So my slight obsession with digital marketing books is finally starting to subside – Thank god.

I’ve come away with literally hundreds of tips and techniques to boost traffic, SEO and to generate leads. Some are so simple we tend to dismiss them and underestimate how much impact they can make – trust me they do. ALL have been tried and tested by myself. So here they are!

The Same Branding On ALL Platforms 

This also includes usernames such as @vikingwanderer. If you use a profile picture on Twitter which I tend to prefer more than a logo as it looks more personable, then make sure your Twitter cover matches your Facebook cover and website branding.

I have stumbled across multiple social media accounts for small businesses all using different branding, Twitter handles and photos and it’s confusing and doesn’t look very professional. The aim is to be easily recognisable as a brand across ALL social media platforms.

Making Twitter Lists Of Your Influencers

I think Twitter lists are VERY underrated. It’s vital a business finds influencers in their niche so they can easily retweet appropriate content to their followers and boost their following.

If you wish to follow influncers outside of your business niche or friends, then create an alternative personal account but avoid mixing work and pleasure! Are you interested in influential marketers? Check out this Forbes list!

Social Share Buttons

Social share buttons are an effective way for others to share the content they find on your blog. There are multiple social share plug ins that are free to use on WordPress. Below are the shares from a recent blog post. 

These have definitely increased my traffic over the last 5 months and it also saves me having to re-share old content. Click here to see 9 of the best social share buttons for 2017!

Interact With Followers

Fairly obvious you may think, but you would be surprised by the amount of businesses that use the tweet and hope method, then wonder why they didn’t receive any likes. 

I create a special feed for all my followers on Hootsuite and then spend a few minutes a day going through the feed and liking their posts with the odd comment. It’s really increased my engagement. It’s important to be wary of autolikes, I’ve heard a few horror stories of autoliking and commenting on the most inappropriate content!

Follow your competitors feeds

Rather than see competitors as a threat, I followed most of my competitors in the London area and made a Twitter list for them. This way I can get ideas about what promotions they are offering, which potential customers I can engage with and who to follow. 

Most of my competitors have been in the freelance marketing scene for a number of years which makes them the PERFECT candidates to learn from. I check which of their posts received the most engagement, which blog posts had the most shares and look to recreate that using my own products.

Cheeky? yes. But they are the best in the business for a reason and the sooner you realise that rather than tear them down, the sooner you will see growth.

NO engagement on your social media accounts? Are your competitors miles ahead and youre still trying to work out how to hashtag? Get in touch!