Is your social messaging truly engaging? It’s important to know.

Ah, the whacky, wonderful, and often confusing world of social media marketing! What’s up for discussion this time? The terms “engagement” and “following.” While they are often taken to mean the same thing, the truth is, they refer to distinctly different “hows” and “whys” consumers respond to your social content.

Understanding the difference between the two is crucial for bank marketers, as each one plays a different (and important) role in the success of a social media strategy. So, what are the differences? We’ll broadstroke them here, but for a truly comprehensive discussion on the topic, I highly recommend you attend our upcoming webinar (October 30 at 2pm EST) with guest speaker, Eric Cook. If you’d like to register, and I highly recommend you do, please go here.

In the meantime, let’s explore, in a top line way, the key differences between engagement and following, explain why both are important, and discuss how bank marketers can use them to drive better outcomes on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok. Consider it a warm-up for the webinar!

Understanding followers: The numbers behind reach

“Followers” are great, aren’t they? I mean, who doesn’t want a following? The term “followers” refers to the number of users who have chosen to subscribe to your brand’s updates on a particular social platform. When someone follows your brand, they are expressing interest in seeing your content regularly in their feed. The size of a following is an indicator of a brand’s reach or potential audience size.

Why following matters:

1. Perception of authority: Not surprisingly, a large following can serve as social proof of authority. When new users encounter a brand with a substantial number of followers, it only makes sense that they perceive that brand as credible, trustworthy, and therefore, well, worth following! In a sense, followers can serve as brand ambassadors/endorsers.
2. Increased reach: The greater number of followers your bank has, the greater the size of your audience when your content is posted. “Following” counts give brands a wide pool of people with whom to share their messages and the goal is, after all, to reach as many individuals as possible, right?
3. Organic growth: A larger follower base helps increase your likelihood of organic reach. Algorithms on platforms like Instagram or TikTok consider following counts, and having a big following can increase the chance of being featured on "Explore" pages or recommended to other users. What’s an “Explore” page? According to HootSuite, “for brands, the advantages of appearing in the Explore tab include potential spikes in reach, impressions and sales. It’s an opportunity to grow your audience and build community.”  To learn more about Instagram Explore pages, I suggest you visit HootSuite’s blog, How To Get on the Instagram Explore Page in 2024.

However, it’s important to note that while having a large number of followers is beneficial, followers alone do not determine the success of a social media campaign. You need engaged users!

Engagement: The quality of interaction

“Engagement” refers to the interactions users have with your social media content. These interactions can take many forms: Likes, shares, comments, retweets, reactions, mentions, or direct messages. As you can imagine, engagement is a much more accurate measure of how interested and involved your audience is with your content.

Why engagement is critical:

1. Measure of interest: While following might indicate that someone is interested in your brand in general, engagement shows active participation and interest in specific content. It’s one thing for people to follow your brand, but it’s a completely different matter when they take the time to comment on your post or share it with others.
2. Increased visibility: Most social media algorithms reward high engagement by pushing that content to the top of feeds or featuring it more prominently. For example, on platforms like Instagram and Facebook, the more likes and comments a post receives, the more likely it will be shown to a wider audience.
3. Building community: Engagement creates a two-way conversation between your brand and your audience. It enables your bank brand to better interact with customers, answer questions, and gather feedback. This ongoing dialogue can strengthen the sense of community and build deeper loyalty to your brand.
4. Valuable insights: Engagement data reveals which types of content resonate most with your audience. By analyzing which posts generate the most interaction, bank marketers can refine their content strategy to focus on topics, formats, and messaging that truly connect with their followers.

Engagement v. following

Bank marketers need to differentiate between the two when assessing the success of their social media strategies.

1. Quantity vs. quality: Following is about numbers—how many people have clicked “follow” on your brand’s profile. Engagement, on the other hand, is about the quality of interactions that users have with your content. You can have a large following but low engagement, which indicates that your audience isn’t actively interacting with your posts.
2. Active vs. passive: Following is a passive metric—users can follow your brand without necessarily engaging with your content. Engagement, however, requires active participation. It measures whether users are interested enough to interact with the posts, which is a stronger indicator of brand loyalty.
3. Influence on reach: A large following helps increase the potential reach of a post, but it’s engagement that extends the organic reach. Engaged users are more likely to share content, bringing your message to a broader audience beyond your immediate followers.
4. Short-term vs. long-term success: Following provides a foundation for reach and awareness but does not necessarily guarantee success. A high level of engagement indicates that your brand is building a long-term, loyal relationship with its audience.

Metrics to prioritize

Both following and engagement are essential for a well-rounded social media marketing strategy, but engagement is often the more critical metric for success. Here's why:

• Engaged users are more likely to convert: A large following is great for awareness, but it doesn’t necessarily lead to conversions. High engagement signals that users are invested in your content, making them more likely to take the next step, whether that’s signing up for a newsletter, opening an account or seeking more detailed information about an investment product.
• Engagement drives community: Fostering engagement creates a sense of community, which is important for brand loyalty. The more engaged your followers are, the more likely they are to become advocates for your brand, helping to spread your message and attract new followers.
• Engagement improves algorithm performance: Web crawlers love engagement, prioritizing engagement in their algorithms. High engagement means your content is more likely to be promoted to a wider audience, increasing both reach and follower growth.

Conclusion

The most successful brands focus on balancing the two. While a large following is great for increasing the visibility of your bank’s brand, engagement is the metric that truly measures the success of your social media marketing efforts, ultimately leading to strong relationships, brand loyalty, and conversion. 

To grow your following, you might use tactics such as influencer collaborations, paid ads, and partnerships. To improve engagement, you can focus on creating content that resonates with your audience, encourages interaction, and fosters community.

Learn more by attending Eric Cook’s October 30 webinar

Consider this a warm up. On October 30, Eric Cook will lead an insightful discussion on engagement, following, and how your social media marketing can leverage these very important metrics. Eric will go into detail on:

• The role that each stakeholder plays in social media marketing
• Defining your target market and tailoring your content
• Innovative ways to engage, such as using "faceless" videos or Al avatars that convey your message without the need for a physical presence.
• The tools and resources you can leverage to boost your efforts, such as Al-powered caption writing, content creation tools, advanced social media scheduling and analytics, to create and execute effective social media strategies with ease.

It’s not too late to register! Click here!

Bank Marketing Center

Here at bankmarketingcenter.com, our goal is to help you with that topical, compelling communication with customers — developed by bank marketing professionals for bank marketing professionals — that will help you build trust, relationships, and revenue. 

We also want to share what we know – and learn along the way – with all our community banking friends. Whether it’s the latest on AI technology, suggestions on how to attract and retain top talent, or the importance of data protection, we’re here to make bank marketing the best that it can be. 

Want to learn more about what we can do for your community bank and your marketing efforts? You can start by visiting bankmarketingcenter.com. Then, feel free to contact me directly by phone at 678-528-6688 or via email at nreynolds@bankmarketingcenter.com.  As always, I welcome your thoughts.