Social media and its influence on a business’s success is one of the most hotly-debated topics of our time. Not only is this because in the past decade we’ve seen an astronomical shift in the way businesses or individuals market their product or service, but because social media itself is an ever-changing landscape. This is why we need to be aware of how social media is changing shape, and what we can do to remain relevant in the face of some of these changes.

Whilst this is an immensely broad subject, this article’s aim is to break down some of the changes that are taking place on social media sites which are increasingly being driven by algorithms. Through this, the hope is to provide you mob with some information that will both benefit your social media practice, but also highlight some important choices that we all need to consider going forward as users of social media.

Social media’s evolving role

Most of us use social media to market ourselves in some way. We do this through curating an image, or simply through the things we choose to engage with. But when it comes to small businesses or someone building their own livelihood through the platform of social media, there is an increasing amount of information that needs to be understood, so as to assist you in reaching the right audience, as well as a large enough audience.

Perhaps you’ve heard the saying ”work smarter, not harder”. It’s an old adage, but one that could not be more relevant to social media presence. The aim of a smart social media strategy is to do the least amount of posting or content creation possible, but to also maximise the impact that your content does have. This is because, the algorithm that runs on many of the main social media platforms will preference certain types of content over others, and has patterns built in on what will be shared and who it will be shared with.

So how do I stay on top of the algorithm?

This isn’t a simple formula, but it’s one that needs a great deal of attention, because without these pieces of information, you may put a huge amount of time/money into your social media, only to have it reach just a few people. Some important tips to remember are to:

• Post at strategic times;
• Engage directly with your audience through commenting and sharing;
• Try and use defined and relevant keywords, collaborations and crossovers with other accounts;
• Measure your performance (figuring out what is and isn’t working), and;
• Try to stay up to date on what changes are taking place in the algorithm.
• Also, the classic: Speak to other people in your some field, or other mob who may be having success in this area, they could end up giving you a piece of information that elevates your social media practice to brand new heights.

With these strategies and a bit of research, you can avoid needing to pay for promotion, as a tactically deployed post can sometimes reach just as many people as paid content, with the audience resonating more with something they know isn’t a paid ad.

Finally, you can look at alternatives to the main social media sites. There is an increasing amount of sites cropping up that don’t have the same algorithm feeding on people data. Maybe you will find a community in these places that wants to engage with your business, and chooses more carefully what they do and don’t want to see, translating to a more loyal customer base.

In the end, it’s about finding a style that works for you, and which is financially viable, whilst remaining authentic. Then only way to pull this off is through understanding the challenges that are put in front of you.