When you’re looking back at your social media marketing activity in the last year, you may wonder what you should be looking for. ROI? A huge mass of followers? Well, smart marketers will measure an all-important element: engagement.

Which posts rocked? Which flopped? Did a certain subject strike a chord with your audience in a surprising way? Maybe something you were sure of had no impact at all. Well, after studying what’s been done, it’s time to move forward and take the most successful ideas with you. Here are some effective tactics to get your audience engaged with your content and your brand on social media:

Contests.

Social media is stuffed with contests, and for a good reason: they work. For participants to enter, you can ask for some feedback, a simple like or retweet, or even a well thought out answer to “Why should you win?”

The best part is, the prize doesn’t even need to be extravagant. Perhaps one of your products or gift cards to a service your company provides would suffice. The prize isn’t always the most important thing to your audience—it’s the game of trying to win.

Blogs and Long Forms.

It may come as a surprise to some people, but many internet users still like to read. Original articles coming from your company are a fantastic way to spread your wealth of knowledge and to establish yourself as an “opinion leader.”

These can come in the form of well-written blogs and articles that you post on your website, or as thought-out social media posts. Both will help position you as a reputable source of knowledge, and give people a way to interact with your brand in a deeper way.

Sales.

Be alert, there are bargain hunters everywhere. Take advantage of this “compulsion to save” by offering coupons, deals, and flash sales often. Not only can a sale entice your customers in the short term, but running sales often gives people a reason to keep coming back to check on your page.

Freebies.

What’s better than getting something at a discount? Getting it for free. This is especially poignant if you have an ebook, PDF, course, trial, or another form of digital product, so you don’t have to be bothered with shipping and handling.

Imagery.

Text-only social media content can only do so much. You absolutely need pictures, videos, GIFs, interactive art, and more. As we’ve said in the past: it doesn’t matter how great your copy is if nobody reads it. A great image acts as the hook that stops people from scrolling and pulls them into your content.

So the next time you’re wondering how to increase engagement and pull more people into your content, think back to these five elements.