5 Actionable Tips to Improve Your Social Media Presence in 2021
Let’s face it: 2020 was a tough year. With lockdowns across the globe, our reliance on the digital world has skyrocketed. The pandemic pushed more businesses and customers online, with over 3.6 billion people now active on social media platforms.
As an entrepreneur or small business owner, you should be targeting this huge consumer base. However, with so many businesses vying for attention, it can be a challenge to stand out from the crowd.
Here are five actionable tips to boost your social media presence in 2021.
1. Let Your Bio Tell Your Story
A good social media bio, like this example from Shree Mukilan Pari, shouldn’t be just a list of your personal or corporate achievements. Your bio should be engaging and humanize your brand through story-telling. Don’t be afraid to get a little personal or even light-hearted, if your brand image allows. Research also suggests that readers are turned off by buzzwords, so steer clear of business jargon.
2. Up Your Photography Game
Creating quality content is a huge part of attracting and maintaining a fan base on most social media platforms. Studies show that Facebook posts with images, for example, see 2.3 times more engagement than posts without.
However, not all images are created equal. When interviewed, 67% of consumers advised that the quality of a product image influences their decision to purchase. Where possible, avoid generic stock photography and take images that are unique to your brand.
3. Create a Content Schedule
When it comes to social media mastery, consistency is key. Posting frequently lets your audience know you’re active and ready to engage with them. It also ensures you take full advantage of time sensitive sales opportunities, like Christmas or Thanksgiving.
By mapping out your content schedule in advance and using a social media queuing app, you can keep your content frequent even when you’re not at your computer.
4. Use the 4-1-1 Content Rule
If you’re struggling to gain and keep followers, your problem is probably more about your post content than your product. When your fans are slammed with promotional material, they will quickly lose interest and unfollow you.
Your posts need to provide value. The 4-1-1 rule can guide you. It proposes that you should post four pieces of original content and one repost from another user or brand for every self-serving (promotional) post you make. Custom infographics are a good choice as they can be related back to your brand without coming across as a hard sales pitch.
5. Monitor Your Engagement
You can’t tell how you are performing on social media without a baseline. Set up an analytics tool (like Google Analytics or Hootsuite) to help you monitor how consumers are engaging with your posts. From this data you can determine peak times of the day or the format of posts that generate the most ‘likes’ or sales leads and then reproduce them.
Standing out online as a small business owner can be a challenge, but by planning out your social media strategy and using the above tips, you can drastically improve your brand visibility in 2021.
