Today, lead generation and follow up is the main reason most business set ups invest in a social media presence. Merely having social media accounts doesn’t necessarily mean automatic results; like everything else, social media does require some strategic planning and execution. For small up-and-coming businesses, expenditure on marketing, lead generation and follow up doesn’t always make much sense. Social media is the new marketing arena and the competition knows this. This article is aimed at exploring the various ways in which you can increase your reach on social media and, in doing so, give your firm a strategic advantage.
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Creating a buzz on social media isn’t exactly rocket science, but there is a method to it. Below are some methods that are sure to increase your social media reach.
- FOCUS THE BULK OF YOUR EFFORT ON THE RIGHT AVENUES: A common mistake with most businesses today is the assumption that having a presence on all the social media avenues available is the way to go. This is not case, simply because your audience members aren’t on every social media avenue. To make the most out of your social media presence, strive to establish which social media outlets the bulk of your customers prefer or subscribe to. This way, you can focus more on the larger, already existent and more readily available audience. The most popular avenues today include Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
- SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILE OPTIMIZATION: Search Engine Optimization methods are used to increase traffic or the number of hits on a business website. This, in essence, enhances a websites visibility by ensuring it appears among the top search results. Social media optimization works in a similar manner. Tweaking your firm’s social media profile can result in better brand visibility and therefore a greater reach. Some optimization tricks and hacks include:
- An easy to recall username.
- Appropriate profile picture or brand logo.
- Rich and colorful descriptions.
- Embedded links leading back to your website.
- TIMING YOUR POSTS: Timing is a key component when posting on social media. The idea here is to be seen by as many users as possible. Posting at the right time while your audience is actively online is the best way to gain post visibility. Posting your content at the right time can result in higher conversion rates as a result of greater reach.
TIP: We advise against posting content only during peak hours, and here’s why; there is a hurricane of posts during those hours and your valuable content can easily get lost amongst the high volume of other posts. - INTERACT WITH YOUR CLIENTS: Engaging your clients on posts by responding to enquiries, comments and suggestions builds a healthy and personable reputation. People appreciate interacting with other people behind the scenes. It creates trust and that positive effect on your users elicits likes, shares, and word of mouth marketing - all of which increases your reach on Social media.
- YOUR ACTUAL CONTENT MATTERS: Relevance with a touch of excitement goes a long way in capturing readers’ attention. Your content should reflect the mood of your brand while allowing for a more casual tone when appropriate. To add, embrace the use of images and embedded videos in your posts. It has been shown that the use of pictures as a marketing tool on Facebook receives nearly twice as many responses as a text only post. Create an exciting blend of pictures and videos in your post to reach a larger client audience.
These 5 methods to increase your social media reach are yours to put forth into action on your own pages. They also only scratch the surface of social media etiquette to promote business. We have many blog articles on the topic. Feel free to explore them. Social media holds exciting potential for business growth and visibility. Use it and use it wisely.
REFERENCES: www.mention.com/blog/organic-social-media-reach, blog.hubspot.com/how-to-increase-your-social-media-reach, blog.startafire.com/social-media-reach/