Want to say thanks for Out Of Office? Prosecco is gladly accepted.
Morning, Colleague
I don’t know about you, but I have a very mixed relationship with social media.
Posting regularly can be a great way to connect with new clients/customers, and build up name recognition. And, like it or not, we live in a world where having the clout of thousands of followers can start to open doors.
Ultimately, as with everything, it’s a matter of doing what you have time/energy for. Being self-employed is bloody knackering, and if you would rather invest time doing literally anything else than finding hilarious memes for your Facebook audience, believe me, I get it! But if you’re curious about what it could offer, read on.
So when it comes to social for boosting your work, what’s actually necessary and what’s non-essential?
It’s…complicated. (Sorry.) “There’s not necessarily a right or wrong way of doing things, it depends on the type of work you do,” says Leanne Leveaux, Director and Social Media and Community Manager at social media agency Social Voltage. So here’s a speedy guide to the basics.
Which platform should I concentrate on?
In terms of platforms, it really depends what you want to get out of it, where your audience hangs out, and how much time you have.
“I generally recommend Instagram in the first instance,” says Leanne. “It’s really well made for businesses and has lots of tools, such as stickers to promote your business and Shopify links. It works whether you’re service- or product-led.
“Facebook is great if you’re looking to run any ads, as well as striking up conversations with people. Twitter is handy if you want to be part of a wider conversation around your industry, but it’s not necessarily useful if you sell products.”
[Bit of a side note, but Shopify is definitely worth exploring – whether you’re a freelancers or business owner – as you can sell not only physical products, but also event tickets, services, consultations and digital products like eBooks or downloads. You can get a free 14-day trial as well.]
How to get the most from your posts
“If you’re a small business or sole trader, planning and writing posts can take time, but you can reap the benefits when it really reaches people,” says Leanne. (Her company plans their posts on a monthly basis.)
On most platforms, it seems that three posts per week (as a minimum) is the sweet spot to really create a presence and get the most out of site algorithms. But Instagram, says Leanne, rewards daily posts. The one thing these sites have in common – they love consistency. Regularity is the key if you want to be showing up in people’s timelines.
Obviously you can use the scheduling tools on the sites themselves to get ahead, or Hootsuite works out at around £25 a month and pulls together information from all of your separate social accounts, making tracking your reach simpler.
Not every post needs to be a hustle. Don’t be afraid to show personality – people love to get a ‘behind the scenes’ glimpse of how businesses/freelancers work. Share your pets, favourite quotes, what you’ve been up to at the weekend – as well as your products, website links and services.
Whichever platform/s you choose, try to keep in mind what your potential clients/customers might get from it. “People like to engage with real people, but you need to give them a reason to follow you,” says Leanne. “Look at your feed – what are you offering? What do they get from following you?”
3 quick changes worth the faff
Start a rough posting calendar for the month — mark up any awareness days that are coming up, or even things like film/TV releases that might make a talking point for you or your brand.
Do some hashtag research – which hashtags are your competitors using? Create a ‘hashtag bank’, basically a list of relevant ones you can quickly add to posts as you go. You can create separate categories once you get into it — from business-specific that are about your industry, to more general ones, for example for days of the week. “Try to use those that have less than a million uses,” says Leanne, “If they’re more popular than that, your posts will just get lost.” (Hashtags work best on Twitter and Instagram – Facebook doesn’t really benefit from them.)
Do 10 minutes of tracking over your previous posts. See which in the past month have worked, which haven’t, and start to think about what that might mean your followers want to see.