Now that you’re an expert on setting up your social accounts, scheduling your content, and optimizing your analytics, let’s talk about how to reach the right audience with the tools already built into your social platforms.

When we talk about your audience on social media, we’re talking about total reach, not just followers. This includes both the number of followers you have and the number of accounts viewing your content via paid efforts, hashtags, or the explore page – basically all non-followers. So don’t be discouraged if your follower count is low, you still have the opportunity to reach and retain the audience you want!

As a reminder, reach = the number of social media users who are seeing your posts. The more you put into reach-driving tactics, the more views your account will gain, resulting in key brand awareness. So let’s dive into the top reach-driving tactic: running social ads.

Step 1: Outline your content, messaging, and call-to-actions (CTAs)

• First, start by setting your goal: do you want to raise awareness to your business? Drive customers in for a special occasion? Purchase something online? Follow your account?
• Next, put together 3-4 photos or videos and captions that will help you achieve your goal.
• Lastly, make sure to have a very clear CTA – like “Learn more”, “Follow for recipes”, “Stop by today!” etc. and include links when applicable.

Step 2: Identify your target audience information

• Think about what type of customers you are trying to attract so you can drive the most impact with your business.
• Social platforms have fields where you can input all of this information, such as:
  • Gender
  • Location
  • Interests: you can get as specific as you want, down to the type of restaurant or cuisine
  • Age
  • *You can even add exclusions!

Step 3: Set a budget and timeframe for your ads to run

• When you set your budget and timeframe in a social platform, you will be able to see an estimate number of accounts you will reach. Adjust your budget based on how much reach you want to get in your timeframe. You may need to adjust one or the other to ensure your ads are effective.

Now that you’ve got your paid ads running on social media, you should be seeing an increase in your audience size in no time!

Content courtesy of General Mills Foodservice