As an agency we don’t offer social media services but we do advise our clients and if they need someone to handle their social media accounts for them we point them in the right direction of someone who can.
But social media is a huge part of marketing these days and people often ask us for tips, advice and how to do things properly. But often you can be doing all the right things but get very little back – it’s a thankless task. However it’s at those moments you have to just keep ploughing on and persist with your strategy and eventually things will improve. Inevitably with social media (especially with new accounts) there is a long, laborious journey to the top of the hill but eventually you’ll gain momentum and maybe even roll downhill with a big smile on your face.
Gaining huge amounts of followers and getting huge exposure without spending money with a digital design agency is tricky and those who have succeeded where you haven’t probably had a bit of luck. Or they worked VERY hard and put a LOT of time into it. But many businesses owners don’t have that time or brain space to dedicate lots of time to their social media. This post is for you – to show you 5 things you can work on.
The chances of going viral are very small BUT they are zero if you don’t post. So keep being active no matter what. Not all of social medias benefits are visible, so keep the faith!
1. Look the part
Make sure your profile picture is a profile picture. An icon, an emblem, a symbol. Something that can be recognised when it appears as the smallest of icons on the instagram app. Too often I see profile pics that don’t fit and are cut off and they look unprofessional. If you can’t even manage to have a profile picture that fits – why would I trust you with my custom? Also you don’t need to have your full logo as your profile pic. Your account name appears next to your profile picture so it doesn’t need to be written in there as well.
Organise your story highlights with icons that reflect the content and pin your top x3 posts to the top of your wall!
2. Use posts and stories appropriately
To post or to story? If you have content that reflects what you do/ what you offer/ something you want people to always know about your business or the character of your business – it’s a post. I would keep this very simple when looking at your content you’re about to post and ask yourself is this “Post worthy”? Is this something you want to have on your Instagram wall permanently and will it look good on your wall? If the answer is no – it’s probably a story. If it’s an update, a daily insight, a small bit of news, a reminder – it’s a story.
If you’re posting BIG NEWS or a KEY EVENT – then create a post about it. Then create stories as reminders and make people aware that they should check out the post. Also you should use stories to embed links for people to click on. Stories are good at catching your audience’s attention in case they missed it scrolling on their walls. Create highlights and use them to highlight certain types of story that fit into that category. So you might have three different highlights which are Services 1, Service 2 and Service 3. Then when you post a story that relates to Service 1, for example, you would add it to the Service 1 highlight. What this does is allow people to find your page and quickly scroll through notable stories that help give them a picture of your business or a service.
3. Engage for engagement
In short this means you get back what you put in. So if you are liking other businesses posts, commenting and engaging with others then they will engage back. Commenting is a crucial element of this. When you comment on a post relevant to your businesses you are increasing your chances of strengthening online relationships with your audience or creating new ones. Everyone who follows the person whose post you are commenting on has a chance of seeing what you write and may well follow you as a result. Your posts may well then feature on their wall and you may then become a suggested follow. Commenting helps increase engagement, build a community, boost your visibility and potentially create word of mouth marketing too.
So much like my networking tips don’t think you are commenting to that one person – think of it more as a comment to them and ALL their followers.
TAG!!! Tag people wherever possible! Go networking? Tag everyone who attended! Collaborated with someone on a job? Tag them! Tag everyone who was in any way involved in your content – your audience and especially non-following audience numbers will dramatically increase! In addition to this an important part of social media is corporate backscratching – support others and you will be supported right back.
4. Clear messaging and CTAs
Using your story highlights is a clear way to show people what you’re all about, what you offer and what your services are. They arrive on your page and straight away you are listing vital information. The other important part is that your bio is professional, succinct and tells people exactly what you do.
Stories wherever possible should have clear call to actions (CTAs) with links for people to go and perform a task whether that be a sign up, book tickets, write a review etc. Give your audience a clear and EASY action.
Posts with image or a carousel of images can also have clear messaging so you’re not asking people to read the caption. Add text to your images before posting. When doing this it’s important that the first image has a good hook and the final image has a clear call to action.
The other important thing with clear messaging is that you need to understand your businesses. What you are offering, why you’re good, why people should use you and what your tone of voice is – if you have all of this then marketing yourself becomes infinitely easier. If this isn’t clear in your head – resolving that is Step 1.
5. What does good look like?
It is important to remember that you also need good content. But what does good content look like? Coming up with ideas for stories and posts is the hardest part for many busy business owners. If this is the case get inspiration from others, and in some cases borrow! Re-using ideas from accounts you admire is great if your values and tone of voice align. Find an account or 3 that has a great approach to their social media that you can get on board with and emulate it. Imitation is the highest form of flattery.
Good content doesn’t have to be professional photography – just a nice image on your phone is more than enough. Or a graphic, or a typographic message or a drawing. Think about what your audience want to see and give it to them. Alternate your ads and your images. Keep an eye out throughout the day – good content is all around you. You just need to get into a habit of thinking about it.
If you go networking – take a photo of the location or the view or the speaker and tag them in it and tell people to give them a follow. Chances are that person will follow you back and you’re fresh in their mind for word to mouth referral.
Not all of social media’s benefits are quantifiable – some of it is just brand awareness. Asking people when they enquire – how they heard about you will give you an idea if you’re getting work from your social media. I did this the other day and was told my Instagram popped up on a Google search and they went from there. Also I get a lot of people telling me they found my website, checked my work on Instagram and then picked up the phone. This is a great example of ZERO social media engagement but getting the ideal end result regardless. This is PRECISELY why you should work hard on social media, even if you feel you’re getting very little joy. I don’t post for likes and comments – my engagement is appalling. I do it so that when people check my work out – they see something current that looks half decent and shows what I offer. It shows I’m active and professional.
Re-share! Use the re-share app! This allows you with permission to copy and re-share someone else’s post onto your wall. For example if a professional photographer gets a great picture of you and posts it – with their permission you can reshare the same image onto your wall and a little icon and link to the photographer’s profile will automatically appear in corner of the image.
