Whether you’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or any other emerging social channel out there, you probably know there are different forms of engagement. The various ways your audience can engage with you have their own set of benefits.

• Twitter: Like (formerly known as a “favorite”), mention, and retweet
• Facebook: Reaction (Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, Angry), comment, and share
• Instagram: Comment, like, and repost
• Pinterest: Pin, aka “save”
  • Side note – Pinterest said “RIP” to the like button back in April, because they believe it created confusion for people and decreased engagement

So, what’s best? What form of engagement should you be shooting for in your business? Tons of likes? A huge thread of comments? Or shares, retweets, reposts, and pins?

The golden ticket of social media engagement is by far the share. Sure, likes and comments are great and every post needs them. But any time you can get one of your followers to share/retweet/repost/pin YOUR content with THEIR audience, you’re winning.

Why? Because a share simply expands your message to a whole new network of people. Even if the person who shares your content has a similar group of friends or followers as you, it’s still helping your channel grow by upping the frequency of times your brand is seen.

Next time you work on a post, ask yourself:

Is this shareable? Would I share this if one of my fellow small business owner-friends posted this? If the answer is no, rethink your content and find a new way to expand your message and give it the potential to reach new networks of people.