Every business owner knows that social media is one of the best marketing tools they have at their disposal. Marketing teams put a lot of time and resources into crafting the perfect posts and finding ways to boost engagement with their audience. But all of that is for nothing if nobody sees the post in the first place.
Visibility is actually one of the biggest challenges that businesses face on social media, but it is often underestimated. Social media users are constantly scrolling through a stream of posts and new content is being posted all of the time. So, you only have a very small window in which to make an impact and if you don't get your posts right, they will disappear before anybody really sees them. Even if the content is amazing, you won't see any benefits because nobody was around to see it.
So, before you can really make an impact on social media, you need to solve the visibility problem. These are some of the best ways to boost the visibility of your social media posts.
Choose The Right Platforms
Success on social media isn't just about reaching as many people as possible, it's about reaching the right people. People outside of your target audience are unlikely to stop and look at your post, so you need to make sure you are connecting with the right people. Choosing the right platform is a big part of that and you need to consider which social media sites your audience is most likely to use. The more you know about your audience, the easier this will be.
For example, Instagram is a great place to reach young people, but older generations are more likely to use Pinterest. Similarly, Facebook is the most popular social network in America and it can be a great platform for you to start off with, but it is skewed towards an older audience. Twitter is a good all-around platform that attracts people from all demographics, and it's also good for B2B companies. However, LinkedIn should be your main focus if you are targeting businesses rather than individuals.
It's important that you have a presence across multiple platforms if you want to boost visibility, but focus most of your attention on the ones where your target audience is most likely to be.
Timing Is Everything
Timing your posts right is crucial if you want to maximize visibility. Although it might seem like the best time to post is between 1 PM and 4 PM when everybody is online, research has shown that different times are better for various platforms. On Facebook, posting between 1 PM and 4 PM will probably result in your posts getting more engagement, but on Twitter, you are likely to get the most engagement at 7 AM. However, keep in mind that these trends are general and there is a lot of variation depending on your target audience. For example, if you are targeting the younger generation, they are more likely to work jobs with disparate shifts while the boomer generation is more likely to have a strict 9 to 5 schedule.
It's important that you research your target audience and their social media habits and then experiment with posting at different times of the day. Once you work out when you get the most engagement, try to post at the same time every day.
You should also consider taking advantage of social media scheduling tools, which can help you schedule your posts so they go out at the optimum time every day even if you aren't online. Find the best tool to schedule your tweets and you can set them all up at the beginning of the week, so they go out automatically at the perfect time each day. Not only does this increase visibility, but it also makes your social media marketing more efficient. It can take a bit of trial and error to get your timing perfect but once you do, it makes a huge difference.
Always Include A Visual Element
When people are scrolling through endless streams of content, you need to work hard to grab them and get them to stop and look. That's why a visual element is vital. You are much more likely to get people's attention if you include a photo, video, or GIF. Even the most basic of images can boost engagement by around ten percent, so it is well worth your time to create some good quality visuals.
You can also use Facebook's new carousel adverts that let you post multiple images in one update. Carousel posts show up higher in newsfeeds and they keep people scrolling through posts, increasing visibility for each individual image. Instagram is a very visual platform too, so make sure you focus on creating good quality images and videos. Twitter is less visually focused, but photos and videos still help a lot with visibility.
Pin Your Best Posts
If you have certain posts that give more information about your business and contain links to drive people to your website, you should pin these on your social media pages. Once they are pinned, you can make sure that everybody that clicks on your profile sees the relevant information and it doesn't get lost in the noise.
Repurpose Successful Content
If you have posts that have performed well in the past, posting them again is a great way to boost visibility and engagement. This might be anything from a list post to a piece of creative content. There are various ways you can repurpose successful content, including posting it again on the same platform or cross-promoting it with another page that reaches your target audience. This is one of the easiest ways to increase visibility because you don't have to try too hard - just find an old success story and repeat it.
Just make sure that you are doing something new with the content and not just reposting the same thing over and over because this will put people off.
Engage With People To Boost Your Reach
Engagement is the best way to boost your reach. You can't just sit back and expect people to come to you - you need to take the plunge and engage with your target audience. Ask questions, reply to comments, keep it lighthearted, but also steer conversations towards your brand.
If somebody shares your posts or comments on something, it shows up on their newsfeed. That means that it is instantly visible to all of their followers too, even if they don't follow you. So, you boost visibility and connect with a whole host of new potential followers straight away. Many of those people are likely to be part of your target audience too because they are connected with an existing follower.
Learn How To Use Hashtags
Hashtags are another way to make yourself visible to people that don't already follow you. Try using trending hashtags on your posts on social media platforms every now and again to see what happens. Even if nobody contacts you directly or starts following you, it brings you into conversations that would otherwise have passed you by completely. It is a great way to reach new people without going out of your way too much - just make sure that any hashtags are relevant and suit your brand image. Avoid spamming lots of hashtags on every post too because this won't help you increase your following.
If you want to be successful on social media, make sure you follow these steps to solve the visibility issue before you do anything else.
