Getting ‘discovered’ has come a long way since the dark days pre-internet. As an individual, it used to mean hawking your talents outside the Shepherd’s Bush BBC studio, hoping to get noticed by the right people. As a brand, it meant dominating the space with traditional advertising, double-page spreads, dazzling point-of-sale or even the good ol’ days of PR (good, bad – it all caught attention).
Nowadays, you don’t even have to slip out of your onesie or leave your front door. Amen to that. But what does “discoverable” mean in the context of your social media presence? ‘Discoverable’ means making it easy to be found by your ideal client, so your target audience can understand who you are and what you are. It’s top-of-the-funnel stuff: the first step in supporting your customer journey.
You don’t have to hope to catch a wave, though; there is an obsession with “going viral” on social media, and I think this obsession is counter-productive to business growth. We only hear the success stories. Not the failures. The stories of people working consistently hard over a long period before achieving success on social media. I saw a quote the other day that said, “the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary”, and I think that applies here too. Put in the work for your discoverability, and I’m positive you’ll see an impact.
Start by reframing your thinking; think about being discoverable. Here are seven tips for achieving this:
Use Keywords
When you hear the term “keywords”, you’re probably thinking, “isn’t that a website thing?” Well, yes, it is. It’s linked to SEO – search engine optimisation.
It also applies to social media. You can boost your SEO on social media by placing keywords in the following:
- your captions
- your title or bio
- hashtags
- Alt-text (this is the text that should accompany an image)
Keywords should be related to your niche, industry, services, audience and location (if your audience is local).
Keywords are super important as social media has become a research tool, not just a social platform. It’s reported that 75% of internet users use social media to research products, and I, for one, am not surprised. For example, YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world. Pinterest is like a search engine for images; LinkedIn and Instagram have searchable headlines.
By using keywords in your social media content, you are achieving two things:
- Telling the algorithm who to serve your content to
- Showing up in search results for your ideal client
Cross-Promote
My second tip is to cross-promote your social media platforms across all other online and offline marketing platforms. Social media doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s there to complement and align with all of your other marketing activities.
You can promote yourself on your:
- Website
- Blog posts
- Business cards, flyers and banners
- On your other social platforms
- Email signature
- Newsletter
- At networking events
Create Social Proof
People buy in different ways, and a large proportion of people need social proof to get them over the line. What is it? Well, put simply, social proof is the idea that consumers will adapt their behaviour (i.e. potentially buy/take the next step) according to what others say or do. Let me give you an example:
Imagine you walk past a restaurant….
We’ve all been to a restaurant where we were worried about stepping inside because the place seemed empty. Still, within 10 minutes of you being in there, another couple of people have sat down. Before their orders have been taken, there’s another bunch of people coming in, and the place is full before long. It only takes one or two people to start a whole influx.
It’s the same with fuelling brand advocacy. Basically, get people talking about YOUR brand FOR you!
As a small biz owner, there are several ways you can do this:
- Encourage online reviews and testimonials
- Fuel peer-to-peer recommendations (BNI is an excellent example of this offline, and Facebook groups are a great example online)
- Showcase your credentials and awards
- Build an engaged online community
- Invest in an influencer marketing campaign
Engage with Others
Social media is meant to be social! Do not post and ghost. The more you engage with others, the more they become aware of your brand in an organic way.
When you are at a networking event, who do you remember at the end of the day? The people you spoke to, or the people you just walked past? It’s always the people you’ve talked to. This applies online, too. Engagement makes you memorable.
With social media, you can utilise the following tools to make your engagement more manageable and strategic:
- Add potential clients to your “Favourites” List on Instagram
- Build Twitter lists
- Utilise the LinkedIn bell notification or LinkedIn Sales Navigator
It’s simple but so effective! Engaging with others instantly boosts your discoverability.
Post Consistently
You’ve probably heard that being said repeatedly, mostly from moi, but it is one drum that I will continue to bang the bejesus out of. Yes, there is much more to social media success than consistently posting, but there is value in prioritising consistency over perfection.
Posting imperfectly will always be better than not posting at all.
There is a social psychology theory behind this.
It’s called the “Mere Exposure Effect”, a term coined by social psychologist Robert Zajonc in 1968. It states that repeatedly exposing people to something will develop a preference for it over time. Repeated exposure increases familiarity, which leads to sales!
So posting consistently matters! It contributes to the power of persuasion.
Understand Priority Content
Each platform favours particular types of content and not only that, but it changes like the flippin’ wind. My newsletters help you keep up with these constant changes if you still need to sign up.
Once you know which platforms prioritise what, it should inform your content strategy. Video rules across most platforms.
Give them what they want, and it will make you more discoverable as the algorithm thanks you in the form of exposure.
It’s not always easy, but it’s always necessary!
Deliver Compelling Content
My final tip is a dinky little one, but so essential to remember: create compelling content for your audience!
Add value to their scroll, their day – nay, even their life (without trying to sound too dramatic)! It’s about them, not you.
Need more tips and insights? Sign up for my weekly Tiny Tip Tuesday newsletter series for snackable social media tips directly to your inbox. Yum.
