Met with a potential client this week who wanted to get more social. They had set up a Twitter account and started a Facebook page and now wanted some likes and followers.

So far so good but their social accounts were standing in isolation with no connections from their site. An obvious fix of adding the appropriate buttons was called for but it made me think about all the other points of contact with their audience that could and should provide a link to their social accounts.

Here is a check list to make sure you maximising opportunities to improve your social reach

  • Follow, share and like buttons need to be on all your digital material. Don’t forget that you can benefit from shared content as well as directing visitors to your social landing pages. Not just on the home page, these links should appear throughout your site alongside content, in your email and on your blog posts.
  • Make links obvious. Place your buttons where they can be seen. Don’t make your visitors hunt around in you footer if they want to connect.
  • Not just digital media add URL’s to your print items. QR codes are a great way of connecting print material with your social  accounts
  • Make sure that you have content that people will want to share or follow. Give your visitors something that stimulates interest. Consider the medium and tailor content to work well in different social accounts – will your long article headline look snappy on twitter? The better you do this the more of your content will get attention and you reach will widen
  • Tune your content for different audiences or personas. Your target groups will have different interests, cater for this and these groups will want to get social with you.
  • Try new and different social platforms. Don’t be shy of new developments you can benefit from waves of interest that come with the latest ideas. (Be selective though and always look for a good fit with your audience)
  • Having gained a new follower or social connection don’t loose it. Keep your accounts up to date and post regularly. If you want to have an effective conversation make sure you contribute to the dialog.

Good social reach will make a strong contribution to your online ROI improving your ability to generate engagement, leads and transactions.

What else are you doing to extend your social reach? Leave a comment.