Five ways you can boost your reach with strategic social media management

Creating strong social media content is only half the job, maximising reach is what delivers real results. Organic reach has become increasingly difficult to optimise over the years, as algorithms have changed and the platforms have become saturated with brands promoting themselves.

However there are a couple of techniques that we adopt within our social media management at First Internet to ensure our client’s organic reach is maximised as much as possible. Take a look at our Social Media Executive Lorna’s top five ways to boost reach on social media platforms.

Utilising in app editing features

Think you need fancy editing software for your social videos? Think again! The apps want to keep you in-app for as long as possible and use as many of their own features to create your content. That’s why editing your videos using the in-app software on Instagram Reels and TikTok can actually help boost the reach of your content.

This includes ensuring your content has a sound that has come from Instagram or TikTok directly, rather than using a sound from elsewhere and uploading as an original sound. As the algorithm tracks how often a sound is used on videos, it will show your content to people who have interacted with videos using the same sound, therefore pushing your content to a wider audience.

It’s also beneficial to use on-screen text that is native to the platform, including any captions on the video. This helps the platform analyse what text is on screen and helps support social SEO more and show your content to people who have searched for the topic you are discussing.

While sister platforms such as CapCut are also recommended for social editing, it is always best to edit in the app you are posting to where possible. It’s the best way to befriend the weird and wonderful Instagram and TikTok algorithms!

Jumping on (relevant) trends reactively

Trends are a core piece of social media, and jumping on them at the right time can really give your reach a boost. Creating trending content serves your post to people who are interacting with other trending posts, so you cast your net to a wider audience of people who may not have heard of your brand before.

It’s super important that you pick and choose which trends to jump on though. If the trend isn’t brand relevant then you risk it not landing with your existing followers or resonating with other people who are enjoying the trend, and your engagement could take a hit.

When evaluating whether you should create content based on a particular trend, consider these four things:
– Is it relevant to my brand?
– Does it fit our tone of voice?
– Will it add any value?
– Is it relevant to my industry?

If the answer is no to any of these questions, it’s probably best to step back and let other people take this one!

Social SEO

SEO isn’t just for websites! Algorithms have changed and become smarter on social media platforms, meaning that they can now pick up on text in captions and on screen to deliver the content to people searching for a particular topic, much like search engines do for websites.

Optimising your post captions and any on screen text on assets or videos can help people searching for the topic you are discussing to find you! Finding the balance of ensuring your copy is optimised while also remaining social friendly can be tricky, but it’s always best to ensure your copy fits your usual tone of voice rather than just cramming as many keywords in as possible.

In our digital marketing agency, we always ensure that we approach social SEO in the same way as our web SEO. We make sure our client’s tone of voice is the top priority, and then fit in keywords in a natural and relevant way to ensure the topic of the post is clear and easily findable. It’s a great way to strike the perfect balance!

Actively engaging with comments

Creating a community feel on social media is key for growth. Engaging with users commenting on your posts can help push your content to more people, as well as presenting yourself as a brand actively engaging with your audience.

The optimum time to engage with your comments is one hour after the post goes live to maximise the boost to your reach from the algorithm, however it’s always important to engage with your followers regardless of the timing!

Implement a consistent posting schedule

Quality is way better than quantity on social, but it doesn’t mean you don’t need a regular posting schedule. Ensuring that your posts go out consistently each week creates a regular output of content to keep your followers locked in and engaged with your brand.

We always advise our clients to post 2-3 times a week, so that they can focus on both quality and consistency. We find this provides them with the best results and helps support their wider goals and strategy.

Reach is important for brands as it’s a vital metric for social strategy and brand awareness, no matter what industry you operate in. While there’s no exact formula for ensuring you get the maximum amount of reach, these techniques can help give your content an extra boost and potentially reach new audiences.

We work with brands from a variety of industries, such as property, legal, manufacturing and retail, and we make sure our social media strategy for each client is optimised for reach purposes using these tips.