that familiarity builds trust. When your audience knows who you are and trusts your brand, they’ll be more likely to leave a comment and support you on social media. We took a closer look at some strategies for building brand loyalty in our blog.
4. Encourage and Continue Conversation
Social media should be a conversation. It’s so important to create a space for people to respond to your content, so you can start to build connections with your audience. Creating space can be as simple as adding a gentle prompt to your captions, like “what do you think?” or “leave your favourite tips in the comments.” It’s just about opening the door for two-way interaction.
Just as importantly, always make sure you respond when people do engage. Replying to comments and DMs shows your audience that you’re listening to them, you care about what they have to say, and there’s a real human sitting behind the screen. Another bonus comes from the algorithm, as platforms tend to reward active conversations and boost content that receives engagement early on. For example, Facebook has made it clear that the platform’s algorithm prioritises content that gets conversation going and generates meaningful interactions, using engagement as a key ranking signal.
5. Show Up Consistently (And With Purpose)
Showing up is the first step on social media, but consistency is what gets you on the path to building your brand presence. It doesn’t mean you need to post everyday or burn out trying to fill up a content calendar, it’s just about choosing a schedule that you truly feel you can stick to long-term.
Consistency doesn’t mean quantity, it means being present in a way that’s sustainable for you, is intentional and has value.
Your posting schedule may involve two or three strong posts per week on two platforms, and engaging with your audience in the comments and DMs. The goal is to stay top-of-mind without overwhelming yourself, your team or your audience. Showing up consistently with content that has a clear tone of voice, speaks directly to your audience and feels true to your brand will help you build trust, familiarity and engagement over time.
Final Thoughts
Creating an engaged audience on social media comes from showing up with intention, consistency and a genuine desire to connect. When you know who you’re speaking to, stay true to your voice and invite your audience into the conversation, engagement starts to build naturally.
If you’re feeling a bit stuck with your strategy or unsure how to connect with your target market in a way that actually works, we’re here to help. Get in touch today and let’s make your socials feel more human and start building connections with your audience.
