Social Media tips to extend your reach for free!

It really is hard when you’re diving headfirst into social media to promote your business, your art, yourself or even your Vocal profile with little or no previous experience in using it for more than fun and keeping touch with friends.

These are certainly not hard and fast rules, some industries will need to promote in different ways but I hope that you can garner a little bit of wisdom from my top tips and hopefully save some dollars in the process.

Across all platforms, not just the ones I mention below, posts should have a 'call to action'. Add a question to encourage comments and interaction as the more interactions you receive the more the algorithm will show your post to your followers and beyond. What are your thoughts? Where do you...? How do you make your...?

There is an option to 'sponsor' posts on most platforms and this will considerably extend your reach, however, today I'm giving you tips on how to use three channels without spending any money.

Facebook

If you haven’t already, start a page. This is separate to your profile and makes it much easier to interact with the wider public. You have the ability to sell direct on your page by setting up a store and people can browse your items at any time.

Ideally, posting at least once a day on a Facebook page will keep people interested and help your page be seen by a wider audience. It’s not necessary to only post your own photos but also memes and photos from other pages (but always credit the artist in your post). I’m talking about highly shareable content here. Sometimes a funny meme or an emotive photo that you post along with your thoughts will have a further reach than your normal audience and gain you more likes on your page.

One of the best things about Facebook is the ability to share. Once you’ve posted your content to your page, share it! Share it to your own profile, to local groups or to those that fit with you theme. Are you selling jewellery? Share your post to local ‘buy, swap, sell’ groups. Do you write recipes? Share your post to cooking groups. This will gain you followers from outside of your friends and potentially extend your customer base.

Give us a sneak peek into your business with behind the scenes videos in your page's stories. Try to use videos without a watermark (so don't just post on TikTok then share it to your stories). You can post them on your Instagram stories, too!

Instagram

It is now super easy to share to both a Facebook page and your Instagram at the same time, which is amazing but not always needed. The memes I mentioned above aren’t always 'Insta worthy'.

I recommend at least three posts a day on Instagram. Your bio should have a little bit about you and what your account is about then aim to have at least 80% of your posts relate to that.

Instagram is all about beautiful photography. Embrace editing apps and watch some videos on how to take lovely photos. You’ll notice as your pics improve so will your interactions and your account will grow.

Always use hashtags! Make them varied in how they relate to the post. What is the photo of? How does it make you feel? Where was it taken? Try to use at least ten hashtags per post. You can use up to thirty and I say use them all if you can.

It’s great to aim to have your photos have a similar look, have a look at some of your favourite creators and you’ll notice that they’re photos are all utilising bright colours, earth tones or the same background. It is pleasing to the eye when scrolling through someone’s Instagram profile and all the photos flow and have continuity.

TikTok

When starting out with TikTok think about the 80% rule again. People are following you for a reason and if your personal training business is what you have in your profile then that is what most of your posts should be about. Definitely add in a video or two a week about yourself, or something you love to do, because, yes, people do want to see the real you too but always go back to your main goal of growing your business.

Aim to post once a day on the platform and you can do that by simply filming with the upload feature or you can make a video with your phone’s camera, edit it and then upload. Add a few words about your video and some hashtags but the character limit is only 100 so keep it concise.

Don’t feel like you need to keep up with all the trends. You are doing this for your business after all and if miming a song or dancing doesn’t fit within your scope, or you aren’t comfortable doing them, don’t feel like you have to.

You also don’t need to have everything accompanied to music. Tell us something about your business, teach us something about your service. If you're a PT tell us how to do the perfect lunge while demonstrating. If you are a plumber explain how you are fixing a leak in a pipe.

Putting it all together

This is, obviously, not a complete social media guide. I have taken some of the things that I have found created great responses across several different types of businesses and organisations. I've read the textbooks so that you don't have to!

If you are just starting out there will be some trial and error until you get a feel for what works in your field but before you go and pay an expert give it a go.

If you have found this list helpful give the article a heart, or even a tip, and I will post some more socials pointers soon!