In this day and age, most businesses use social media as a digital marketing tool, striving to build a loyal customer base. If you’re a business owner yourself, you probably know that getting new followers and maintaining the old ones can be problematic. Sometimes it takes a long time, and no matter what you do, the numbers won’t budge.
Without solid social media reach, you won’t be able to succeed. What’s more, smaller businesses often find paid traffic uneconomical, and if your company still hasn’t made it big, you may struggle to provide funds to your social media campaigns. However, there are other ways to increase your organic traffic on any of your social media accounts. Here’s what you need to do to engage more customers:
It is important that you take help from data analytics to understand the best hours to post. An effective social media marketing strategy should be evolved by paying close attention to what the data is saying. By taking informed decisions based on data, you will give your efforts on social media a real chance to succeed. Every social media platform comes with its own sets of analytics. Paying close attention to the same ensures that all the resources that you are dedicating to each platform is utilized in the most optimum fashion possible.
Get Familiar with SEO Tactics
The digital world is ruled by algorithms. Whenever you type in a query, you may wonder why some websites pop up higher than others. According to experts from Edge Online, most likely, the content was created following the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tactics. As a result, it ranked high in a search engine like Google.
You can apply the same tactics to your social media profiles. If you want to be visible, make sure you have these elements:
- A username that’s both relevant to your business and easy to remember
- A unique logo
- Natural, yet keyword-rich descriptions
- Trackable backlinks to your website
Be Consistent and Keep Posting
There’s no traffic on your social media profiles without the audience. You have two important tasks: first, to attract new followers, and second, to keep your old ones entertained. Once you create a profile, you should post regularly and keep your audience up to date with your plans.
If you want to increase your organic traffic, consider establishing a daily publishing schedule. Keep a close eye on your social media traffic, and don’t stop posting once you see it spike. Depending on the platform, experts believe it’s best to post:
- On Facebook: 3-10 times a week
- On Instagram: around 1.5 times a day
- On Twitter: at least 5 times a day
- On LinkedIn: 2-5 times a week
Create Relevant Content
This one is easier said than done. Yet again, there’s a reason why some make it big in the industry, and others never succeed. It all comes down to content; if you want to increase the organic traffic, you need to deliver every time you post something on social media.
Make sure the content you create is relevant to your business. Try to provide answers to problems common in your field and avoid publishing content that may soon be outdated. Be precise and informative, and above all, strive for professionalism.
Additionally, make your posts even more engaging by adding visuals. They help people validate their decisions and allow you to make a better impression. Even a perfectly written text post will fall short when compared to a less professional, yet more visually appealing piece of content.
Don’t Forget about Slow Hours
Many people believe the best time to publish a post is when everyone is online. Surely, they won’t miss any updates while they’re scrolling through their feed, right? In reality, that’s when your content may get lost. As such, your best bet is to wait and post during the slow hours. This way, your content will be less likely to get buried under an avalanche of posts other people are seeing.
Social media analysis shows that various platforms have different times you should be posting. For example, the best time to post on Twitter is between 12 pm and 6 pm on weekdays. When it comes to Facebook, try posting between 1 pm and 3 pm on Thursdays and Fridays. As for LinkedIn, the best times are between 7 am to 8 am and 5 pm to 6 pm from Tuesday to Thursday. Consider these timeframes as loose guidelines, though. Make sure you check when your audience engages with your social media channels the most, and adapt any changes to that.
Learn from the Best
You may remember a famous quote from Steve Jobs: “Good artists copy; great artists steal.” While it’s not advisable to take these words literally, you should definitely consider taking some inspiration from your competitors. After all, they’re clearly doing something right, so why not observe their techniques and see which strategies you can implement to your own profiles?
Do a little bit of digging in areas that are easy to analyze. These include their most engaging social media channels, their post times, the frequency with which they respond to comments, and the type of content they create. You’ll be surprised how much you can learn from that! Try to assess which areas on your social media platforms differ from your competitors and apply any changes wherever you see fit.
The Bottom Line
Social media platforms are excellent marketing tools that every business should use to maximize their profits. However, the increasing number of companies using social media to interact with their customers results in a growing amount of confusing, low-quality content.
Having a Facebook or LinkedIn profile is not enough – you also must be able to manage it well and understand the whats, whens, and hows of social media posting. Don’t neglect your audience, and try to seek inspiration from your more successful competitors. Strive for the highest level of professionalism and aim to create high-quality, optimized content that’s going to attract new followers while also being informative to your loyal audience. Keep a close eye on the statistics and make strategic decisions. You’ll soon see the organic traffic on your social media platforms starts to increase. Good luck!
Julia Łysakowska