To Catch a Client: Tactics to boost your Social Media Reach without spending.
Whatever your freelance skill, whatever your product, if you are in the business of selling today you aren’t doing well if you don’t go Social. With powerhouses Twitter, Facebook and Instagram all easily accessible and free, there are tools a-plenty at your fingertips to give you access to a bigger audience than ever before.
For all its potential, however, it can sometimes seem hard to grasp the great audiences hidden in the World Wide Web. Here’s how we suggest you access as many prospective clients as possible, as effectively as possible:
1. Make a Perfect Plan
It’s all well and good to communicate with the masses on these platforms but it’s unlikely that your service or product is going to be everyone’s cup of tea. You are chasing tangible, quantifiable results and these will not be achieved without a clear and concise plan.
Do your research — what are you offering? Who would buy it? And what exactly are you hoping to achieve from your Social Media engagement? Whether you want to sell or simply spread the word, knowing what your end-game is and targeting your performance is the smart way to spend your time.
Make sure to open accounts across all major social media outlets, using the same business name universally to protect your brand. While it is worth having some form of presence in all areas, it is clear that some platforms are better suited to certain services. Looking at what influencers in your field are using should offer shortcuts that will enable you to concentrate your efforts.
Once your research is completed, put together a two week plan of what content you will share, on which platform and when. Any longer will not give you the flexibility to respond to the current events which affect the digital world and any less time would make it difficult to truly guarantee you a presence across all platforms.
“SOME PLATFORMS ARE BETTER SUITED TO CERTAIN SERVICES”.
We use Hootsuite to help us, a handy tool which enables you to manage and schedule all your posts on different platforms. If you want to have an overall look at your Social Media activity, it’s worth tracking your activity in a nice Excel Spreadsheet. We know not everyone is a fan of Excel. Don’t sweat! We have an Excel sheet template available to help you plan your weekly posts. If you would like to get the template below, don’t hesitate to email us to angela@getalbert.com :)
2. Prioritize your Portfolio
Whether you’re a writer, a graphic designer or a photographer, your portfolio is your ultimate calling card when advertising your skills. Potential clients need to see your work before they give you work, so take care in putting together a package that sells not only your expertise but your professionalism.
The internet is packed with places to get yours done so look at what your peers and influencers are using as guidance. Squarespace is our personal favourite. Ideal for those in the creative industries, it has a beautiful design and, after a free trial, costs only £26 per month for its services. That’s less than most people’s monthly coffee spend!
3. Get Engaged
As soon as you’re up and running, like, share and follow like your life depends on it. The objective here is to increase your following — the bigger your following, the more likely you are to get your message across and gain clients.
“THE OBJECTIVE HERE IS TO INCREASE YOUR FOLLOWING”
Engaging with a targeted audience is paramount. Following your influencer, liking their posts and engaging with others in the comments section will expose you to the right people. Messages spread fast in the social media sphere, so don’t underestimate the conversion rate of these connections.
Here are some notes to help you increase your following on the main platforms:
- Join groups in your field of interest. Make sure you don’t just publicise your service — try and engage in discussions and post your business offerings in response to questions.
- When you have set up your business page, use the Find People tool by adding your email address to your account. This automatically searches all those in your address book that are using Facebook and offers you the chance to connect with your already-existing network professionally.
- Why not spend £1 per day to promote your page on Facebook? This is a cheap way to market your page and allows you to target your demographic, be it by age or by interest.
- Research and take note of the hashtags used by your community — when you post using those which are relevant to your expertise, you will ensure the right people are seeing your activity.
- Retweet and engage in conversation with your influencers and peers. One of the more fun parts of the job, not only will it market your work and increase your following, it may offer you a way to meet with future collaborators.
- Take advantage of topical hashtags — by engaging with what is currently trending and posting relevant material you will throw a wider net for your audience.
- Timing is everything so make sure your photo gets posted when your followers are most active. Think about their daily schedule and when they would be using the app. If you need some extra help, apps like Websta will help you find the peak time your followers are using Instagram.
- Fill in the bio section. Not only will this make your page and brand more personable, it will also give you the opportunity to link users to your website and other marketing materials.
- Maximise your network on other platforms by synching Instagram to your other Social Media accounts.
Gaining followers takes time but it’s possible and profitable to build your audience on a shoestring budget. A little effort can go a long way and, before you know it, that hard-earned following will turn into fee-paying clients. Good luck!
