Social Media Marketing is constantly evolving, and with the end of 2024 fast approaching we can now predict some of the trends that we may be seeing in the next year. Staying ahead of the curve, keeping updated and implementing these strategies and tips into your 2025 plan can boost your marketing performance. 
 
Here’s a look at the trends to watch in 2025. 

Short Form Content 

Short Form Content, thanks to TikTok, Reels and YouTube Shorts, has been on the rise in the last couple of years, and now is the content being pushed more and more across social media. Attention Spans have been decreasing, and with the fast-pace style of social media nowadays if you’re not hooking people in straight away, they’ll just move on to the next thing – which is why you need to ensure your short form content impresses in just a few seconds.  
There are no signs that audiences are shifting away from short form content, so having it as part of your marketing strategy in 2025 can boost your performance and unlock new avenues and new platforms your business may not have considered before. 

AI-Powered Content 

AI has slowly been on the rise the last few years, but saw it’s first big boom in 2024 after social sites, scheduling tools, and search platforms integrated it into their models. Whilst there are ethical concerns around using AI, and many complaining that it removes the personalised feel that users on social media are craving in recent years, it hasn’t stopped the big social platforms from pushing its usage more and more. ChatGPT was the first real significant sign of change after it’s release in 2022, and things have only sped up since. McKinsey research suggests Generative AI usage has increased by 32% in 2024, and whilst you don’t have to use it many marketers are now looking at how they can use AI features to boost their content output, design and ideas. 
 
Don’t just use AI because you can though – really get to grips with what the platforms you are on are offering, learn how to use them best for your business and then discuss with your team before implementing it as part of your business model. As we’ll see later, consumers are actually leaning towards more ethical marketing practices – which could make using AI tricky, especially with concerns about the environmental impact of using sites such as ChatGPT – but it doesn’t seem like there will be an uprising against it any time soon, so if you feel like it’s right for your business, use it responsibly. You could always keep going with the plan you have now to – if AI isn’t something that will enhance your marketing that’s currently performing well for you, don’t just bring it in because everyone else is. It could just become your niche to be the business that doesn’t rely on artificial intelligence! 

Social Commerce 

More and more people are using social media for finding products and services than they are with search – and with Gen Z now becoming the star generation for targeted marketing, social media is the way to go for advertising. Gen Z have now reached a point where they’ll be earning their own money, and as the first generation to grow up with the social media we know today at their fingertips, they are far savvier with what they’ll purchase, and what marketing speaks to them. If they’re your target audience, think about the types of content that is popular with this generation – short form video content, general video marketing and influencer marketing – and what platforms they’re most likely to frequent – TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and Instagram. TikTok, Facebook and Instagram all allow you to have your own in-platform digital stores, which will help you sell and advertise products without having to take your audience off these social platforms. Utilising paid advertising is also a great way to sell through social media – though this may lead people off the platform, it will help you to connect with your audience and boost conversions. 

Ethical Marketing 

Ethical Marketing is a technique based on your company’s values and principles, focusing on honesty, transparency, user privacy, responsibility, and sustainability. Now more than ever, audiences are conscious about data protection and the impacts company’s and products are having on the earth, and will often look for businesses that meet their own values, and those who are completely transparent about their products and services. Being honest about your practices, how you’re working to become a more sustainable business and how data is used will all help to build trust whilst also making your commitment to being a more ethically and environmentally conscious clear. 

Niche Influencer Marketing 

Big Influencers are no longer the go-to for audiences, as niche influencers are on the rise. Whilst they may cultivate a smaller audience pool, they allow you to connect with influencers who’s content revolves around the same audience you are looking to reach out to. It’s a highly targeted form of advertising through using influencers to promote your products, which unlike using big names who have potentially irrelevant audiences to your business in their followers, the niche influencers will be talking to people who need a product just like yours. It’s a great way to boost sales, and with many audiences gravitating to these smaller, authentic influencers finding ones that align with your business can be great to use in your strategy for 2025. 
Social Media Marketing is always changing and evolving, and keeping up can be difficult when you’re also trying to run your business. Using these trends, you can prepare in advance and enter 2025 with the experience and knowledge in these growing, popular digital marketing efforts. 
 
 
The end of November is here, and before we move into the Christmas period, we’ll be taking a look back at the biggest and most relevant social media news from this month! 
 
Here’s the latest news from the last month… 

Following Hashtags Removed on Instagram 

After a surge in unrelated content being used under hashtags on Instagram, Meta have announced that users will no longer be able to follow hashtags on the platform. Whilst they’re still able to be used in posts, users will now have to search a specific hashtag instead of seeing it pop up on their feed as it would if they were following it – a potential limitation to marketers who rely on hashtags for visibility. 

Reddit Overtakes LinkedIn & X in The UK 

Reddit has become one of the UK’s most used social media sites, overtaking both LinkedIn and X. Why? Well, Google updated their search function this year, giving Reddit a huge boost in organic search traffic. Ads on Reddit appear in threads and on the homepage as if they’re part of the conversation or just another post, which is great for functionality and for getting the attention of users. Whilst the 97 million global user mark is smaller than some of the big-hitter platforms, it still remains one to keep an eye on over the coming year. 

Bluesky On The Rise After US Election 

After Donald Trumps Victory in the 2024 US Presidential Election, the announcement of Elon Musk’s new position in Government has caused a stir in the world of Social-Media. Musk, owner of X, has had a controversial run since taking over the platform – removing the way blocking works, adding in a subscription-based service, de-boosting posts with links, changing link reviews, pushing his own content onto timelines, and of course, changing the name from Twitter to be more in line with his own brand. Due to his affiliation with the US Government, many users have been looking for an alternative, with Bluesky emerging and growing at an incredible rate. 
 
The app was in development before Musk took over X, and was created by developers who were behind Twitter in 2019, including former CEO Jack Dorsey (who left the project recently). It was an invite-only platform up until February 2024, and saw an uptake of users after X was banned in Brazil this year. Now, it’s growing beyond expectations – gaining over a million users a day, it’s completely overtaken another alternative – Threads – in both usage and growth. Bluesky shot to the top of the Appstore charts after the election, with X continuing to struggle, and whilst it’s still very much in development users haven’t yet been put off by some of the missing parts that made X an attractive platform originally. 

TikTok Launches AI Studio 

In order to help you with marketing 24/7, TikTok have launched their new Symphony Creative Studio – which they have explained by saying: “Input the information and assets for your brand or product, or import them directly from a URL. Symphony Creative Studio generates a range of video options with unique layouts and scripts. These videos draw inspiration from TikTok’s top-performing content and incorporate licensed assets - videos, images, sounds, and avatars sourced from partners like Billo and Getty Images - all cleared for commercial use to help make your content TikTok-ready.” 
 
Whilst the use of AI has been debated, especially when it comes to marketing and the shift in audiences favouring authenticity, the new system has proved popular in China – so TikTok will be hoping that success translates worldwide. 
That’s all for November! Have a great Christmas if you’re celebrating, and keep an eye out for any updates over the festive season in the social media and digital marketing world. 
 
Finally, your social media tip for this month is: Anyone can create an ad campaign... 
 
Doesn't mean it's going to be any good though 
 
Any business owner can log into an ad account, click a few buttons and launch their first campaign 
 
I'm not going to tell you that you can't... because you absolutely CAN 
 
You may even get a few quick wins 
 
But you'll likely get nothing or results that aren't as successful as you need them to be 
 
But it's OK because you can then say that "paid ads don't work for my business" 
 
But do you truly believe that?! Or is it just to save face from the failed campaign 
 
It took me years of learning (you never really even stop learning). I've spent hundreds of thousands on paid ads but I've got the results to back up any claims I make 
 
Endless split tests, creative testing’s, analysis 
 
Evenings spelt learning new ways, testing different things 
 
Thats the difference... 
 
You can go learn it yourself if you want results in a few months or even years (but you more than likely want those results now) 
 
 
 
When your business starts marketing on social media, you’ll be competing with others in your industry who already have established strategies. As a “new” business to the platform, you will need to build your presence, create unique content and attract a loyal audience who’ll come to your business over others every time. 
 
In order to do all of this, a competitor analysis is key to understanding what you’re up against, and can give you pointers into where your business can take advantage and excel to becoming an industry lead. 
 
Here’s all you need to know about a competitor analysis, and how to do one successfully. 

What Is It? 

In a competitor analysis, you’ll be reviewing your direct competitions social media accounts and making notes based on everything you learn about their content, interaction with their audience, branding, SEO, keywords etc. You can then use this analysis to form your own strategy. 

Find Your Competition 

First, look up your competition and make a note of them. You can’t do a competitor analysis if you don’t know who they are, and when you’ve found them, you can separate these businesses into the following categories: 
 
Direct competitors – brands with the same product and audience. 
Indirect competitors – businesses offering the same product, but solving a different problem for the audience. 
Legacy competitors – established, well-known businesses that are trusted and known. 
Emerging competitors – new competitors that are trying to find space in the same market, similar to your business. 

Analyse Your Competitors 

You now need to look at your competitor’s social media and begin to learn more about them. Learn about the quality of the products they sell by looking at reviews, see how much they charge, check their style of interaction and customer service, see what their brand reputation is and discover how active they are. If you’ve already started out on social media, you can use some of these insights and compare them to your current marketing. Alternatively, you can use this information to form the foundations of your social media marketing strategy and craft the way you operate on your chosen platform. 

Look At Their Keywords 

What keywords do they use? You need to take advantage of using relevant keywords or phrases so that audiences can find you, so looking at what your competitors use will help you understand which keywords are delivering the best results. You should also be unique with the keywords you choose – there will obviously be some overlap, but coming up with terms or phrases that relate more to your business will help when users search those words or phrases. Keywords tell the algorithm what your business is about, allowing others to find your content easily when searching for a specific topic. 

Look At Audience Feedback and Engagement 

How much are audiences engaging with their business’ content? Are they frequently commenting, liking or sharing post? Is there a specific form of content they’re producing that’s attracting the most engagement? Even if they’re leading the industry, audiences may not enjoy their content if it’s not 
getting a lot of engagement. If you see a post with a lot of feedback noting that their audience enjoyed a piece of content, then you can use this post as inspiration for when you start to design your own content. Don’t copy them however – create something original and individual that touches on elements used in successful content by competitors. 

Identify Gaps 

Finally, look for where there are gaps in content produced by competitors, make notes, and then fill those gaps with your content. For example, if they’re making video content but don’t have any captions or chapters, you can add these in when you create your video content to make them more accessible to your audience. Alternatively, if they don’t respond to comments, you should make this a key part of your marketing strategy. By identifying the weaker areas in their strategy, you can ensure they’re covered and strengthened in your own plans, advancing your opportunities to attract the platforms existing audiences. 
Competitor Analysis’ are key for your business to carry out. Not only can you get to know other businesses in your industry, but you can use it to better your own output and show your audience that your business should be their go-to choice. Create yours today and see how it helps you with your marketing. 
 
Video Marketing has been booming for the last decade thanks to YouTube, TikTok and Reels – 91% of businesses use video as part of their strategy, with 88% seeing it as an important part of their strategy overall. 
 
There are things you need to keep in mind when using video marketing – from your budget to your audience, crafting the perfect plan for your videos will help to set you up for success. Here are all the things you need to consider in order to do video marketing right. 

What Do Your Audience Want? 

Statistics show that videos that are educational and instructional videos are what engages audiences, along with testimonials. This doesn’t mean you have to stick rigidly to this style – your audience is unique, and you may find a different video style matches what they’re looking for more so than something that educates them, so when you first start test our a few different ones – testimonial, behind scenes, teasers, demonstrations etc. – and go for the one that brings in the best engagement from your audience. 

Balance Your Budget 

Investing tonnes of money into your video marketing may seem like the way to go, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get results. Having a high production may look good, it may look professional, but that doesn’t mean the viewers will watch. Funnelling money into video marketing that doesn’t work leaves less resources for the areas of your marketing that does work. You can build your budget over time, but when you start out you may not have the most-fancy equipment, confidence or style you’ll eventually acquire – and that’s not a problem. The better you get, the better your videos get, and you may even find your viewers engage more with lower produced videos than they do the ones made with more budget, allowing you to find your niche. 

Have A Goal 

What do you want your videos to achieve? If you have an idea of what you want to create, the next thing you need to think of is the goal of creating them. Providing value to the audience is a must, but what steps do you want your audience to take? 90% of marketers have said videos have increased brand awareness so this could always one of the things you aim for, alternatively you could want videos to instead push your audience to purchase a product, you may want to generate leads, you could increase your web traffic, or you could get more engagement on your social media pages. Whatever it is, make sure this goal is clear and defined – follow the SMART model and make sure your team are all on the same page. SMART stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound. 

Use Live 

Your videos don’t all have to be pre-recorded! Mix things up by going live and speak directly to active audience members. You can get them involved beforehand by asking them what they want to see and answer any questions they have instantly by engaging with the live chat. Most platforms offer a live feature – whether that’s video or audio – and are great ways to put a face or voice to the name and display your expertise and knowledge beyond text-based posts or pre-recorded content. 

Creation Of Videos 

Make sure your videos are clear, concise and edited before going out on your chosen platform. If desired, create an eye-catching thumbnail that draws in your viewers. Answer any pain-points your audience have and show them how your business is the solution – display what your products can do, using slick transitions and text on screen to add extra details where needed. Creating a map of how you want your videos to look before you start creating them will give you an idea on the direction to take. 

Use The Right Format 

The right format is key to ensuring your videos are displayed properly. Most platforms now support both vertical and landscape videos, but working out which format you’re more likely to go for will be great when setting up your content. If you’re thinking of vertical videos, then TikTok, Reels and YouTube Shorts are great options. If you’re business leans more towards landscape, then YouTube, Facebook, and X are the right ways to go, and Instagram potentially too. 
Videos are a powerful marketing source, and one that requires time & attention from you an your team to perfect. By following these tips, you’ll be well on your way to creating fantastic videos that play a key role in your marketing. 
 
Social media is an essential part of marketing for businesses, allowing them to directly contact their customers and showcase their services or products, values and personality. 
 
However, it’s easy to make mistakes that hinder growth and engagement. Whilst there are many things that you need to keep in mind before you start your social media marketing, these are some of the most important to be aware of. Here’s how you can avoid these top 5 mistakes and create a winning social media strategy. 

Ignoring Analytics 

Mistake: Many businesses will put a lot of time and effort inro creating and posting content, but fail to analyse their results to see how this content is performing. Ignoring your analytics, or being unable to find space in your day to monitor them means you miss insights that could help to improve your future campaigns. 
Solution: Regularly reviewing your analytics on each platform, paying attention to key metrics like your engagement, reach, click—through-rate, cost-per-click and follower growth help you identify what content is resonating with members of your audience, which areas require improvement and when the best time to post is. Outsourcing your social media, or using third-party tools can help if you don’t have time to do these yourself. 

Inconsistency 

Mistake: If you don’t have a posting schedule, and do things on a whim or when you have a free minute, it can make your brand look inactive when there’s large gaps between your content. This may result in followers forgetting about your business, or losing interest in future posts. 
 
Solution: Creating a content calendar will help you keep on track with your posting schedule. If you don’t want to log in and post every day, using platforms like Buffer or Hootsuite will let you plan your posts in advance, so they’ll be posted without needing your involvement on the day. You analytics will help you figure out the best time of day to post so you can get the maximum engagement from your audience. 

Over-Promoting 

Mistake: Whilst you can make the mistake of not posting enough, you can also promote your products too much. If all of your post’s focus on selling, your content may begin to be viewed as constant advertising – turning your followers away. 
 
Solution: Create a plan centred around when you post your promotional content, and when you post your value content. Think about customer stories, industry insights, behind the scenes content, more information about your brand, tutorials – something that will keep your followers engaged for the type of business you own. Social media is all about being social, not all about selling. 

Neglecting Engagement 

Mistake: Posting then going silent means you’ll miss out on building communities and loyalty to your business. Neglecting engagent will end up with people no longer commenting, sharing or liking posts as they won't feel acknowledged.  
 
Solution: Make it a habit to respond and interact with your audience, post user-generated content and answer any questions that are asked. Regularly check your messages and try to promptly respond to build brand trust. Your audience need to know you appreciate them which is why staying active is key to crafting a business page that puts your customers at the heart of what you do.  

Ignoring Feedback 

Mistake: Ignoring your feedback means you won’t know how your business is being perceived, or if there are any negative comments you need to clear up, take on board or clarify are false. Even worse than ignoring feedback is responding angrily and informally to bad reviews – so make sure to avoid this too. 
 
Solution: Address your feedback promptly and professionally. Offer solutions, take conversations off line so they can be dealt with privately. Handling complaints, can help to turn these dissatisfied customers into loyal ones if you’re able to get things sorted quickly. Alternatively, acknowledging great reviews can help you encourage more happy customers to leave 5 star reviews and shows your brand to be reliable and trustworthy. 
These mistakes are all rectifiable, and by avoiding them you can grow your business on social media. Even if you slip into any of these habits, making sure you make changes as soon as possible will help to get you back on track with your marketing and returning to your strategy for success. 
 
 
October is coming to an end, which means it’s time for our 2024 social media roundup! 
 
We’ll be looking at all the newest updates across social platforms that can help you in your digital marketing journey. 
 
Let’s see what’s happened in October 2024... 

Threads Continues To Grow In Popularity 

Threads has seen a slow but steady increase in popularity over the last few months, and has now reached the top of the download’s charts on iTunes, and sits at #7 for Google Play. X, it’s competitor, doesn’t feature on either chart – potentially due to the fact it’s not a new app, although Instagram and Facebook are still going strong with downloads. 

X Facing Even More Competition 

Speaking of X, the constant changes have been met with negative feedback – the newest being that the block feature is changing, so you’ll still be able to see content from accounts you’ve blocked and vice versa, but you can’t interact with it - with the only way to avoid these accounts seeing your posts is going private. This has seemingly driven people away from the app and to Bluesky. Bluesky is a relatively new platform created by X’S (or Twitter’s) former CEO Jack Dorsey, and this month it gained almost half a million users in one day. The interface of Bluesky is incredibly similar to that of X, but has more interactive features than the platform which sets it apart. Should Bluesky continue to see a rise in users, X will have to make big, positive changes to keep their existing users onside. 

Updates To Google Shopping 

Google are introducing AI to Google Shopping to help users search for items they’re interested in, and boost a brands connection to their audience. As explained by Google: “The new Google Shopping experience uses AI to intelligently show the most relevant products, helping to speed up and simplify your research. You’ll now get an AI-generated brief with top things to consider for your search, plus products that meet your needs.” 
 
They’ll let users know when a suggestion has been made by AI by labelling it as ‘experimental’ – allowing users to feedback if something isn’t quite right to improve how the system operates. 

Search Filter Updated On Facebook Groups 

Meta is introducing AI to the search function in Facebook Groups, helping users search for certain phrases or questions by initiating a chat with the group’s AI to receive answers. This can save time for businesses who struggle to keep up with their audience within their own groups, with AI helping these members instead with any questions they may have that have already been answered by you or another user previously. 

New ‘Best Practice’ Dashboard On Instagram 

Instagram will be rolling out a new feature over the coming months to creators on the platform looking for further insights into their content. Separate from the current insights’ dashboard, the Best Practice Dashboard will give users the following information: 
 
• Creation: Get information on how often to post, how to grab attention, advice on reel length and more. 
• Engagement: Know how to understand your metrics and relate to your audience 
• Reach: Learn about algorithms and follower growth. 
• Monetization: Get advice about making money via Instagram. 
• Guidelines: See updates to policies and community guidelines. 
That’s all for October – have a great November and keep an eye out for any beneficial social media updates that could appear over the next month. 
 
Finally, your social media tip is: I know, I know—we don’t want to talk about Christmas too early, but if you're running an e-commerce business and hoping to cash in on the festive sales, now’s the time to get your Google and Facebook ads ready! 🎄 
 
Don’t leave it till you’re hanging up the tinsel—start thinking about your ad strategy now, so you’re fully prepped when the Christmas rush hits. 
Let’s get your campaigns sorted! 🎅💻 
 
 
As a business, Facebook Ads can be a vital part of your marketing strategy. Using Facebook Ads, you can transform the way your business uses social media, as it becomes a powerful sales tool along with a platform for engagement and reach. 
 
Here is your Step-By-Step Guide To Creating Facebook Ads. 

Create A Facebook Account 

If you don’t already have a Facebook account, you need to create one before making an ad. You’ll also need a Facebook Business Page in order to access Ads Manager. You’ll need to set up a payment method to actually run your ads, but when this is done, you’ll be ready to get started. 
 
September is coming to an end, and this month there have a been a couple of social media updates that could be handy to make note of. 
 
Here’s everything you need to know… 

YouTube Adds Web Visits to Promotions 

If you want to use YouTubes paid Promotion feature to drive website visits, now you can thanks to an update to their campaign options in YouTube Creator Studio. When you now go to create a campaign, you’ll be able to choose Website Visit’s as your goal, as explained by YouTube: “It’s easier than ever to find your ideal audience and turn video views into site visitors. Right from YouTube, use promotions to meet your growth goals. Provide a few quick inputs like country and language targeting and you can get your ad up and running. Over time, you can start getting results and track the site visits that you’re generating on the Promotions tab in YouTube Studio.” 
 
If you have plans to send a newsletter to your audience, then email is the perfect tool to use to reach out to your audience. 
 
A lot goes into building an email newsletter, so here are some tips on how you can build one for your business. 

What Is The Goal Of Your Newsletter? 

Like with anything in marketing, knowing the goal of the content you produce and put out is crucial to measuring its success. What do you want your Newsletter to do? It can be anything from getting clicks through to your website or you want to promote new services or products you have to sell, defining exactly what you want out of your newsletter campaign will help you track it’s performance. You should also come up with some key performance indicators (KPIs) that tie closely to your goals to get the full benefits of using email to send out your newsletters. 

Choose Your Template 

Sites like Mailchimp and Buffer offer premade templates that you can use to lay out your newsletter in a style that’s best suited to your brand, makes sense with your newsletter and will show up perfectly for those who access their emails on both mobile and web. Alternatively, you can create your own design for your email if you have more experience in the field, or use a template you’ve already made for your business’ other marketing emails. After you have selected or created a template, you can then use the same design on each newsletter you send out. Brand the email here and there and don’t overload it with images and colours – whilst a few are fine and relevant to what you are sending out, you don’t want to distract from your newsletter content. 

Subject Line 

Your Subject Line is more important than you think – it draws in the audience and makes them want to continue reading by opening the email itself. Your subject line should be short and snappy, and relate to the contents of your email. There are tactics to use that can be a powerful way of boosting intrigue and open rates – the fear of missing out, using the name of your audience, or being a little bit unusual can help your emails stand out and peak interest.  
 
Remember – you should always make sure you have set the name of where the email is coming from, so that the people who receive said email newsletter know it’s coming directly from your business to avoid suspicions that your email could be spam. 
 
A/B testing can come in handy with your subject line, as you can test out different style so see which one gets your newsletter the most opens. You can then implement this into your email newsletter 

Body Text 

Chances are you’ve already got newsletter content ready to go, so all you’ll need to do is copy and paste it into your email campaign and format it correctly. Depending on how long your newsletter is and what it is you’re discussing within it, using a few images can help to convey what’s in the text whilst also breaking the sections up so it isn’t just one, long singular stream of wording. 
 
When writing your newsletter, make sure your points are clear and concise, and if you have a team or work within a marketing department, get another person to check over the content and see if there’s anywhere that needs editing or cutting down so your email is the perfect length for your audience to read from start to finish. 

Test Your Email Before Sending 

Before you send your email to your audience, you should send a test email to yourself or someone in your team to see how it looks on different devices and to see if it reaches their inboxes. When you know that your email works and is optimised for different devices, you can then send it out to all of your subscribers, who can then enjoy what your newsletter has to offer. 
Creating a newsletter can help your business update your audience, give them behind the scenes insights and provide them with information about new products or services you are going to sell. Whatever the goal, you can use these tips to build a newsletter that not only looks good, but performs well too. 
 
 
If you’re using Instagram for your marketing but are noticing that you’re not getting a lot of engagement or that your posts aren’t performing consistently, chances are you don’t have an optimised Instagram profile or strategy that will guide you to getting your desired outcome each time you post. Having great visuals is one thing, but it’s the components that surround them that form the key to your success on Instagram as whole. 
 
Here are 5 ways you can optimise your Instagram profile. 

Optimise Your Profile 

Optimising your profile requires a few tweaks here and there which can strengthen your overall presence and boost your professional appearance to those on the outside who could become potential customers of yours. 
Firstly, make your profile public and then register for a free business account so you can begin tracking your analytics and engagement. 
 
You need to brand your account using your logo as the profile image, your business name for your Name and Username sections, add your ethos or slogan into the bio and take advantage of links by either linking to your website or using a platform like Link Tree to link to multiple websites, making it easier for your audience to find you. 

Use Keywords 

People will type keywords into the search bar, so you need to use a primary keyword that matches these searches. You can do this by putting your keyword alongside your business name, for example if you’re a fashion business, you can use the word ‘fashion’ in your name so that your business pops up when someone searches that word. 
 
A secondary keyword relates to your primary keyword – using our example, ‘clothing’ ‘outfits’ ‘designer’ or ‘luxury’ all would work in your bio to boost your positioning when these words are used to search for a business just like yours. 
 
You then need to create a strategy for your hashtags – treat these like keywords. On your posts, use hashtags that are relevant, valuable to your content and a mix of more general and post-specific tags. This will help people discover you when they look up these specific hashtags, and will show up in feeds if users already follow said hashtags. Instagram algorithms prefer hashtags to be contained within post captions instead of comments, which was previously the best strategy. Make note of this before creating content to post on Instagram and ensure it’s put into practice with each post you upload. 

Image Caption 

Beyond hashtags, your captions are still hugely important – even if Instagram is more of a visual platform. Use your secondary key words but don’t over-do it as this can be off putting – consumers still favour authenticity and originality, so don’t switch up on brand voice and the way you market just to ‘fit in’ on Instagram. There are ways of seamlessly working in these secondary keywords into your content and chances are, you’re already using them when creating captions anyway – you just may not be aware of their power just yet. Strike a balance between engaging your current audience and attracting a new audience so you can see a steady increase in the audience that’s unique to your business. 

Use Alt Text 

Instagram will automatically add Alt Text if you don’t use it, but it’s best you take this extra step to accurately describe what’s in your image and help visually impaired users understand your content. Accessibility is a big thing on social media, and you shouldn’t isolate what could be a huge part of your audience by avoiding the alt text feature or allowing Instagram to guess what your image is. You can access the alt-text section by clicking on ‘advance settings’ and selecting ‘write alt text’ under the accessibility section. 

Track Your Analytics 

Like with anything on social media, your analytics tell you everything you need to know about your performance. It’s why having a business page is so important, as this gives you access to your detailed analytics. By knowing your numbers, you’ll be able to see the bigger picture about your engagement, what content your audience are most interested in, where your posts don’t make an impression, when your audience are online and how well you’ve performed over specific time periods. Keep on top of your analytics, as they’re telling you vital pieces of information that you need to operate at your full potential on Instagram. 
Instagram is a great platform for marketers who are looking to reach out to their audience, create interesting visual content and becoming a leader within their industry. Try out these tips today and get your profile fully optimised and set up for success. 
 
Now that your business is on Facebook, it’s time to promote yourself so that your audience can become aware of your presence and begin engaging with you and your content. 
 
When done correctly, Facebook can become a key platform in your marketing strategy and bring you a lot of business and success from your audience. 
 
Here’s 5 top tips for promoting your business on Facebook. 

Optimise Your Business Profile 

You must optimise your business profile to ensure your customers are getting all the information they need about your business, improving your brand image, trust and boosting your chance of being shown to potential customers on social media.  
Make sure you include: 
 
- Your logo 
- Your ethos and slogan 
- Contact information such as an email or telephone number 
- Business location (if you have a physical store) 
- Your website 
- Opening Times 
- Business Page 
- Call To Action 
- Select relevant categories that best describe your business 
 
Having all of this information included not only authenticates your business and shows your audience that you are real, but it helps them understand a little bit more about what you do, who you are and how they can get in touch if needed. By ensuring your business page is fully set up and ready to go, you can then begin to move on to these further tips to grow your page into a valuable marketing tool for your company. 

Facebook Groups 

Facebook Groups have become a huge source of success for businesses using the platform for their marketing. In the last few years, 74% of creators have used Facebook Groups to build their communities, with over 1.8 billion users of groups every month – meaning your community is definitely out there, you just need to find them and make them aware of your brand. You should have an idea of who your target market Is and who your ideal customer is. Abiding by rules of the group, look around and join groups that align with your business and its values, that include all the right people you’d like to eventually convert into loyal customers. 
 
Brand awareness is key to building an audience – if people remember you and can recognise you, whether that’s simply from your name and logo or from the way you’ve been able to provide information on a topic they’ve asked about, that’s a great first step to making people aware of your business. When people become aware of your brand via a group, they’re much more likely to engage with you and your content, which could then lead to them liking your page and continue the interaction outside of these groups and onto your business page instead before making a purchase. It’s all about the customer journey, and brand awareness is a key component in this. 

Interact With Followers 

The art of social media is to be social, so don’t constantly use sales pitches when talking to your potential audience, interact with people you see as potential audience members using your brand voice and answer any question’s they have using your brand voice and industry knowledge. Interacting with your followers shows them that you care about what they have to say, want to help them understand any queries they have about their industries and solve their problems with a product you provide. Even if you’re simply thanking them for a great review, this fosters positive environment for both you, your customers and potential audience members who see you’re actively engaged with those within your community. 

Valuable Content 

When you have a business page you need to be producing valuable content in order to convey your message to the audience and boost engagement. Whether you are creating graphics, videos, focusing on live content or have another way to promote your business via your content, everything you post must be meaningful and have value that will be recognised and appreciated by your audience. Show your knowledge and expertise, balance your value posts and advertisement posts and make sure you’re looking at your analytics so you can work out when the best time to post. Don’t just focus on the timeline – reels and stories have also grown in engagement in the last year, with 57% of businesses noticing that including Facebook stories to promote their products and services is crucial to their success. 

Facebook Ads 

Facebook Ads have become a staple tactic for marketers who want to use the platform for business promotion. When done correctly, you won’t need to spend a lot to get big results, especially if your ad is optimised for mobile devices which accounted for 94% of sales in 2019. Facebook’s Ad platform offers you multiple different options when it comes to creating your advert, from the ad types to the creative you’ll be able to tweak and change things so it’s fully suitable for what you want your ad to achieve. 
 
One of the best thing Facebook offers is their ad targeting options. You can break the targeting down so it targets your ideal customer exactly, even having the option to select what interests they have to make your audience size perfect for your business and for your budget. 
Promoting your business on Facebook is a journey, and one that will take your time and attention to successfully be carried out. Why not try out these tips and see how they can help with business promotion on social media? 
 
 
We’re at the end of August, which means it’s time for another social media and digital marketing updates round up! 
 
Here’s all you need to know… 

TikTok Leans Into AI Use  

Want to give your TikTok video a voiceover but don’t have the time? 
 
Well, thanks to a new TikTok feature you now don’t have to worry about this, as they’re now letting users create their own digital AI simulation of their own voices to use in clips. All you have to do is record a couple of lines of yourself speaking, and TikTok will generate a private, AI version of your voice from what you’ve provided. edit it. 

Updates To Threads 

Threads has had a huge update, with new features and upcoming features being tested that will be extremely useful for those using social media for their marketing efforts. Here’s everything added to the Meta’s newest social media platform this month… 
 
Firstly, they’re introducing an analytics tool, which includes: 
 
• View counts 
• Interaction insights 
• Overall Like, Reply, Repost and Quote counts 
• A follower growth chart 
• Audience demographics 
 
This will help marketers on the platform figure out a content strategy, as they’ll now have the information available to them to grow an audience and make the needed improvements to get their business on user’s radars. 
 
Whilst Ads still may be way into the future for Threads, Meta has started laying the foundations to introduce monetisation to the platform. Promoted posts could be one of the first steps they take into a Pay-Per-Click system, with App Researchers releasing images of how a sponsored post could appear - although nothing is set in stone just yet. 
 
Custom Feeds, Cross Posting to Instagram and Facebook and a Media tab have also all been added, or are due to be rolled out. 

Google Updates Trending Tool 

Google has now launched an update to its “Trending Now” tool. This is a feature of Google Trends, providing more information on which search terms are seeing an increase in volume. This is helpful for planning SEO updates and assists with campaign building. 
 
This update now gives users more insight into each trend, such as the length of time a topic has been trending and the total search volume. You can hover over the trend for a snapshot of the information, or click to expand it for more detailed insights. 
 
Google has offered further detail: 
 
“A cutting-edge trend forecasting engine is behind our upgraded Trending Now tool. It detects 10 times as many emerging trends as before and refreshes every 10 minutes on average, so you see the latest upward Search swings right as they take off. You can even compare multiple trends and easily export their data for a closer look.” 

Meta Labels Business Chats in Messenger 

To make it clearer to those messaging with businesses on Messenger, Meta has introduced a “Business Chat” label and a “Business chats and Your privacy” shortcut link, which gives users information on how Meta uses said chats to improve experiences – explained in their own words: “We’re giving people more information about how their business messages may be used to improve their experience. Depending on where people live, this could include improved product experiences such as faster response, personalized ads, and improved AI quality.” 
That’s all for August! Have a great September and remember to keep an eye out for more social media news over the coming month. 
Finally, your social media tip this month is… 5 Reasons Your Facebook Ads Are Wasting Money – And How to Fix It 🔥 
 
❌️Targeting the Wrong Audience 
 
If your ads aren’t reaching the right people, they’re bound to fail. Use Facebook’s targeting options to narrow down your audience. Focus on demographics, interests, and behaviours that align with your ideal customer. 
 
❌️Weak Ad Creative 
 
Bland or generic ad creatives don’t catch attention. Invest time in creating visually appealing and compelling ad content. Use high-quality images, engaging videos, and strong copy to make your ads stand out. 
 
❌️ Poorly Defined Objectives 
 
If you don’t know what you want to achieve, your ads won’t deliver. Clearly define your campaign objectives—whether it’s brand awareness, lead generation, or sales—and tailor your ads to meet these goals. 
 
❌️ Neglecting A/B Testing 
 
Sticking with one ad variation is a missed opportunity. Run A/B tests to compare different headlines, images, and calls-to-action. This helps identify what resonates best with your audience and improves performance. 
 
❌️ Ignoring Analytics 
 
Data is your best friend. Regularly monitor your ad performance and make data-driven adjustments. Look at metrics like CTR, CPC, and conversion rates to understand what’s working and what isn’t. 
 
🔥 What to Do About It: 🔥 
 
✅️ Refine Your Targeting 
 
Continuously tweak and refine your audience targeting based on performance insights. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different segments. 
 
✅️ Enhance Your Creatives 
 
Invest in professional design and copywriting if needed. Your ad creative is often the first impression and the reason people stop scrolling — make it count. 
 
✅️Set Clear Goals 
 
Define clear, measurable objectives for every campaign. Align your ad content and targeting to these goals. 
 
✅️Embrace A/B Testing 
 
Continuously test different elements of your ads. Use the insights gained to optimise and improve your campaigns. 
 
✅️Analyse and Adjust 
 
Regularly review your analytics and be ready to pivot. Successful campaigns are built on continuous improvement.