Unlocking the Secrets to Social Media Growth Part Two

In the ever-evolving world of social, staying ahead requires strategic planning and constant adaptation. In this second part of our guide on Growing Your Social Media Audience in 2024, we’ll explore advanced techniques that will help you maximise your reach and engagement. From repurposing content across platforms to maintaining a consistent posting schedule, these strategies are designed to keep your social media presence very demure, very mindful – we mean, robust and relevant.

Repurpose Content Across Platforms

One of the most effective ways to extend the lifespan of your content and reach a broader audience is by repurposing it across different platforms. This strategy not only saves time but also ensures that your brand message reaches users who may prefer different types of content or platforms.

Strategies for Repurposing Content Effectively

Start by identifying your most successful content pieces. These could be Reels/TikTok videos, blog posts, infographics, or carousels that received high engagement. Once you’ve identified them, think about how they can be transformed for different platforms:

• Turn Blog Posts into Videos: A well-performing blog post can be repurposed into a short, engaging video. This not only captures the attention of video-oriented audiences but also makes the content more dynamic.
• Create Infographics from Long-Form Content: If you have in-depth articles or reports, condense the key points into an infographic. This visual representation can be easily shared on platforms like Pinterest or Instagram.
• Develop Podcast Episodes from Articles: Turn your written content into audio form by discussing the topics in a podcast. This is a great way to reach audiences who prefer listening over reading.
• Social Media Teasers: Break down long-form content into bite sized pieces that can be shared as a series of posts on social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook.

Use a Content Bank to Store High-Performing Content

Creating great content is time and resource heavy. You spend all of that time producing assets for them to be used once. Make it make sense. If content performs well, it should be placed into a content bank; a repository for your most successful assets. This allows you to reuse or repurpose this content in the future, getting more mileage out of your assets. For instance:

• Reposting Successful Content: Share high-performing posts again at a later date, possibly with a different caption or updated context depending on what’s going on in the world at that time.
• Refreshing Content: Update older content with new information or a fresh design, and then re-share it across your platforms.
• Seasonal Rotation: If you have content that aligns with specific seasons or events, save it in the hopper for reuse at the appropriate time each year.

By maintaining a content bank, you ensure that your top-performing content continues to deliver value long after its initial release, maximising the return on your content investment.

Implement Social Listening

Social listening is an indispensable tool in understanding your audience’s needs and preferences. By actively monitoring what is being said about your brand, industry, or competitors online, you can gain valuable insights that inform your content strategy and engagement tactics.

Setting Up Social Listening Strategies

To set up an effective social listening strategy:

• Choose the Right Tools: Platforms like Hootsuite and Brandwatch offer comprehensive social listening features that allow you to track mentions, keywords, and hashtags relevant to your brand.
• Monitor Competitors: Keep an eye on what your competitors are doing. This not only gives you a benchmark but also reveals gaps in the market that you can fill with your content.
• Engage with Conversations: Use the insights gathered to engage directly with your audience. Whether it’s responding to a comment or joining a trending conversation, active participation can significantly boost your visibility and credibility.

Using social listening effectively allows you to stay connected with your audience’s evolving interests and to adapt your content strategy accordingly.

Focus on Edutainment

In 2024, edutainment, the blend of educational content with entertainment, will continue to play a critical role in engaging social media audiences. Shoutout accounts like @blackforager who does this seamlessly. Content that educates while entertaining not only captures attention, but holds it, leading to sharing, saves and increased reach overall.

Creating Entertaining Yet Educational Content

How can you create edutainment content for your brand? We’re glad you asked.

• Incorporate Storytelling: Narrative is everything. Use storytelling techniques to make educational content more relatable and engaging. Instead of just explaining a concept, tell a story about how it applies in real life – better yet, your own.
• Use Visuals: Combine text with visuals, such as animations or infographics, to make the content more digestible and fun. 
• Leverage Humour: Appropriate humour can make even complex topics more approachable and memorable. Just make sure that it aligns with your brand voice.

Long-Term Benefits of Evergreen Content

Edutainment content often falls into the category of evergreen content; content that remains relevant and valuable over time. Creating evergreen edutainment content ensures that your audience continues to find value in it long after it’s been published, driving continuous traffic and engagement.

Optimise Profiles and Bios

Your social media profiles and bios are often the first touchpoints potential followers have with your brand, so it’s crucial to ensure that they’re optimised to make a strong first impression and enhance discoverability.

Crafting Compelling Profiles and Bios

When optimising your profiles and bios:

• Be Clear and Concise: Clearly state what your brand is about in a few words. Avoid jargon and focus on what makes you unique.
• Use Relevant Keywords: Incorporate keywords that are important to your industry. This helps in improving the searchability of your profiles.
• Include a Call-to-Action: Encourage visitors to take action, whether it’s visiting your website, signing up for a newsletter, or following your page.

Importance of Keywords in Profiles for Searchability

Optimising your profiles with relevant keywords makes your profile more discoverable on social platforms but also improves your ranking on search engines. Ensure that these keywords naturally fit into your bio and that they align with what potential followers might search for when looking for brands like yours. Keep it simple.

Maintain Consistency

Consistency is key in social media marketing. A consistent posting schedule ensures that your audience remains engaged and that your content stays relevant in their feeds. It’s important to develop a regular schedule that feels right for your brand and audience, with an easy to maintain level of content. 

• • Plan Ahead: There are a range of social scheduling tools which can help you  schedule posts in advance. From Sprout Social and Hootsuite to Later and Planoly, these tools ensure that you maintain regularity whilst freeing up time for more reactive content pieces.
  • Content Calendar: Create a content calendar to map out your posts for the coming weeks or months. This helps in maintaining a balanced mix of content types and topics.
  • Be Reactive: Hop on trends, involve your brand in cultural moments and comment on viral memes. Be present and visible.

Ensuring Brand Consistency Across Platforms

It’s important to ensure that your brand’s voice, messaging, and visual style remain consistent across all social media platforms. This builds brand recognition and trust, making your content instantly recognisable to your audience. Social should be an extension of your brand universe overall.

Monitor Analytics and Adapt

To grow your social media audience effectively, you need to continually monitor your performance metrics and adapt your strategies based on the insights you gain.

Tracking Performance Metrics

Key metrics to monitor include:

• Engagement Rates: Track likes, comments, shares, and overall engagement with your posts. High engagement indicates that your content resonates with your audience.
• Follower Growth: Monitor the growth of your followers over time to assess the effectiveness of your content and campaigns.
• Conversion Rates: If your goal is to drive specific actions (like website visits or sign-ups), track how many users take these actions after interacting with your content.

Adjusting Strategies Based on Analytics Insights

Use the data gathered to refine your strategy:

• Identify What Works: Focus more on the types of content and strategies that yield the best results.
• Experiment and Test: Don’t be afraid to experiment with new types of content or posting schedules. Use A/B testing to determine what performs best.
• Stay Agile: Social media trends change rapidly. Be ready to adapt your strategy based on the latest trends and insights.

Common Social Media FAQs

How often should I post on social media? The ideal posting frequency varies by the type of brand you are, the platform and your audience. For example, posting daily on Twitter might be effective, while 3-4 times a week on Instagram could suffice. The key is to maintain consistency and to not post content for content’s sake.

What is the best time to post on social media? The best times to post depend on your audience’s habits. Generally, posting during peak activity times such as early mornings, lunch hours, and evenings can yield better engagement. Use analytics tools to determine when your specific audience is most active.

How can I increase engagement on my posts? To boost engagement, create content that resonates with your audience’s interests and encourages interaction. Use engaging visuals, ask questions, and include calls-to-action. Additionally, responding to comments and engaging with your audience in real-time can significantly increase interaction.

What tools can help manage my social media presence? Several tools can streamline social media management, including Hootsuite for scheduling and monitoring, Canva for content creation, and Google Analytics for performance tracking. These tools help in maintaining a consistent presence and optimising your content strategy based on data.

Conclusion

Being visible and successful on social in 2024 means you need to be adaptive and reactive. Work with trends, listen to your audience and embrace new native tools to enhance your presence and amplify engagement and growth

At Our Own Brand, we know that social media is often the first place where people meet your brand. We put your social centre stage, delivering measurable commercial impact that grows bottom lines alongside loyal tribes.

Want to learn more? Request a free proposal!

Create High-Quality Content

High quality creative content is key to stopping scrolling thumbs and engaging (and retaining) your audience. Consider:

• Curb Appeal: High resolution images, well edited videos, slick transitions, trending sounds – your content needs it all
• Relevance: Content that speaks to your audience and culture – what’s going on in their world?
• Variety: Mix things up – short form videos, infographics, articles, carousels, stories and harnessing native tools like poll comments, ‘add yours’ stickers, and more.

Remember, consistency in posting high-quality content is crucial for social media growth​. 

Embrace SEO

Social SEO involves optimising your content to be discoverable through search features on social platforms. Key tactics include:

• Keywords: Integrate relevant keywords naturally in your captions and descriptions
• Hashtags: Use a mix of popular and niche hashtags to increase visibility
• Alt Text: Add descriptive alt text to images to enhance accessibility and searchability​

Leverage Hashtags Effectively

Whilst the debate of ‘to hashtag or not to hashtag’ rages on, utilising them can significantly boost your content’s reach if used effectively.

• Relevance: Choose hashtags that are directly related to your brand and content
• Balance: Use a mix of popular and less competitive hashtags to reach a broader yet targeted audience (e.g. tags with under 10k posts)
• Platform-Specific Tips: On Instagram for example, aim for 3-5 relevant hashtags rather than maxing out the limit​ 

Schedule and Plan Content

We’ve all been there – you get busy and social content goes to the bottom of the list. Get ahead and plan your content in advance to ensure a thoughtful, steady flow of high-quality posts. 

• Consistency: Regular posting keeps your audience engaged (aim for a minimum of three posts per week)
• Efficiency: Scheduling saves time and allows for better content quality, rather than rushed posts
• Collaboration: Tools like Hootsuite Planner enable seamless collaboration and content scheduling​ (SMM & Management Dashboard)​, and if you don’t want to pay for tools, consider using native scheduling tools like Meta Business Suite

Engage with Your Audience

Like any good conversation, engagement is a two way street. Here’s how to create a strong connection with your audience:

• Respond Promptly: Address comments, messages, and mentions quickly to show you care about your followers
• Interactive Content: Use polls, Q&A sessions, and live videos to encourage participation (and stand in good favour with algorithms)
• Community Building: Create a sense of community by acknowledging loyal followers and featuring UGC – brand loyalty is everything on social! 

Partner With the Right Influencers

Collaborating with the right influencers for your brand can help you leverage their like-minded followers and broaden your social horizons. 

• Authenticity: Ensure the collaboration feels genuine and aligned with your brand values – they will be an extension of your brand, after all
• Relevance: Choose influencers whose followers align with your target audience
• Clear Goals: Define the objectives and expected outcomes of the partnership​ – what will you be giving them? What deliverables will they be providing you? A static post, Reel, Story? Be specific and don’t forget to include your brand guidelines, dos and don’ts.

Stay tuned for part two of this social audience growth series where we’ll explore additional strategies and best practices to further boost your brand’s social media presence.

Need a helping hand with social? Talk to us!