When we have initial conversations with new or prospective clients, high on their ‘stress’ list is “I spend so much time trying to make the ‘perfect’ Facebook post….and then no one even notices!….and it feels like a waste of time!”

…and we understand that!!  We understand that 100%!!

Your business is your baby and you pour your heart and soul into all the element to make it success, then why, oh why are the powers that be just not on your side when it comes to the ‘Big 3’; Facebook, Instagram and Twitter?

Although each Social platform have their own nuances in terms of how they like to distribute content, there are a few universals, and in todays blog, we are going to start unravelling some basic steps that will help improve your visibility today.

Be Consistent

All Social Media platforms are run by algorithms, and as such it doesn’t respond well to ad-hoc or random marketing strategies.  They learn what you are doing, then expect you to do it again….yet….so do your followers!

We too are creatures of habit!

If you feel like posting once a week is your limit, do that…but do it consistently.  If you want to post everyday…even better, but do it consistently.

If this means you have a structured plan in place to help you (a ‘Throwback Thursday’ every week, a  ‘Selfie Saturday’ and so on) to keep you in track…do it!

Original content

All your Social Media platforms want to think it is your Number 1 choice!….and doesn’t take too favourably to you ‘auto posting’ across platforms.

Yes…the facility is there for you to share your posts directly from Instagram to Facebook…and Yes…they are both owned by the same company, but they still both want to be your preferred platform and will sulk if they aren’t.

So unless you are super pushed for time, at the very least, post original posts on each pf your Social channels.

Once you have that cracked, even better practise is to *NOT* Copy and paste from one platform to the other, but to type out an original caption for each post.

Really….you should be doing this anyway in 95% of cases, as often your Instagram audience will be different to your Twitter audience, which will be different to your Facebook audience, which means they will respond to different things….and their ‘responding’ is key!

Engagement

Every time someone ‘engages or responds to a post on your socials, that is telling the platform that you have posted some quality content…and the more engagement and responses you get, the more  feeds your content will show up in.

Let’s take Facebook.  Facebook will ‘test’ out your content with around 10% of your ‘likers’ to see if it worth putting in more people’s feeds. If that initial 10% respond to the post, Facebook will reward you by placing it in more peoples feeds, then if they respond, they will do it again…and again!

…and it is a similar situation with the other big platforms too.

Engagement and garnering responses is one of the keys to increasing your visibility!

So how do I get more engagement on my posts?

Have a look back over your last month (or 3 or 6 depending on how frequently you post) and see which of your posts have had the most engagement, in terms of likes and comments.

Do these posts have anything in common?

When you have little or no social strategy the temptation is to haphazardly create posts when you remember (remember how important consistency is) that showcase your services or products or maybe special offers you have on….and whilst these are super necessary posts, if you are trying to increase your visibility (so that more people will see your offers when you post them) creating a consistent sense of community is vital.

If you need a simple start to thinking more about your posting…try this one.

One in every 5 posts can be a sales post.  That means four posts on the bounce should be something unrelated to a direct sale, but still on brand.

What on earth??…How can it be on brand, but not talk about *my* product?

Think about this..

You run ‘Celebrations Cake’ business, if you post every other day on Facebook, your 10 day posting calendar could look like this.

Post 1 – An image of a Christmas Cake!

“Its November, which means we are well on our way to the big Christmas Countdown!!

Are you on baker or a faker, when it comes to your Christmas Cakes?”

Although this is a closed question, it is something that a lot of people will have an opinion on….and it is pretty harmless in telling you what it is (i.e. it isn’t political and no one is likely to be embarrassed by their answer!!) so they are more likely to engage and tell you if they are in deed a baker or a faker.

Post 2 – A beautiful image of a recent customer commission

“Thank you so much to Kate, who asked us to make this amazing Unicorn cake for her daughters 5^th birthday this week!  Happy Birthday…..Hope you had the best Unicorn party!”

Posting a gorgeous image of something on trend is always a winner…so not a quick snap, take some time to get a beautiful image, and by making it personal, people wont be able to help themselves with commenting happy birthdays (for people they don’t even know!!) and engaging with comments and tags of other people who might want a unicorn cake.

Post 3 – Share an article from a cake/wedding blog/magazine/other Facebook page

This will show Facebook that you are also engaging with other user content, they dislike nothing more than a post and run user.

Sharing other people’s articles will inspire your customers, without you having to create all your own content.  And as long as you don’t try and pass it off as your own work, you are fine!!

But don’t just share and leave it at that, leave a caption about why you are sharing this in particular, what spoke to you about it, why you thought your followers would find it interesting.

Post 4 – A LIVE!!!

Yes…a Live…Facebook and Instagram LOVE it when you use their Live feature and will prioritise this type of content in peoples feeds and notifications.

This could be anything….You doing some practise, shopping for ingredients, delivering a cake to a venue….anything!!

Post 5 – Sales!!

Here goes…you have spent the last few days getting people interested in you and your brand, you have asked their opinion, shared interesting things with them, shown them some behind the scenes footage….now do they want to book your services?

“We are currently taking bookings for February and March events!  If you have cake needs in the new year, comment below and lets book you in for a no obligation chat!”

You are telling everyone you have availability….but you are busy…so you must be good…and you are telling them exactly what they need to do…you are keeping it easy breezy with no obligation and by asking people to comment rather than PM you, you are getting more interaction on your page!

What do you think?

Are you are committed to increasing your Social Media visibility? Do you think you can implement some of these steps into your marketing plan this week?

If you are still feeling like you could do with a little more help or direction when it comes to Social Media, our team of experts are always here to answer your questions, or help you with a new strategy, just drop us an email and we will get back to you!