Optimizing Your Reach
Once you’ve created your platform(s), you will want to maintain your content by responding to engagement (audience interaction). You may also want to expand your reach and gain followers/subscribers. You can do this by optimizing your reach, collaborating with others and creating paid advertisements. As you try different strategies, review their success to ensure they are helping you reach your digital marketing goals and adjust your strategies as needed.
responding to engagement
Many platforms provide ways for your audience to interact with your content and your account. This is generally called “engagement” and comprises things like direct messages, emails, likes, comments, and shares among other things. It is generally expected that you will respond fairly quickly to those who engage with your content. You’ll want to check your account frequently for such engagement and try to respond to the direct messages and comments within 24 to 48 hours. This helps build relationships and rapport with your audience.
Spam accounts and “trolls” may also comment on your posts, so reviewing your notifications frequently will allow you to delete these comments quickly. Spam/troll posts are usually obvious and unfortunately may contain inappropriate material. It’s best to not engage with these comments and instead delete them and block the offending account.
optimizing your reach
Increasing and optimizing your reach - how people find and follow you - depends on which platform you are using. However, there are a few general best practices that are pertinent across social media platforms including 1) using geotags (listing the location) on your post to associate you with your local community online, 2) using hashtags to group your posts with similar topics and 3) following other accounts that are similar or relevant to yours. For websites, also make sure to review your search engine optimization (SEO) (See Appendix A.1 for more information).
Geotags
Geotags should not be broad (i.e., “California”, “West Coast”), but rather specific to the city or location you’re in:
- Santa Barbara, California
- Santa Barbara Harbor
Hashtags
Hashtags, however, should be both broad and specific. Use hashtags that describe your content so people looking for certain topics can find you. Aim to use around 3-5 hashtags on your posts and use a combination of broad (i.e. #fishing) and specific (i.e. #rockcrab) hashtags. For example:
- General hashtags:
#fishing #seafood #sealife #supportlocal #seafood #fish #sustainable #oceanlife #sea #fisherman #sustainablefishing #seafoodbusiness #sandiego
- For a specific species:
#lobster #lobsterfishing #crab #crabfishing #oysters #mussels #fish #seaurchin #uni #shellfish #rockfish #halibut
- For cooking or showing a recipe:
#seafood #seafoodrecipe #cooking #foodrecipes #seafoodcooking #seafoodeating
You can also share your online platforms through in person activities such as providing your platform information (i.e., your website address or your social media username) at your vendor booth at a Fishermen’s or Farmers Market, handouts you include with your product or on any merchandise like t-shirts or stickers that you make for your company. Also, encourage your customers to tag you in their personal social media posts featuring your products — you can then re-share these posts to your accounts!
social media collaborations
Social media creates opportunities to collaborate with others — the public, creators, influencers or brands— to build your audience. Such collaborations could include giveaways, co-creating content, providing products to influencers who then develop content about them or forming partnerships with other brands to develop new content. Most of the time collaborations will involve planning and communicating ahead of time but at the very least be sure to check in with other accounts that they’d like to be tagged in your content before you do so.
Public Collaboration
Giveaways are a popular way to engage with the public and gain new followers on social media. Generally this works by creating an incentive that people can obtain by engaging with or following your account. Giveaways are also an effective way to partner with other businesses.
Example: On your Instagram, you create a post announcing a raffle for a free crab from your booth at the Fishermen’s Market. People can enter to win the crab by following your account and tagging three friends in the comments section of your post. You post this on a Saturday and people have until the following Thursday night at midnight to enter. On Friday you’ll identify a winner, contact them to let them know they can pick up their crab the next day at the Saturday Fishermen’s Market.
Collaborating with Other Businesses or Organizations
There are many opportunities to collaborate with other businesses or organizations to make content. This content can be shared on both groups' social media and helps both groups reach new audiences.
Example: A fisherman and a mussel grower collaborate to showcase their products by filming a video of them making paella. Both seafood producers have Instagram accounts and the video is posted there as a collaborative post so it appears on both people’s profiles. That’s the only social media that either of the producers have, however, the local fishermen’s market they both sell their products at has a YouTube channel. They can also share the video with the market to post on the market’s YouTube channel. Collaborating like this can help your content reach lots of audiences and possibly multiple platforms.
Collaborating with Influencers
Influencers are people or accounts who have large social media followings. Partnering with influencers who have a following in your industry can be a powerful way to reach new customers. This could involve co-creating content or providing them products to make content about/with.
Example: A food influencer could visit your booth at the Fishermen’s or Farmers Market and then take home and prepare your catch. Multiple posts about your product and company would be created and your account would be shared and tagged.
Brand Partnerships
As your account gains followers, brands may approach you for partnerships as well. You can receive free products and occasionally compensation for promoting these other products on your account. While this could be beneficial to you (and them), you’ll want to choose brand partnerships carefully and promote things that align with your values.
Example: A sunglasses company could offer to send you free sunglasses if you are willing to make and post content showing yourself wearing them on your boat.
Paid advertising and boosting posts
Many platforms also allow you to pay a fee to have your content seen more widely. This can be achieved by “boosting” posts or paying to have specific posts shown to more people who might be interested in your product and could turn into followers. Alternatively, if you’re selling a specific product, you can pay to advertise that product on social media. While these can be helpful tools to gain views/followers or sell products, they aren’t required and you can still be successful without them.
Example: You’re going to be selling at a new Farmers Market in an adjacent town where you don’t already have regular customers. Since you are using Instagram to post weekly updates about what you sell at your markets, you can create a post highlighting the new market you’ll be selling at and pay a fee to have Instagram show this post to people who live in that town. This can help you bring locals to your booth at the market and reach people you ordinarily wouldn’t be able to.
Resources
5 Keys To Making Your Business Thrive on Facebook
Entrepreneur.
Facebook Marketing for Small Business: What You Need to Know
Social Media Marketing Society.
SCORE Association.
Social Media and YOU: The Benefits! (PDF)
Web Success Team.
Social Networks as Online Marketing Tools: New Trends in Social Media
Webbed Marketing.