Ah, the summer.

Sunshine, blue skies and warm breezes by the water. It’s easily my most favourite time of year as I pointed out in my last article.

Whereas that article was a celebration of summer this article will be about one of its drawbacks:

Most social media pages take a dive in engagement and traffic.

It can be difficult at the best of times to get people to see your posts. And now with the warm weather and the call of the outdoors people aren’t using social media as frequently. This presents a challenge to many businesses. Though I have found that with some planning you can be ready for the social media slowdown of the summer by applying some of these tips and tricks.

Re-purpose high performing content

 

Take a look at the analytics section of your social media pages. Look at how your past posts have performed. If a post resonated with your audience a few months ago, try using it again by changing up the image and/or wording a little.

Set up a Call To Action button on your Facebook page.

The Call To Action (CTA) button makes it easier for a customer to complete a desired action (visit your website, sign up for your newsletter etc). If you set up a CTA button or update your current one, Facebook will also automatically post this change to your business timeline to be seen by your fans.

Pin a tweet or a post to the top of your profile

Pin something that is company-specific like a list of services offered or a current promotion that is running. You can also try pinning other things like an inspirational quote, helpful tips, or a list of free local events during the summer.

Update your cover photo

It’s a good idea to update your cover photo at least once per season. The photo can be of your team, your product, an event you sponsored or of your store or office. Be sure to add your logo to the photo. And just like when adding a CTA button, when you update your Facebook cover photo it will show up in the timeline of the people who follow your page.

Let your customers know about your pages

If you have a physical location like a store or office; create a poster that promotes your social media channels. You can make a quality poster by using a free online tool like Canva.

After you’ve made the poster put it somewhere prominent where your customers will see it (waiting room/customer lounge, near a reception desk or by the cash register). You can also create a poster asking your customers to write a review about your business on Google.

Run a Facebook contest

A contest is a great way to direct the focus of your audience to your page. Be sure to follow the guidelines and rules about contests.

Pay for an ad or boost a post

One of the best ways for eyeballs to see your content is to boost your post or pay for an ad. If you’ve never done this before, most platforms make it easy to set an amount you want to pay and the duration you would like it to run.

Review your About section/bio

Now is a great time to complete your About section or bio with relevant information and keywords about your business.

Update you profile photo

If you are a solopreneur, your photo should be of you instead of a product or a logo. It’s worth getting some professional photos done. But if you can’t do that there are ways to create professional-looking photos with your smart phone.

Add variety to your content

There are so many different types of post you can try here.

Post an inspirational quote, a link to an article, or a photo.

You can also ask your audience a question and not just about business. Ask them what’s their favourite thing to do in the summer.

Ask them a fill-in-the-blank question or to caption photo.

Answer a frequently asked question your business gets or clear up a misconception about your industry.

Days and Times

Experiment with posting at different time and days of the week. Check out the analytics of your pages to see when your audience is on social media and then try posting at peak and off peak times to see what works best.

Avoid Sale-sy posts

You’ll be tempted to push harder with more posts that are ads or have a sales message but this will make things worse.

Remember why people use social media:

To be social.

Nobody wants to be inundated with advertisements. So keep things light and fun. In my experience, the types of posts that work best are posts that are humourous, educational or inspirational.

Optimize your content for mobile

Are you reading this article on a smart phone or tablet? It’s most likely to be one of those two devices as most people are using mobile more often now. So make your posts mobile-friendly. This means using fewer words and using images that are easy to identify.

Follow current events

Be a part of what people are talking about. Check out BuzzSumo, Google Trends or the trending section of Twitter or Facebook for ideas.

Share

On Facebook, share your business posts on your personal timeline.

Don’t overdo it though.

Remember the ratio 5:1 – for every 5 personal posts on your timeline, you can share a business post.

This also allows you to look at which recent posts are performing well on your business page so that you only select the best stuff to share. Be sure to consider who your audience is on both your business and personal pages before you start sharing.

Video

Your video posts (particularly your live video posts) will reach more people than your other posts.

Video is huge right now – take advantage it.

Over to you now

What are your tips and tricks for getting your content seen in the summer? Leave your comments below.

________________________

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Scott Trites is a Social Media Consultant and Owner of Knockout Social Media