[OBO DIGEST] How to grow your social media in 2023

Strategies for the current age of social growth and selling you can use to build a healthier, more profitable business

Online Business Owner • February 27, 2023

welcome to the Online Business Digest. Today we’re covering one of the biggest factors in the success of online businesses: social media content.

With the platforms constantly changing and New growth strategies emerging all the time, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with all the platform-specific updates…

So in this edition, we’re covering everything you need to stay on top of the changes and build an audience that engages...

And, most importantly, buys from you — allowing you to build and maintain a business you love to run.

Ready to jump in? Great, let’s do this!

Although don’t forget to share The Digest with your biz besties, clients, and friends so they too can be in the know about what’s happening in online business!

Enjoy,

The OnlineBusinessOwner.com Team

Social media made simple for coaches

The dream life of a coach is to wake up in the morning excited to start the day, help transform lives, and get paid (well!) to do it with plenty of free time...

But unfortunately, it’s rarely that simple — after all, you need to make sure people know about what you do!

Social media is still one of the most effective ways to do this, and (like it or not) it’s not going anywhere.

One of the simplest ways to treat social media is as a short TV show where you put a fun twist on things you share with clients (or your experiences in your industry).

It doesn't need to be any more complicated than that!

Avoid the temptation to copy others in your industry — instead, focus on presenting who you are and making someone else's day a little better.

Do that for long and consistently enough, and the algorithms will show your content to the right prospects…

And your following will grow.

Then you can make offers to your audience, bring them onto your list, and bring them one step closer to buying from you.

The bigger your following, the more you multiply this impact!

Building the perfect content strategy is beyond the scope of this issue, but here are a few practical steps to get you started:

Make content for just one person — picture your perfect client/customer and consistently create video, image, and written word content that helps and/or entertains them (and makes them want to hear more from you).
Publish content regularly — multiple times a day if you can; the more channels you’re present on, the greater your reach will be. Do as much as you're comfortable with… there’s no limit to the amount of time you can spend on this, so just make sure you're consistent with your goals.
Every so often—maybe once every four posts—make an offer for them to get something for free — a guide, short book, instructional video series, etc… to bring them onto owned media like your email list where you can deepen the relationship and ultimately sell them.

It really can be this simple — give it a try, be patient, and see how your following grows.

If it takes a little while to get the hang of, remember:

Everything is feedback!

In Other News

💻 Microsoft is early testing of ad integration into AI-generated Bing search responses, including paid links in search results.
👜 Inflation drops to 6.4%, remaining above projections for a faster slowdown.
🤖 Could these 6 key roles be replaced by AI in the near future?

News + Happenings

Simple ways to grow your following

Is your follower count stagnating and you’re not sure how to change that?

Despite what you might otherwise hear, “more and better" isn't a helpful strategy for social content unless you already have momentum.

Micro-optimizations exist that most business owners have no idea about… and it's directly impacting the growth of their businesses.

It's easy to say “engage with your audience" or “reference what other brands are doing”… But how do you actually translate that into meaningful results?

By taking advantage of opportunities like cross promotions, using the social media of other brands to grow your own following (yes, really), and leveraging some critical insights most business owners have no idea about…

You can grow an engaged social following that’s eager to buy and refer.

There are plenty of tools and strategies you can use to grow without becoming a social media expert… Even if you’re already posting consistently and with purpose and it simply isn't working.

Let’s get down to it!

Why this matters for online business

More followers mean more prospects…

More prospects mean more future clients…

And in the long term, this directly translates into more revenue for your business.

So what do you need to do to make it happen?

If you have a solid offer and the ability to deliver on it, we've got you covered.

You can discover 9 simple tips to help grow your following in a fraction of the time in this article from Sprout Social!

Building a brand with social media

Social media success is about more than simply posting about what you do and any promotions you’re running...

But the oft-quoted strategy of “giving value” alone won’t help you build the engaged following you want.

The majority of businesses' social media profiles are architectured to promote and convert on first sight, while the real money is made from the trust you build over many months and years.

Social media is not meant to be a promotional tool...

It’s designed to be a branding tool.

The sooner you start using it as such, the faster you’ll grow!

If your goal with social media is to build a brand (as it generally should be), you can't simply post whatever content feels right each day…

Rather, it's essential to create contextual content for each platform that builds a unified brand over time.

Compare this with the “spray and pray” tactics most businesses use…

And with a little consistency and helpful, fun content, you can outstrip the vast majority of other businesses in your space.

This doesn't have to become a full-time job…

In fact, it’s actually super simple in practice.

Why this matters for online business

By understanding the various platforms available to you and why they exist—along with how to engage with your audience uniquely for each platform—you can easily develop a strong social media strategy that creates a unified brand and grows your business.

Easier said than done, right?

Don’t worry — this guide from Forbes provides everything you need to get started!

Social Media News + Updates...

⏰ TikTok has a secret “go viral” button that allows staff to hand-pick videos to go viral, making up 1-2% of total video views on the platform
📸 Instagram now allows users to add 90 second music clips to their in-feed photo posts
👥 Meta tests their paid verification scheme for Facebook and Instagram
📌 Idea Pin videos can now be as long as 5 minutes, following TikTok‘s lead in expanding video capabilities
💻 A new lawsuit could make social media companies partially responsible for the content their users post online

With that, another digest comes to a close.

We hope you’ve found this edition both interesting and helpful.

With this information in hand, you have a straightforward path to building an engaged social media following designed to bring in tons of high-value clients over the lifetime of your business.

Play the long game, follow the steps outlined above, consistently deliver on the core value you provide, and you’ll see consistent growth month over month.

Sounds simple? It certainly is when you know the right levers to pull!

Until next time ❤️

[OBO DIGEST] How to grow your social media in 2023

Strategies for the current age of social growth and selling you can use to build a healthier, more profitable business