The Importance of Engagement in Your Social Media Strategy

Mastering Social Media: Why Engagement is Essential

By: Dominique Pancake, Social Media Strategist

Social media isn’t just a one-way broadcast channel—it’s a place to create meaningful connections and foster a sense of community with your audience. At its core, social media was created as a space for people to connect and communicate. Without the “social” aspect, social media is just “media”.

That’s why engagement is the key to transforming your social media presence from a static page experience into a dynamic space where conversations can thrive. Here’s why engagement is crucial for your strategy:

The Two Dimensions of Engagement: Reactive and Proactive

Social media engagement can be classified in two major buckets: reactive and proactive engagement. Traditionally, brands concentrate on reactive engagement, which involves managing their social channels by responding to comments, direct messages, and tagged mentions. This method is crucial for maintaining brand presence, fostering brand loyalty, and addressing customer service inquiries.

However, to maximize community engagement, brands should also embrace proactive engagement. This involves seeking out and participating in conversations beyond their own channels. By balancing these two buckets, brands can drive significant growth and deepen their connection with their audience.

Reactive Engagement: The Foundation of Your Strategy

Reactive engagement focuses on interacting with your audience on your owned channels and direct mentions. This approach includes responding to comments, direct messages, and tagged mentions. While essential, this only scratches the surface of reactive engagement.

To fully harness the power of reactive engagement, brands should also pay attention to photo tags, relevant hashtags, and untagged mentions. This broader approach helps maintain a strong brand presence and ensures no box (or user interaction) is left unchecked.

Proactive Engagement: Expanding Your Reach

Proactive engagement takes social media beyond your own comment sections and inboxes. It’s about exploring and joining conversations that align with your brand’s values and persona. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, X, and Threads offer ample opportunities for proactive engagement.

Proactive engagement can lead to significant interactions, often generating millions of potential impressions and attracting new traffic to your social pages that might otherwise have never encountered your brand.

How Brands Are Leveraging Proactive Engagement

Brands are increasingly showing up in the comments sections on TikTok and Instagram, engaging in conversations even when the posts aren’t directly related to them. This strategy helps brands establish relevance with Gen Z audiences, and encourages positive brand sentiment.

For instance, brands like Duolingo and Starry have mastered the art of proactive engagement on TikTok. By actively commenting on trending videos, these brands reach a wider audience and drive traffic to their own channels. This approach allows them to participate in internet trends and pop culture moments, such as viral challenges like Charli XCX’s “Apple dance”, or major events like the Met Gala.

Michael Smith, marketing lead at Starry, highlights the importance of the comments section: “The comments are sometimes more entertaining than the content itself.” Starry’s proactive commenting on popular TikTok videos has led to significant engagement, often garnering tens of thousands of likes on a single comment. This strategy not only boosts their visibility but also reinforces their brand personality.

increase their chances of appearing on the For You pages of a broader audience. This method requires a balance of quantity and quality, ensuring that comments are entertaining, but still on-brand.

Conclusion

Engagement is at the heart of every successful social media strategy. By balancing reactive and proactive engagement, maintaining authenticity, and understanding platform algorithms, brands can foster meaningful connections and drive growth. By engaging proactively and interacting authentically at the right moments, your social media presence can soar.

Want to see your brand’s comments trending on TikTok? We can guide you on how to proactively engage with your audience and authentically join the conversation. Slide into our DMs to get started—or fill out this contact form.