Despite your best efforts, your posts get some views, but no comments, likes or shares. How do you revive social media accounts?

Social media is all about being social with your followers. That means relationship-building has to be at the core of everything you do. If you need to resuscitate your social media, try these eight tips to get your followers talking again.

1. Utilize Videos

Videos are key to getting engagement on social media. The head of Instagram himself recently said Instagram will no longer be a photosharing app and it’ll embrace video even more in upcoming plans for the app. Pre-recorded videos are great, but live video is even better. Live video gets your followers’ attention; plus, consumers watch live videos three times longer than recorded videos.

It’s ok if you feel nervous about going live. Just make sure you have a script or general structure for the video. Do a giveaway, interview, Q&A, demo or sneak peek to maintain your followers’ interest.

2. Get Your Followers’ Opinions

Ask and you shall receive!

Seriously. When you ask questions or request followers’ opinions, they’re much more likely to engage with you. Try asking people questions like:

• Their preferences for upcoming products, including features or colors.

• What makes them happy? This might not be 100% related to your product, but questions like this give people feel-good thoughts about your brand, which is always a good thing.

• Their opinions on promotions and discounts. This is not only awesome for encouraging engagement, but it also saves you a fortune in market research.

3. Reply to All Comments

This seems to be a no-brainer, but the best way to encourage conversations is to reply to all of your comments (yes, even the short ones). When your followers realize you want to have a dialogue, they’ll start leaving more in-depth comments over time.

P.S. This might become unwieldy as your follower count grows. If that’s the case, use a social listening platform to help your team reply to comments.

Every social media platform has different trending content, so use them to your advantage to increase engagement.

There’s nothing wrong with a normal post, but if your followers aren’t biting, it’s time to try something out of the box. Brands can have a little fun with taking a TikTok or Instagram Reel that is trending and making it work for their brand to get noticed and boost engagement. A viral recipe or challenge on TikTok could easily relate back to your business and get you involved with topics people are talking about. Be sure to use any popular hashtags to make the post even more searchable.

5. Revamp Your Posting Schedule

Sometimes your social media content isn’t to blame — you’re just posting content at the wrong time.

For example, you may post at 8 a.m. on a Tuesday because that’s when you’re in the office, but it might not be the time your followers are online. If your target audience is working mothers, they’re probably also at the office at 8 a.m. You’d have better luck posting at 7 p.m.

Experiment with posting at different times of the day and see which posts perform better. You can also try posting two to three times a day instead of just once a day to see if that has an impact on engagement rates.

6. Add Emojis to Your Posts

Emojis break up text and give more context to your social posts. And yes, they increase engagement: Adding emojis to an Instagram post can increase engagement by 48%.

Social posts are screaming for emojis. Social media is a more casual medium, so even if your brand is more formal, you can get away with adding a few emojis in your posts. You shouldn’t overdo it, but a few well-placed thumbs-up or smiling emojis can have a big impact on engagement rates.

7. Partner With Influencers

Influencer partnerships are a great way to get people talking. Shoppers tend to engage more with influencer content instead of branded content, so when you need shoppers to pay attention, ask an influencer to deliver the message for you.

8. Call Out Your Customers

Shoppers love shoutouts, so try tagging shoppers in your posts. If you share a piece of user-generated content, be sure to tag the customer in your post. This shows everyday people using your products, but it also makes it more likely that the shopper will share your post with their friends and family. It’s a win-win.

The Bottom Line

Social media is an affordable way to reach thousands of potential shoppers. You’re already putting a lot of time and money into social media, but if your followers aren’t chatting with you, it probably won’t result in actual sales. If you’re starved for engagement, try these eight tips to entice shoppers to engage with you on social media. Before long, your brand will be the talk of the town.