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December 21, 20225 mins read

10 Social Media Hacks You Should Know

By Leesa

Want to know some easy-to-do social media hacks that will enhance your posting performance? How many do you already do without knowing? 👀

1. Use the same handle across all platforms

Why should you use the same handle across all platforms? So that it is as easy as possible for your audience to find and follow you! If you have different and complex handles across each platform, someone may try to find you and then give up because it’s too hard. For example, Vampr uses @vamprapp across all social platforms. @erykahbadu has the same handle across Instagram and Facebook. You only get so much attention from people, if you make it hard for them to figure out if this account is in fact you, then you may lose a potential new super fan!

2. Use the same or similar profile pictures across platforms

Just like the previous social media hack, consistency in profile pictures also offers some assurance that when someone searches you up, it is in fact you. Maybe you have just released a single and you have a few shots you like. That’s fine, if they have a very similar color scheme, it will still look cohesive with your branding and allow you to still be recognizable.

3. Use keywords in your Instagram profile and posts

Keywords, keywords, keywords! These are important for search engine optimization or as it is often referred to, SEO. Keywords are the words that someone is most likely to search for when they are looking for you or your music! To make it easier for them to find you, using consistent keywords in your name, Instagram bio and handle is helpful! Mention your location as well if this is a key identifier for you.

Keywords are also helpful in your post captions and in hashtags. For example, in our Vampr posts, we may mention the name Vampr in the caption and use a #Vampr as well. This functions as a keyword that the algorithm can pick up on and direct people to us when they search!

If you read How to make your performances more accessible and inclusive’ a few blogs back, you will know that alt-text is a way to make visual content accessible for anyone who is blind or has low vision. Alt-text serves to describe what can be seen. Screen readers will pick up on alt-text and read it aloud. This is why accurate descriptions are so important. In addition to this being good accessible practice, it also allows Instagram to fully understand what your content is about and so it will serve it to people in relevant searches. Double benefits!

4. Share shorter and sharper content

Why should you be sharing shorter and more bite-sized pieces of content? Unfortunately, our attention spans are not great! A goldfish may even have a longer attention span on average than humans currently… yikes!

A green, purple and orange diagram of how short human attention span is in comparison to a goldfish.
Source: Muck Ruck

How do we work with this? Shorter, sharper, and more eye-catching content. Get to the point and get there fast!

5. Regularity matters

Most algorithms require regularity in order to push your content further. Those who have a schedule and post in a predictable way are more optimized for social media. If you post once in a blue moon and wonder why your engagement is so low, try getting into a rhythm of posting several times a week. This is one of the easier social media hacks that just requires some time management and organisation!

6. Tag pages properly and don’t reshare automatically from Instagram to Facebook!

If you are one of those people who share their Instagram posts directly to Facebook, give yourself a little flick! You probably thought this was one of the most convenient social media hacks BUT this actually means that any tags you had are now inactive. No one was notified that you tagged them and that is most likely an opportunity for reach wasted. In addition, Facebook doesn’t need as many hashtags as Instagram does, so this looks very obvious when it is reshared. Plus, once again Facebook allows live links where Instagram doesn’t and by sharing through Instagram you have lost the opportunity for an easy link from a call to action. You have created more work for your audiences, and they don’t usually like that!

Tagging other larger accounts and giving them the chance to reshare your content also allows you to leverage their audiences. You may see new follows come your way once another account reshares your post. This means the rest of your profile needs to be enticing for when they click through to see who you are.

7. Post when your audiences are active

How do you know when your audiences are active? Social media insights! On every big platform, if you have a business account, you will be given free access to your insights. This means you can access specific information about your target audience such as gender split, location by city and country, languages spoken, age groups and most active times. This is one of the most amazing social media hacks as it offers specific information that we never used to have access to and yet, people often don’t even glance at these insights. Such a waste!

Be clever and look at your data and post during the times when your audiences are online and active! No point in posting when they are all working and sleeping. Use the information to your advantage to recapture their attention each time you post.

8. Actively engage with your audiences

Think of social media as though it is a person. You wouldn’t expect a person to keep engaging you in conversation if you never responded or engaged back would you? It is important that when people engage with your account in any form, that you genuinely reciprocate. That may look like responding to a comment or liking a post of theirs, DMing them and asking a question etc.

The more you interact with others, the more likely they are to interact with you. So don’t be shy, be yourself and get socializing on your socials!

9. Utilize user-generated content

Running out of ideas of what to post? There is this beautiful thing called user-generated content. That is content made by other users. Re posting other people’s content can be flattering for them and conveient for you. It is a time saving way of generating content and if it aligns with your branding, all the more better to connect with a like-minded account and give them a bit of a shout out. Just remember to tag and credit them properly!

You can be really strategic about it and pull content from accounts that have a larger following than you to leverage some extra reach and follows. Or, you might pick an account that you see as a potential future sponsor and you want to strike up first contact. Be creative and think outside the box!

10. Post content that your audiences want to see

This one seems obvious, but have a good think about what you are posting. Is it what you would want to see if you were following an account like yours? A good way to get a gauge on what your audiences like is to go into your insights and look at the posts that recieved the highest reach and engagement. Analyze why this might be the case and aim to replicate similar content to hit the same spots!

Look back on those similar posts after you post them and see how they performed. If the answer is not so well, then go back and have another think about why your top posts are the highest performing. Once again, try a new strategy to tend to those same sweet spots. While you do this, always be yourself. People can tell when you are being fake or superficial and they are likely to unfollow you if they sense this.

How many of these hacks are you already across? How many are news to you? Let us know in the comments below!

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