Growing social media reach organically has changed dramatically over the last couple of years. Businesses and brands who built their reputations early through virtual marketing campaigns now have to work a lot harder get the online attention that they depend on.
Spoiler Alert: There is no one, single, quick and easy way to grow your social media reach today. And, unfortunately, it’s just not “free advertising” anymore.
You can definitely pay for – or sponsor – your posts, and you can invest in ads that may very possibly put your brand in front of new fans and followers. But it’s likely that the days of gaining thousands of followers overnight are over.
So, let’s talk about thinking differently and working smarter.
First of all, stop worrying so much about algorithms. They are not our friends – they never have been, and they never will be. Just as soon as you think you’ve found a loophole, the social media powers that be close it.
Analytics are all about gathering information. The information gathered – and the output of information provided – depend largely on who is gathering the information (i.e., Facebook) and what their ultimate goal in providing the information is (i.e., convincing brands to employ sponsored posts and paid ads). While there is some benefit to knowing how they see your business, you stand to learn more about your business from your customers.
As social media sites become more high tech every day, maybe it’s time that we marketers get back to the basics… Go low tech, if you will. Because while all the graphs, models, metrics, data and complex analytics are cool, what we’re really trying to do is market to, and connect with, people. Right?
On one hand, insights and analytics can give us an indication of how we’re doing. On the other, gaining insights on the people we’re cultivating relationships with and analyzing their needs so we can provide solutions for them might just be the better way to go. After all, our customers and followers are all different, and so are the ways in which they follow our brands.
So, as we’ve said before: It’s time to get personal!
To shed some light on your social media reach, start by manually scrolling through your feeds. Yes, manually.
By hand.
Personally look at what’s going on.
See what your customers are seeing.
Instead of just scanning the number of people who have Liked or seen your posts, look at the tactile facts:
- What are people responding to?
- What are they Liking?
- Are your followers commenting?
- Are they sharing your posts and promotions?
- Are they tagging others in your posts?
- Are they making suggestions and requests?
- What times of the day are you seeing more activity?
- Are some types of posts getting more attention than others?
Then look at how your business or brand is responding to all those fabulous followers. For example, Facebook has begun “announcing” when pages are responsive, meaning that they interact regularly with their followers. When people go to your page, do they see that your page is “Very responsive” or that your followers can expect a reply “within minutes”? Think about the kind of power that interactivity holds. Wouldn’t you be more inclined to talk to a brand that talks back?
- When someone says, “Cool!” or tags a friend, thereby sharing that post with their friends, do you acknowledge the comment or share with a Like or say “Thanks for sharing”?
- If someone asks a question or inquires about price or availability, how do you respond?
- How quickly do you respond?
- Hourly?
- Once a day?
- Once a week?
- Every few months or so when you think about looking at the last few posts (by which time, the follower has either forgotten about his or her request, or they’ve moved on because they didn’t get what they needed from your page)?
- If someone makes negative comments about their experience with your brand or business, how is it handled? How do you “make it right,” not only in the eyes of the person making the complaint, but the dozens or even thousands of other eyes seeing the issue on your page?
All of the activities above lead to referral traffic. That’s when someone likes or comments on your post – even if it’s days or weeks old – thus giving your post new life because more people see it again. It’s virtual word of mouth. It’s free advertising. And you can make it happen.
Aside from being active with your social communities, one of the best ways to generate referral traffic is by posting evergreen content – content that remains relevant beyond its post date.
While “real time” offers, posts and promos are sure to be part of your mix, make sure to also include plenty of “non-perishable” information in your feeds.
By the way… Is your team following and interacting with your brand? If the people working for the brand aren’t engaging with it, how do you expect others to?
There are no right or wrong times of the day or numbers of times each day to post. Scheduling posts is good sometimes, but the only way to truly figure out when your customers are seeing your posts and the only way to determine what they’re really interested in (and, thus, interacting with) is by manually posting on, interacting with, and monitoring your accounts.
If you generally post during business hours, try posting late at night. Posting during off-peak hours may actually boost the chances of your posts being seen because there isn’t as much competition from other accounts. The worst thing you can do is post consistently in terms of the same time(s) each day or week. Change things up a lot!
Measure activity between organic, manual posts and sponsored posts, and don’t forget to do the math! Theoretically, your sponsored posts (those you’ve paid for) are going to get a higher level of activity. Let’s hope so, anyway! But pay special attention to the number of organic impressions and responses you receive from non-sponsored posts. The numbers may be lower, but those followers are people who already follow you. They’ve manually chosen to respond to your posts in their feed. And, they’re seeing your posts because they’ve historically interacted with your account(s) enough to keep seeing your posts organically. Boom!
Test, test, and then test some more. Study after study indicates that posts containing images perform better than text-only posts. And then there are studies that suggest the contrary. And there are other studies, still, extolling the new-and-powerful virtues of v-i-d-e-o. YouTube has never been hotter, folks. And social venues such as Facebook Live, SnapChat and Periscope are the latest and greatest, “Oh, that’s never going to catch on… Wait! It’s totally catching on! We’d better catch up!” things.
So what’s it gonna be for your brand: Pretty pictures? Witty words? Vivacious videos?
And should you abandon your Facebook ship, set sail on Google+ and chart a course for Instagram while Pinning your products for all the world to see (and buy)?
Yes!
And, no.
And definitely not all at once.
The only way to know is test. And when you arrive at a determination, test again. And again. And keep testing. No one article or practice will bring you the end-all, be all solution to finding and engaging with your followers. Ever. It’s a never-ending job. And that’s what makes it so valuable. It’s also what makes some companies believe that social media doesn’t work – because it takes so much work to really work!
Is your head spinning yet?
Good. Then let’s get growing!
And if you find you need new ways shed light on your organic reach, just give us a call!
