6 Tips to Boost Engagement Across Various Web Channels

It’s no longer enough to say that e-commerce is booming. A more accurate statement would be that e-commerce is exploding. Businesses that want to live through the explosion must learn how to boost their visibility across the web’s various channels.

Although any business in any industry can reap the benefits of the digital world, they must also be mindful of the disadvantages. The best approach to web channels is cautious, aware of pros and cons, and strategic. Let’s explore the pros and cons of six web channels and dive into tips for boosting your engagement on each.

Tip #1. Email

Email marketing has one of the highest returns on investment (ROI) out of all of these channels. A massive pro for email lists is that they can help you generate more quality leads. People who sign up for email lists typically do so because they:

• Want to learn more about a business
• Wish to continue their relationship with a brand
• Want to be notified about a new product/service
• Need/want the freebie that comes with the email signup
• Support a specific cause or mission a business is tied to

Each of the above groups of people is more qualified to buy your products/services in the future than, say, a random person liking a random post on your social media.

With that being said, it’s challenging to get people to give up their email addresses. There’s a lot of target audience and competitor research involved. You must find out what your ideal customers want regarding email lists and how to get them to choose yours over your competitors.

Boosting engagement with email starts with how you generate signups. Be sure your methods for collecting data are ethical and that people are fully aware of what they’re signing up for. They should also be able to unsubscribe easily should they choose to in the future.

In addition, you must offer something valuable in exchange for your customers’ email addresses to further qualify them as a lead for your business. For instance, you could offer an industry or business-specific lead magnet, like a free eBook or tutorial, to determine whether a person is interested in what your business and brand have to offer.

Tip #2. Social Media

Social media is another web channel essential for building a solid online presence. Social media is excellent for businesses of all kinds because of the reach on these platforms. You don’t need a lot of money to build an audience on social media, and that’s huge for small businesses and solopreneurs.

However, there is more content than we can handle on social media. From paid ads to big businesses having more money and resources to produce high-quality content regularly, it’s challenging to gain traction and compete for your target audience’s attention.

Still, you can boost engagement on social media by focusing on two things:

1. Unique content
2. Consistency

To get the engagement you’re looking for, you must create unique content. Building unique content starts with making your brand unique and different from your competitors. Define the originality of your brand by:

• Identifying your unique selling point
• Focusing on the customer experience
• Taking advantage of emerging technology
• Engaging with your potential and current customers constantly
• Researching and learning from your competition to provide what they don’t

Then, with your brand intact, experiment with a mix of media types, like video, images, interactive content, and the written word. Also, ensure your posts are entertaining, educational and communicate a clear message to your audience.

In addition, your unique content means nothing without consistency. You must post at least once a day on your social media platforms, if not more. Use a content calendar to organize your posts. Detail each post’s:

• Title
• Topic
• CTA
• Media type
• Author/creator
• Additional notes
• Publish date and time

Tip #3. Targeted Ads

Targeted ads detail information specific to a consumer’s interests, buying behaviors, shopping habits, demographics, location, and so forth.

Targeted ads are advantageous because you can essentially match the ads you display to precisely who the viewer is. In other words, you can deploy specific ad campaigns to attract specific customers.

With that being said, many businesses use outdated practices for their targeted ads, killing their return on investment (ROI). For example, they’re collecting data without the user’s consent, promoting harmful stereotypes, and not allowing consumers to choose whether they want their ads.

Avoiding outdated practices is a must for boosting engagement with targeted ads. You must only collect data on consumers if they consent to it. Be sure you account for biases when displaying ads to specific customers and avoid spreading harmful stereotypes and messages.

Also, don’t limit the information your audience sees. Instead, allow them to choose the ads they want to receive and make it easy for consumers to give you feedback about your ads.

Tip #4. Website

A website is essential because it’s your business’s home base in the digital world. Whether a consumer was first introduced to your brand on social media, learned about your services via an email, or found out about what you have to offer through a friend, they’ll eventually make their way to your website for more.

But the ease of creating and publishing a business website is as much of a con as a pro. Anyone can make and put a website on the internet, hence why there are millions of websites today.

Consumers may find your website for a one-off reason, but the sea of websites on the internet makes it difficult to get people to return to your business website repeatedly unless you do something to stand out.

If you want more people to seek out and engage with your website regularly, focus on creating a functional site with an excellent user experience.

Accessibility should be at the forefront of every design and development decision in order to accommodate your customer base’s varying needs, abilities, and backgrounds.

For instance, be sure navigation is seamless, color schemes are simple, your site is compatible with assistive technology. Ensure that keyboard navigation, voice search, and video captions are enabled.

Also, pay special attention to the content on your website. Use specific keywords and phrases in every piece of content to draw in people searching for those particular things specific to your business. And ensure the content is engaging, educational, and entertaining.

Tip #5. Video

One of the best types of content to use on your website and other digital platforms is video. Video content has been deemed the most popular type of digital content today.

Customers love video content because it’s easy to consume and comprehend. Video content also presents an advantage because it’s more likely to be shared, which gives you even more eyes on your message.

At the same time, it can be incredibly challenging to get people to engage with your videos. They may view your video, but they probably won’t leave a comment, click on your CTA, or visit your website afterward.

Keep your videos short and sweet to boost engagement across your video marketing channel. Stay to one topic and one CTA for each video to keep things clear and concise for your audience. Also, research the type of video content your audience engages with the most and mirror the qualities of those videos.

Tip #6. Messaging

Messaging is a relatively new marketing channel. However, it’s growing in popularity because of its impact on customer relationships. Consumers are a lot more comfortable with brands they can message personally. They’re also appreciative of the channel’s convenience.

However, as beneficial as messaging can be for businesses, one of its main cons is that people are quick to report your messages for various reasons, including getting too many messages, irrelevant content, too much promotional content, or being contacted at odd hours.

If you’re using messaging as a channel to connect with your customers, it’s best to map out precisely what you’re using messages for. For example, are they strictly for purchase reminders or shipping updates?

Do you want to use messages to gather feedback? Or do you want to have two-way conversations with your customers that help you learn more about them?

Then, let your customers know they can contact you by message. Be sure they know what you’ll be messaging them about, when, and how often. Furthermore, be sure they can ask you not to message them without issue.

Conclusion: Boost Engagement Across Various Web Channels With Strategy and Intention

The channel-specific tips above are only practical if you know your customers like best friends. For instance, when you know your customers’ most pressing challenges, how they’re addressing them, their values, and life goals, you can create content that resonates with them, thus boosting your engagement.

In addition, when you know how they engage on digital channels, you can create an online experience that caters to their behaviors and patterns.

Furthermore, it’s integral to focus on the best engagement methods for your customers. For instance, if your customers are fond of video content on social media, experimenting with short and long-form video content on these platforms makes the most sense.

By implementing the tips throughout this article, you’ll be well on your way to better engagement across all of your web channels.