Getting More from Social Media
After Facebook and Instagram told brands to drop sales pitches if they wanted better viewership, many small businesses wondered how to effectively gain attention. In this article, digital marketing experts share best tactics for today’s social media universe. BY NATALIE HAMMER NOBLITT
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o matter what the new trends are in social media, the advice I give my clients is to know who your target audience is and where they reside online,” says Lisa Apolinski, CEO of 3 Dog Write. “Will TikTok help you reach your target audience? Or will you be paying for ads and creating content f or audiences who have no interest in your products?” During 2020, while many stayed home, social media use significantly increased. But the social media channels your target audience are now using may have changed. Consider your current social media channels. Find the two to three channels that generate the most likes, comments and shares among all your posts. “If you aren’t sure what channels your shoppers browse, then ask! You can do a poll on most social media channels to get this information or use your email list and send a quick survey,” Apolinski advises. www.instoremagazine.ca
HOW TO RANK HIGHER
Samantha English, founder of Marketing Academy For Small Business, says retailers who have a long history on a social media channel will be favoured, helping to give them more reach with audiences. But what’s more important, she says, is a page’s activity and interaction with its audience. Changes to Facebook’s algorithm now favour pages who post consistently and that have a high percentage of followers interacting with their content. The algorithm is what determines your organic reach, which are audiences you get without paying for ads. English tells retailers to stay active on their pages each day, making sure to answer messages on Facebook or Instagram within 24 hours. If you let messages go for days, she says Facebook and Instagram will begin to lessen your organic post reach. “Platforms want to see you are replying to users’ comments, even if it’s not something that really requires a
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response,” she says. “Find a way to say something positive and reply whenever you can.” Staying on top of your interactions doesn’t mean you must constantly be on social media responding, she adds. Check on your pages at least every 24 hours, reply to messages and see what posts are getting the most response.
QUALITY INTERACTIONS COUNT
Create relevant content for your audience to encourage them to spend time viewing your stories and posts. English finds inspiring and funny content that people like to share with their friends to be effective for creating engagement. While in the past many stores could repost from other pages or cut and paste posts from another source, content is now favoured when it’s original. “Create content that makes your audience feel positive and as if they are the first to know this information because of your business.” inStore. Summer 2021
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