If you’ve been marketing your business on Meta platforms, you probably know that they can be gold mines for reaching new audiences and potential customers.
However, it’s not uncommon to get carried away when you first realize just how easy it can be to get your content in front of new eyes. Have you ever experienced that hit of adrenaline when you noticed that your recent Reel got thousands of new views?
Yes, views are great – and an important piece of the algorithm puzzle – but are the people who are seeing your content actually of value to you? The first and most important step to attaining meaningful reach is identifying who your target audience is. From there, there are seven simple strategies you can follow to gain more exposure amongst the right audiences.
When solidifying a strategy for increasing your organic reach on social media, it’s important to approach it with intentionality (unless you don’t care at all about conversions!). Ask yourself, “Who am I trying to reach? Where does my ideal customer live, and what are they interested in?” For example, if you’re an online e-commerce brand that sells makeup internationally, it can be beneficial to engage with anyone interacting with your direct competitors or similar brands.
However, if you’re a local service provider like an interior designer, you’ll probably want to be more selective with who you spend your time engaging with, ensuring they live within your designated market area.
Once you have a crystal clear picture of the “who” behind your reach, it’s time to dive into the “how.” Here are seven strategic ways you can increase your reach and exposure across Meta platforms:
- Give a shoutout to your partners & products
Does your post feature other brands or products? Give them a tag! When you tag other accounts in your content, those accounts will receive a notification – making them more likely to engage with your post. Plus, your post will now show up in their “tagged” feed, potentially exposing your content to their followers and account visitors, as well!
- Plan meaningful collaborations
Have a creative collab planned? Be sure to utilize Instagram’s “Collaborator” feature, which allows you to add another account as a publisher of the post. The tagged collaborator can then choose to also share your post to their feed. (Again, this can give their audience more exposure to your account, potentially converting them into new followers!)
- Share new content to Stories
If you’re not already in the habit of sharing new content from your feed to your Stories, it’s time to start! While you may have hundreds of followers, not all of them are necessarily catching up on their feeds every single day. Reach people where they are at. For those who are serial stories swipers, you might have a better shot at catching their attention if you share your post to your Story and add some captivating text overlay. As with feed posts, be sure to tag any other relevant brands or products – this allows those tagged accounts to reshare your Stories to theirs, as well!
- Get on video (when appropriate)
In Q4 of 2021, Instagram announced that the algorithm would start heavily favoring video. To capitalize on this, you should post video content regularly to help leverage exposure to new people (but don’t forget that static image posts and carousels have their place on your feed, too!). Videos can be great for showing b-roll, featuring behind-the-scenes snippets, or explaining something to your audience and fostering a more personal connection. Read our previous post, 11 Visual Ideas For Content To Share On Social Media, for even more content inspiration.
Another strategy that falls under the video umbrella is Instagram Reels. When done according to best practices, Reels can get you a lot of new exposure. When creating a new Reel, be sure to use trending audio (you can find this by scrolling through your Reels feed and looking for the diagonal upper right arrow next to the sound being used, as shown in the image below)
- Use trending (but specific) hashtags
While using hashtags is a must-do when trying to reach new audiences, it’s important not to get too overzealous. You might be tempted to use hashtags that have millions of followers, but there’s a delicate balance between getting in front of more eyes and getting in front of the right eyes. Really consider the types of hashtags your ideal customers or clients are following.
For example, if you’re an e-commerce brand that sells eco-friendly flip-flops, it makes more sense to use the hashtag #sustainablefashion than it does to use the hashtag #happy (think about all of the types of people who’d be following this one!).
You can add up to 30 hashtags to a post – so choose wisely and find the right mix of hashtags with bigger followings and ones that are specific to your ideal customer.
- Engage with followers of relevant accounts & hashtags
Once you’ve nailed down your hashtags, you can leverage their existing followers and engage with them in an effort to familiarize them with your brand. Type your hashtag into the search bar, find content using that hashtag that’s relevant to what you post, and try interacting with their engagers.
The same principle can be applied to other accounts – if you have any competitors, try engaging with the people that also comment and like their posts (but not on the competitor’s page!).
- (Tastefully) slide into users’ DMs
If you’re looking to build direct connections with potential followers, DM outreach can be an extremely effective technique. This is especially popular for businesses where relationship-building is a key aspect of their marketing efforts. For example, if you’re a local perfume company trying to increase sales through your affiliate program, you can reach out to influencers or wholesalers in your area and offer them a free sample.
Are you ready to skyrocket your reach and watch it translate into valuable transactions? If you said, “Yes!”, it’s time to identify your audience and take action on these seven steps to strategically get your content in front of more users today!
