Easy ways to engage with your audience (+ 3 tools to help you)

How do you engage your audience? (As in, the people who are already following you.) In this post, I'm sharing my best tips to engage with your audience, including questions to engage your audience, how to engage your audience in a video, engaging your audience on social media, and more! Whether you want to learn how to engage your audience on YouTube or how to engage your audience on Instagram, these easy strategies and tools will help you connect meaningfully with your people! If you've ever wondered, "What are the best ways to engage with audiences on social media or email?", this post is for you! These tips are perfect for health and wellness professionals looking to market their solo private practice, group practice, or other wellness business. 

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Tip #1: Pay attention to what they have to say
3. Kajabi video demo
4. Tip #2: Respond to them directly
5. Loom video demo
6. Tip #3: Follow up with them
7. Asana video demo 
8. Live Q+A Replay 
9. Recommended resources
10. Let's take action
11. Share this post

           

Audience engagement is kind of a perennial hot topic in the world of online business.

From your backend metrics to that gut reaction you experience when a new notification pops up... it can feel like one big, emotionally-charged numbers game. 

And yet.

Something that's easily overlooked is that deep (often private) engagement that's happening within your DMs or inside your email inbox.

I'm talking about the 1:1 exchanges between you and individual members of your existing audience.

This is the kind of interaction that's meant to be mass produced.

In fact, that's one of the unique benefits of an audience that's still relatively small:

You have the perfect opportunity to show up for them in ways that aren't scalable!  

And best of all?

There are some remarkably simple steps you can take to engage with your audience on a deeper level.

Right now.

Read on for 3 easy ways to engage with your audience (PLUS: 3 of my favorite tools to help you!):  

Tip #1: Pay attention to what your audience has to say

This may seem obvious, but your undivided attention is one of the most precious commodities you have to offer.

That's why it can be such a powerful force for good when you use it to engage with your audience.

Whether you're focused on your email subscribers, your social media followers, or another platform you're using in your business, chances are you've got a core contingent of super-engagers.

These are the lovely people who freely offer up their thoughts to you.

It might come in the form of a request, a testimonial, a piece of constructive feedback...

The important thing is to pay attention to what your audience is telling you. 

Here's what I recommend:

1. Set a reminder in your schedule to take a weekly inventory of comments, DMs, and emails from your audience.
2. Add these pieces of feedback to a dedicated storage place in your files. (Google Sheets works well for this!) 
3. Note the name + contact info (e.g., email address, Instagram handle) of any members of your audience who shared a thoughtful comment or question.

I like to take care of this last step right in my Kajabi account.

Here's a quick demo of how I do it: 

Kajabi demo

Tip #2: Respond to your audience directly

Once you've recorded the goods in your designated Google Drive folder (or other virtual storage space of choice), your next step is to get back to each person who took the time to reach out to you!

TIP: To help make your life easier + keep things organized, consider building this step into your weekly (or monthly) workflow. For instance, you can keep track of incoming comments and messages and then batch your responses in one sitting, whenever it works for you.     

Here's what I recommend:

• If the feedback came through on social media, this could be as simple as a DM or comment reply. (Depending on your preferred communication style, you can also jazz it up with a voice message or quick video clip.)
• If the message came through via email (say, in response to an email you sent out to your list), you also have options. You could:
  • type out a brief, thoughtful reply, thanking them for their feedback
  • share a resource or piece of relevant content that addresses their question/comment
  • ...or you could go with my favorite: Respond with a personalized video message!  
    
    

There's nothing complicated about a quick video reply.

And yet, this little extra step consistently prompts members of my audience to send me glowy reactions like this:

 Loom is my very favorite tool for sending personalized video responses to my audience.

Here's a quick demo of how I do this: 

Loom demo

Tip #3: Follow up with your audience

This is one step many business owners skip, which is a real shame because it carries so much potential for engaging with your audience + building authentic relationships with your dream clients!

The idea is quite simple:

When something (a new question, a current event, a piece of content) comes up that relates back to some feedback an audience member shared, you follow up with them to let them know.

That's it! (Told you it was simple.)   

Now, there are lots of ways you could follow up with your audience, but here’s a really easy one that goes a long way to helping them feel less like a line of data + more like a cherished member of your community (<-- which they totally are):

Let’s say someone asks you a great question.

And because you practiced Tip #1 above, you took note of their question and recorded it.

When you eventually create a new piece of content that addresses that question, you simply loop back and let them know it’s ready!

I like to stay on top of this in my calendar / project management tool, Asana.

TIP: I love the free version of Asana, but what's made it indispensable to me is the course that helped me set it up to support my business. (Save $100 on Uplevel with Asana.)

Here's how I do it:

Asana demo

Growing an engaged audience is one thing. But, actively engaging with that audience is where the real relationship-building magic happens. 

(And spoiler alert: Cultivating intimacy with the people who are already following you also happens to be one surefire way to attract more dream clients!) 

I hope these tips illustrate that it doesn't have to be costly or complicated.

When it comes to building and maintaining an engaged audience, some of the smallest gestures really are the most powerful.

Live Q+A Replay 

"How can I manage Instagram engagement overwhelm?"

That was our Question of the Week, submitted by an Instagram follower who requested to remain anonymous.

Check out the video below for my answer:
  

 

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Health + Wellness Copywriting (@drmichaelaphd)

Recommended resources 

Want to explore more ways to grow your health and wellness business using social media? Check out these blog posts:

• 5 tips to a killer call-to-action
  
• How to manage your comments
• How to use words to help your clients feel seen

Let's take action!

Ready to implement what you learned in this post? I like your style!

1. Choose 1 of the tips in this post and try it out in your business. (Be sure to check for discounts and/or special deals using my affiliate links above.)
2. Looking for 1:1 copy support? Right this way, friend. 
3. Want more actionable tips + real-life examples to help you reach more of your dream clients? Join my Close Friends list over on Instagram! 
    

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