Good content and customer engagement. Although these seem synonymous in the digital landscape, sharing quality content and driving customer engagement are actually worlds apart. You may have the best content under the sun, but in order to drive customer engagement, first you have to know what to do with it.

It’s pretty easy to screw up a social media strategy. This is why Best-in-Class performers work to understand their audience’s behavior. They know how to actively engage with them, and they know how to utilize the right tools to help them grow. When a social media strategy is properly planned and executed, good content can go a long way. But without the right strategy, all the content in the world won’t help.

Below is a list of 5 social media tips to enhance customer engagement.

1. Timing is everything

Timing is one of the most important elements in achieving success with social media. You can have the best content in the world, but unless it’s being posted at the right time it won’t get seen. Whether you are on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and any other social site, it’s important to understand the best times to post. Without the right timing, content alone won’t help unless it is seen.

2. Ask a Question

Weaving in a question into your content piece is a powerful way to engage with customers. Leading in with a question demonstrates that you value the reader’s opinion.  Whether asking a question outright or leaving food for thought at the bottom of a posting, you can ensure that the reader will respond to the question in their thoughts and will be inclined to read further.

3. Be visual

There’s nothing that goes better with good content than a good visual. As humans, we crave nothing more than a good visual, and graphics are by far the easiest way to satisfy the need to see something beautiful. Visuals also incline audiences to share content. If you use entertaining or useful visuals such as infographs, SlideShare presentations, YouTube videos or an appealing image with an inspirational quote, you will be successful at engaging with your audiences.

4. Make sharing easy

Internet users are lazy. They’re not going to waste time on links that don’t work. When the time comes to the customer actually wanting to share something, you better make it easy to accomplish. If they have to click once or twice to share a content piece, they’ll probably skip it and keep scrolling. Embed several social sharing buttons, but not too many. Enable your readers to take action, but make sure that it’s easy to share the content.

5. Use #hashtags and @mentions

Social media is about connecting with people and building relationships. This is why using hashtags and @mentions is so important. Using @mentions helps create a sense of community when they are shared with audiences. By getting the attention of your customers using hashtags, you can engage with them and work to nurture the relationships.

Content is the cornerstone of customer engagement on social media sites, but it isn’t all about the content. It’s about knowing how to use it. Work around building a sound social media strategy. Focus on the time of engagement and the enablement of audiences to share the content. Really know how to use social media to your best advantage.

How effective is your social media strategy? Are your sales reps utilizing it as a platform for customer engagement?