Social Media - Being Seen

Algorithms. We’ve all heard of them, but when it comes to compiling a strategy purely to try to ‘beat’ them, you might as well forget it. Not only are the details of them something the special media companies hold close to their chest, but they are constantly changing. The truth is, if you’re putting out great content, consistently, you don’t need to try to trick them:

Hashtags

Hashtags are not particularly useful on Facebook, but great for Instagram. You should only use relevant hashtags, though, don’t include popular hashtags that are of no purpose, just to get views. It won’t work and you won’t reach your ideal customer.

Think of a few hashtags relevant to your business. Head to Instagram and in the search bar write something such as ‘Nursery’ and select tags. Select any you think are relevant and then vary them depending on the size of the number. Ideally you need a mixture of low use and high use. The high-use ones will help you get seen by a lot of people quickly, but you will disappear down the list fast; the lesser-used ones will ensure you stay in the feed longer.

Engagement

Engage with other local businesses by sharing their posts, commenting on them and being helpful.

Good quality

The absolute surefire way of getting seen by more people is to put great quality content out consistently. It really is that simple. Consistency is key.

• Nicola Read is owner of social media management company Babbl, www.babbl.co.uk