So you’ve read 100 articles about social media and how to make the most of it for your business. They mostly say the same things – pick the platform where your audience spends their time, create regular content, have a strategy. And yet, here you are searching the internet for tips on how to grow your business again.

These are the top social media tips you’ve been looking for. Emily-Rose Hills, social media lead at the NRL, shares her newest tips for social media; the ones that are most often forgotten.

6 ways to make the most of social media for your business

1. Showcase your personality

To quote a famous doctor – Dr. Seuss – “why fit in when you were designed to stand out?”

Social media is saturated with businesses exactly like yours. What’s different about your business is YOU! You are the one that makes it unique.

Don’t be afraid to inject personality and creativity into your posts. Rather than copy what everyone else is doing, try to go against the grain. That’s what will get you noticed.

With 600,000 followers on Facebook and 300,000 on Twitter, Innocent Drinks are carving out a name on social due to their unique brand of humour:

The heatwave is here. Every window is open. Every fan on full blast. It is not enough. People move their laptops to the kitchen so they can work from the fridge. Britain is now 75% flip flops, 75% sun cream, and 600% sweat. Don’t ask us how that works. Our calculator has melted.

— innocent drinks (@innocent) August 7, 2020

2. Interact with your followers

It’s called social media for a reason. Your followers are there to socialise.

Respond to all comments – and not just with heart eyes emojis and a thank you. Think about thoughtful questions you can ask to keep the conversation going.

Lots of interactions on Facebook and Instagram appease the algorithm and therefore expand your reach. More reach equals more eyes on your content.

3. Invest in a social media coach

As a business owner, social media is a necessary evil. It’s time-consuming and it can feel like a full-time job in itself.

Having a social media coach that’s available for one-on-one training can make the world of difference. Just knowing that you have someone who can help you troubleshoot any issues and steer you in the right direction can help alleviate some of the stress and frustration.

Any social media coach worth their weight in gold will teach you how to prepare a social media strategy, help you come up with ideas on content creation, and provide you with the knowledge so you can be confident in your own skills.

4. Show up even when you don’t feel like it

It’s tempting to put social media on the backburner when you get busy or life happens. However, like a marriage, you need to make a commitment – a commitment to post regularly.

With Facebook and Instagram, it’s a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’, so consistent posting is required to make it work. If you go weeks without posting, it’s likely your audience won’t see enough content for it to make an impact.

5. Create content that you would engage with

Remember to think about what you post from the viewpoint of someone who is actively scrolling through socials in search of friends’ status updates, images and funny cat videos.

What you create has to be compelling enough to break through the noise on the feed. Think about what makes you stop scrolling. Is it funny videos? Is it passive-aggressive memes you can tag your ex in? Is it the opportunity to be able to showcase your wealth of knowledge on a certain topic?

As a business owner, it’s far too easy to post a picture of your product and a few benefits and think that will do. Try to get creative and innovative. Try and apply some of the ideas you would stop scrolling for, and make them applicable for your business.

6. Don’t ignore the analytics

Before you switch off at the mere thought of exploring data, social media analytics can become your best friend.

Aside from giving you insight into what’s working, what’s not, and when your audience is online, you can even find out the demographics about your followers. Do more men than women follow you? Where do they live? How old are your followers?

By collating this information, you can get a better idea of what content might appeal to your audience.

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