NAVIGATING A CHANGING MARKET

As we navigate this crisis, the need for an online presence has never been greater. The shift from brick-and-mortar shops to online commerce with delivery and or pick-up options continues to be an ongoing trend. As a business, you shift and adapt, adding the ability to purchase online from your website, you link your website with your social media accounts, but then what? How do you get your online presence to stand out in an online world of competition and often similar social media accounts?

Consistency is Key

While there are numerous “tips and tricks” for increasing exposure and engagement, by far, the most important method for increasing exposure is also the simplest and most cost-effective - Show up. Consistency is vital in standing out in an online crowd. Posting regularly both to your main profile and through stories, reels, and IGTV will allow your audience and target clients/customers to connect with you as the face of your business. Some studies have even gone so far as to suggest, not showing your face within your profile can hinder your online presence.

Aesthetic

Spending the time and energy creating an aesthetic for your business will save you time, in the future, creating content. Sticking with similar brand colours and editing styles will help give your account a visually appealing and cohesive feel. It should be noted, however, that as trends shift and change, the intentional not-perfectly-curated feed has in some cases become the new aesthetic.

Know Your Audience

As it is said – if you are talking to everyone, you are talking to no one. Knowing your ideal client or customer is incredibly important in tailoring your content in a way that will be noticed by your target audience. Review your insights often, making a note of which content resonates most with the followers you are most interested in connecting with. Stay consistent with content that is “on-brand.” Followers will eventually unfollow if the content no longer interests or relates to them.

Check the Time

While on the topic of insights, knowing WHEN to post is just as important. Graphs found within your “followers” insights outline the days of the week and even times of the day that your followers are online and engaging. A word of warning; your insight times are listed in Pacific Standard Time (PST).

Hastags

While there has always been broad debate concerning how many hashtags should be used and where they should be added, one thing is certain – hashtags are an excellent way to connect with new followers. With a limit of 30 hashtags per post, community and brand hashtags will maximize audience reach using a mixture of campaign, community, and brand hashtags. Understanding each category of hashtags and those who follow each will allow an efficient strategy for increasing your online presence and account engagement.

Interaction is Important

When someone interacts with a post – respond. If someone responds to a story via DM, engage – specifically with more than just a like or emoji. Interact with other accounts in the way that you want your account to be interacted with. Social media interaction is absolutely a two-way street.

Accessibility

In a world where 466 million humans are either deaf or hard of hearing, and where most Instagram videos and stories are played without sound, accessibility for all followers is crucial. Adding captions to videos, including Alt-Text to posts, verbalizing visual details during lives/IGTV/stories (for the visually impaired), incorporating image descriptions in your captions and capitalizing each word in your hashtags, all help in making your account more accessible to all followers.

Sharable Content

Create content that will not only resonate but will be shared widely. Share tips and tricks, tell a story, show support for your local business culture, or validate your audience’s feelings or opinions on a current matter. Use third-party apps and create graphics or use a photograph to coordinate with or support your caption.

Ghost Followers

If your content reaches approximately 10% of your followers and is mostly based on engagement, having ghost/bot followers will work to hinder your account. Periodically removing these accounts from your followers will help drive your content to the 10% engaged and genuinely interested in following your entrepreneurial journey.

Authenticity Counts

Authenticity in an ultra edited and filtered world is essential. Followers will notice, engage and continue to share your space when your content is authentic. Staying true to yourself, your brand, and your business will not only keep your audience waiting for what you will share next but will also make your job creating content so much easier.