Turn social media from basic posting into channels that build relationships, start conversations, and support business growth!

Key Takeaways 

• Your company’s social content has to give people a reason to stop scrolling, which essentially means not announcing what you sell over and over again.

• Columbus businesses can use local neighborhoods, events, customer experiences, and all sorts of community interest to increase their content’s relevancy.

• Useful tips, short-form videos, behind-the-scenes content, and answering common questions can encourage more online interactions.

• Consistency definitely matters, but quality and relevancy are always more important than posting just for the sake of filling a content calendar. 

• Your social media engagement must be measured with other valuable business outcomes like customer inquiries, website traffic, leads, and conversions. 

Why Social Media Engagement Matters Far More Than Simply Posting On Your Channels

It’s sometimes easy for business leaders to assume that active social media accounts will inevitably be successful, but the tough truth is that any business can publish several times per week and maintain a polished feed—all while not getting much audience interaction. 

This type of marketing dilemma doesn’t necessarily insinuate a problem with how often a business posts, because it’s almost always oriented around what they’re posting.

People don’t generally open social platforms like Instagram and Facebook in hopes of seeing business ads all day, because they genuinely want entertainment, useful information, conversation, inspiration, and content that feels relevant to them. 

For businesses in the Columbus, Ohio area, this subsequently creates a lot of opportunity to become a part of the conversations that are already happening among local customers.

Below we’ll be detailing some social media tips for Columbus businesses that you should keep in mind!

Making Your Social Content Relevant For Columbus Customers 

Local businesses have a huge advantage in comparison to national brands: proximity. 

For example, a Columbus home improvement company can create content about the many seasonal issues residents encounter and answer questions that frequently come up. 

Even simple references to Columbus lifestyles can make content feel a lot more relevant as people are scrolling, but effective local marketing goes a step further than simply putting your city’s name in a caption. 

What’s great about working with Big Fish Local’s social media management specialists is that we have years of experience helping businesses of all types think deeper about the people they’re trying to reach. 

For instance, what specific Columbus neighborhoods do your customers generally live in? What local events might interest them? What common problems do they frequently deal with? What questions do they ask about your company’s products and services?

The answers to these types of questions are a great starting point for developing more engaging content!

Giving People Something Worth Responding To 

If all your social posts end with some kind of sales pitch, you’ll be giving your followers very little reason to interact. That’s why what you should do instead is create real opportunities for people to participate with your content. 

Consider asking questions that don’t have obvious answers. Invite your followers to share their own experiences. Create comparisons and polls. Ask customers about their personal preferences, or what they’re currently struggling with. 

A good example of this is a Columbus-based landscaping company asking followers to choose between a few popular landscape design ideas, or an HVAC company asking homeowners about the rooms in their houses that are hardest to keep comfy. 

The main objective when it comes to increasing your social media engagement is starting a conversation—and not simply trying to collect likes. 

Turning Your Brand’s Expertise Into Useful Content 

Another relatively easy way to create more engagement with your social media content is answering questions that you already receive from customers on a regular basis.

Consider questions that people ask prior to making purchases, or what people generally are concerned about prior to contacting your company. These types of questions can subsequently be turned into infographics, short videos, FAQs, tips, and educational posts.

An example of this would be a roofing company explaining how to spot early red-flag warning signs of storm damage, or an electrician demonstrating why circuit breakers might keep tripping. 

This type of expert-based content can end up providing immediate value by clearly demonstrating how your business thoroughly understands its industry and is a local thought leader!

Showing The People Behind Your Business 

Although high-quality promotional content has its place on social media, a lot of audiences also want to know who exactly they’re doing business with.

This means content like employee introductions, behind-the-scenes photos, customer stories, project updates, and all sorts of day-to-day moments can make your company feel more naturally approachable.

This is particularly important for Columbus businesses that are competing against big-box national brands, because this strategy emphasizes that you’re a local company featuring local people, experience, and the type of community connection that differentiates you.

This doesn’t mean your employees need to be turned into social media personalities, because even occasional glimpses behind the scenes can make your brand feel so much more human in our increasingly AI-driven world!

Using Video, While Not Overcomplicating It

Short-form video content has undoubtedly become a huge part of social media, but this doesn’t mean that businesses should generally assume that all their videos need to have professional production quality. 

Some of the most useful and popular business videos are very simple. Some examples include a business owner answering a common question, an employee demonstrating a process, or a quick project tour showing what your team is currently working on. 

The key with these videos is to quickly get to the point. You’ll want to give viewers a reason to keep watching within a matter of a few seconds by providing something interesting, useful, or entertaining. 

Never Confuse Consistency With Repetition

Although consistency is incredibly important for maintaining strong social signals, frequent posting isn’t the same thing as posting the same type of content again and again. 

If every Tuesday features a generic promotional graphic and every Thursday is an industry tip, your followers will potentially stop paying attention.

This is why businesses need to create a mix of content pieces. This can include options like videos, customer stories, educational posts, questions, local content, industry insights, company updates, and promotional offers—all of which create a well-rounded strategy when combined together. 

The goal here is to make your followers genuinely interested in what you’ll post next!

Paying Attention To What Your Audience Actually Likes

Social media strategies shouldn’t be based on assumptions. This means looking at which posts get meaningful engagement and using metrics from popular posts to refine your overall strategy. 

It’s also essential to clearly distinguish the difference between surface-level social engagement and tangible actions that actually support your business growth. 

Even posts with hundreds of likes won’t necessarily be more valuable than the ones that generate qualified inquiries!

Incorporating Social Media Into Your Larger Digital Marketing Strategy 

Social media always works best when it’s directly connected to the rest of your digital marketing and SEO strategies.

Content can increase website traffic, introduce new people to your brand, reinforce your brand reputation, and boost paid ad campaigns. Your social media campaign insights can also inform your business toward better understanding which topics truly resonate with your target audience. 

The strongest social media strategy is always closely tied to everything else in the digital marketing world, including SEO, Google Ads, email marketing, website content, link building, and various other channels that work together to move leads toward converting. 

Turning Your Columbus Company’s Social Media Management Into Valuable Conversations 

Creating great social media content that gets consistent engagement is never about chasing fleeting trends or attempting to make your posts go viral, because it’s instead all about understanding your audience and giving them a reason to pay attention.

For businesses in Columbus, this often means leaning into what makes local customers unique—all while also demonstrating your team’s genuine personality and expertise. 

Here at Big Fish Local, we understand how a great social media presence isn’t about businesses constantly talking about themselves. This is why our social media experts go to the next level by helping businesses better understand their audiences and developing useful content that leads to valuable conversations.

Reach out to us online or give us a call at 855-935-4999 to see how the Big Fish experts can help develop a social strategy that’s uniquely built around your goals, audience, and broader digital marketing efforts!