Every business-savvy woman knows that keeping up with today’s markets demands an online presence. To get ahead, that presence must be exceptionally engaging and captivating.
Business is migrating online at a steady pace, and although old-fashioned word-of-mouth is still a valuable form of advertising, what you really need is a reliable flow of visitors to your social media profiles and/or website.
Achieving this can be tricky, but we’ve put together a collection of tips that will give you a head start.
Before we begin…
To get more clicks, you first need to know why they’re important. Shopping (and living) online has become exponentially more popular over recent years, especially since the arrival of COVID-19. Whether you’re selling physical products in an ecommerce store or your services as a freelance professional, the number of clicks you get is equivalent to foot traffic in a physical shop.
So… how do you increase traffic?
1. Visuals
Posting pictures and videos is a sure-fire way to increase your likes and shares, which ensures that you reach more potential clients or customers. Even better, when using your Facebook page, post multiple photos at a time. Viewers see that there are more photos which arouses curiosity and results in more clicks. The more clicks you get, the more Facebook “promotes” your content through algorithms.
2. Make your profile yours
To get in touch with your audience on a more personal level, you need to make yourself visible on your pages. Your About section on Facebook, your bio on Twitter or Instagram—inject your personality into them. People are drawn in when they can relate, and they can’t relate to a faceless online presence.
3. Make info easy to access
While a personal touch is important, so too is having a profile that’s easy to navigate. This means using relevant keywords, contact details, and providing links to your website or other social media pages.
4. Engage your audience
Engaging your audience on social media can mean several different things—responding to messages, responding to comments on posts or asking your followers for feedback posts. People love feeling heard and are more likely to come back to a profile that meets that need.
Social media marketing isn’t the same as traditional advertising. Your target market can respond directly to you, and they have more expectation of a response. Replying to messages and comments will set you apart from competitors. According to a 2016 study, only 11% of followers get a response after trying to connect with a brand online. While this may have increased somewhat since then, even if it trebled it still isn’t that high.
5. Use call-to-actions
A call-to-action (CTA) is a phrase or word that urges your audience to do something: click a link, post a comment, visit your website or share a post. Your CTA must be concise and clear. Go for punchy, enthusiastic language; exclamation marks don’t hurt either.
6. Post consistently
It can be off-putting to follow someone on social media when they go weeks without showing up online and then post three times a day for a week before fading away again. There’s a sweet spot between being too quiet and spamming your audience, and luckily we know exactly where that sweet spot is.
- Facebook: post at least three times a week but not more than once a day.
- Instagram: post at least once daily but not over three times a day.
- Pinterest: at least three Pins a day but not over 30 per day.
- Twitter: multiple times a day–preferably between 15 and 30 times a day. A note of caution: don’t tweet unless you have something to say. Even though accounts with many tweets do better, nobody wants to read boring and meaningless posts.
- YouTube: post a new video once a week. For some people, YouTube isn’t a great platform to sell their services or products, but it can help to foster a more personal relationship with your audience.
- LinkedIn: post at least twice a week but not more than once a day.
7. Join relevant communities
If your small business is in the art field, seek out and join online communities with a focus on art—local online communities are the best bet to start off with. Just as interacting with your audience on your own pages is important, so too is engaging with people who are potential members of that audience. Without bringing yourself and your business into view, you won’t get more traffic.
8. Make content shareable
When someone on social media really likes one of your posts they might click Like or leave a positive comment. If you make your content shareable, so much the better. Each person you impress might spread your post to a dozen others. This applies to a website or blog, as well as individual social media posts.
When posting on Facebook, for example, direct readers towards the Share button. On a website or blog, make sure the option to share on social media is clear and well-situated.
9. Post at the right time
Most social media platforms have ways of accessing analytics or insights which show you the best days and times to post, as well as a breakdown of who your content is reaching in terms of age and gender. This should give you an idea of the most effective time to post content.
10. Variety—don’t be boring
Your target market may gravitate towards your business and online presence because of your product or how you promote that product. But you won’t keep their interest by sticking to one type of post.
Having a generic template you use for every post might be less effort, but social media users get bored quickly and will gloss over your content if it’s all too similar. Save the templates for areas of your business like accounting, where following a formula is essential. With your social posts, be creative and different.
Top tip: don’t leave the “social” out of social media
There’s one thing that’s absolutely vital to the success of your business. Social media is by its very nature interactive. People visit these platforms to find a connection. To reach a bigger audience it’s vital to interact every step of the way. In doing this, you’ll rack up the clicks.