Make a hash of it

Research hashtags to ascertain which your audience are most responsive to. Instagram has a great search feature, which will offer you suggested hashtags based on the ones you have searched. You can add up to 30 in your Instagram posts, but that’s not to say you always should; it’s worth keeping up to date on hashtag algorithms – sometimes more is better, sometimes less!

Shop til you drop

Make it easy for your social media customers to shop with you by opening a Facebook shop. Facebook shops are a great way for customers to see your range of products, with links taking them to your chosen ecommerce site. Facebook shops work with most ecommerce platforms, including Etsy.

Make the link

And while we are on the subject of shops… Instagram also has a shop feature, which is directly linked to your Facebook catalogue. When your Facebook shop is up and running, simply pop over to Instagram to enable product tagging (remember to first make sure your Instagram account is a business account). You can also link your Facebook and Instagram accounts to dual post, meaning that you only need to write one post and it will go out on both platforms.

Make it easy on yourself

Putting out regular content is quite a daunting task, particularly when you are juggling it with running a business and don’t necessarily have the funds to pay someone to manage your social media accounts for you. Make it easy on yourself by making the most of scheduling software – a really simple way of saving a bit of time here and there.

Much of the software is free if you have just one account, and it means you can sit down when you have a block of time to schedule as many posts as your brain will allow. Many paid plans also offer other functionalities, such as hashtag generation and drag-and-drop grids. Facebook even has its own Content Creator software, which offers basic scheduling and insights for free over both Facebook and linked Instagram accounts.

Being analytical

Put aside a little time each month to check back on posts to see which worked and which didn’t. Check the reach, the engagement and any shares, comments, likes etc. This information will give you the tools to schedule content that hits your customers’ sweet spots in the future. Insights are free on all platforms, giving you enough information to go forward with confidence, or you can sign up to third-party software if you want something more in-depth.

Let’s get social!