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Fed up with no one seeing your social media posts. Are you finding it difficult to attract more customers to your business? Here are my 5 secret small fixes to power-boost your brand visibility on your social media platforms.
Welcome to what is going to be the start of a new video series on 'Social Media Small Fixes' Each week I will be sharing tips and sharing secrets on how to power-boost your social media visibility and increase your chances of attracting new customers.
I first started 'Purple Box' in 2018 by helping small business owners by giving out advice and helping them start out with their socials. Then Covid-19 hit and like many businesses I diversified into other media and started to help in building online shops with Shopify, Wix & WordPress, with the boom of e-commerce throughout the pandemic. I had little experience so I attended lots of online courses and taught myself how to build websites. Later gaining a recognised qualification from 'The Internet Business School' taught in person by Simon Coulson. Today I am now helping businesses from all walks of life. From hair salons to small online sustainable clothing ranges, various hospitality venues, and enterprises, dance schools, jewellery shops, a local gin distillery, etc...
Some of the following tips are from the journey of my own experiences I have made with 'Purplebox Social'. We all have to start somewhere and we all make mistakes along the way.
Here are my top 5 'Small Fixes' to get you started.
Tip #1 - Beat the Scroll
One of the first questions to ask yourself is" what stops me from scrolling?" Is it usually eye-catching, something that made you laugh, or just caught your interest? Was it a video or just an image that stood out and resonated with you? All these factors need to be thought about when you are posting content. You have to think about what the customer wants to see and what will make them stop on your post and click and interact with your account. Too many businesses make the mistake and most of the time unintentionally, posting about what they are trying to sell or showcase. It needs to be about the customer. It has to strike an interest with them.
Tip #2 - Call to action
When you are thinking of what to post on your socials you need to link it to a relevant product or service or a page on your website. Quite often people miss this basic action. But of course, you don't always have to link your post to something. Your post can just be a thought or something you just wanted to share with your audience. Remember, it's not just about you. It is about building connections, trust in your brand, and communicating with people.
A strong 'call to action' is asking your audience to act on a link you post. It needs not be too pushy or urgent. I like to post it conversationally. If people are genuinely interested in what you are saying, they will most probably click on the link. Be clear in your approach, stay true to your brand and pick strong action words, and always double-check that the link you post works and is linked to the correct product, page, or service.
Tip #3 - # Hashtags
Hashtags simplified are a form of identifying topics of conversation online. Adding a hashtag to your topic opens up your conversation to potentially thousands of other people. Hashtags act as keywords on search engines such as Google, which offers you the opportunity to be discovered by a new audience. They can boost your brand, and categorise your content.
Imagine you are talking about Gin. (a favourite in my house!) Firstly start with a REAL picture rather than a stock image if you can avoid it. Then a killer write-up describing what you are offering. Then add a link to your offering. Finish with your hashtags. Focus on hashtags that specifically describe the content you showcase on your account and are the best fit for your target audience. Eg, instead of using #gin, I’d try #sussexgin.
An online tool I use that is linked to Google Chrome extensions is https://ritetag.com/
Finally, keep an eye on trending hashtags that go viral. If something big is happening locally or in the national news then jump on the bandwagon.
Tip #4 - Optimise your Social Media Bios
This is a common mistake and is one I made at the start of my journey. I had multiple accounts on different social media platforms and over time each account changed slightly but I never changed the other accounts. As human beings we are never satisfied and we are always trying to better ourselves, which is not a bad thing, but in this case, it confused my audience, hence I wasn't getting any traffic to my website.
My advice is to be very clear about the service or product you are offering. Use keywords to describe your business and make sure everything is linked correctly.
Confused people don't convert into customers and they just leave.
There is also a handy app that I have added to all my accounts called linktr.ee, It links all your accounts and links in one place. It is simple to use and free.
Tip #5 - SEO
Lastly, knowing just a little bit about SEO can go a long way in helping you succeed. SEO stands for 'Search Engine Optimisation. Think of it as a strategy and use it in asking yourself what you think people would type into a search engine to find your business. As small business owners, we are always teaching ourselves new things. We have many different hats on every day, so knowing the basics and a little of something is better than nothing at all. I have found that SEO can be very complex but it needn't be. It is something that keeps reinventing itself but without some SEO knowledge search engines, especially Google won't recognise your website and therefore customers won't be able to find you through search.
Optimising your website for search gives you the best opportunity in being seeing seen on Google.
What I do at 'Purplebox Social'
The above tips are a snippet of what I do every day for various businesses around Sussex. It can be a couple of hours sitting down with a customer helping to set up a new social media account or writing a blog for someone. It could be setting up an email campaign or setting up a shop on Shopify or Etsy.
The best thing about what I do is that I get to meet lots of different people and no one day is the same.
So if you need any help with social media or websites then take a look at my website and don't hesitate to contact me. I am never too far away for a chat over coffee (I do love great coffee and a chat!)