HOW TO CONNECT WITH YOUR AUDIENCE
Human beings are all about connection - but how do we establish true and meaningful connections with a virtual audience?
When it comes down to why you choose to go to your fave coffee shop every morning (despite having an espresso machine at home), the exercise class that you love to hate (even though you have a pandemic Peloton), or an in-person art class (instead of just learning hacks on Tiktok), there is typically one major motivation: Connection. Our sense of connectedness fuels our buying habits, whether we like to admit it or not! Now bring that into the social space and the potential for expanding our circle of connection is even more powerful. What if we told you there was a way to connect with more potential customers without spending a dollar? That is the power of engagement.
What exactly do we mean by engagement? We're glad you asked! Generally speaking, online engagement refers to the back-and-forth communication between platform users and the people behind any given account, like a brand account. There are two main ways that we classify engagement: inbound and outbound. INBOUND engagement is anything that comes to you organically. We’re talking answering DMs + replying to comments ☝️OUTBOUND engagement is reaching out to connect with users that may or may not be following you already! This can look like your ideal customer and target audience - the people you think will benefit from + appreciate your product or service 👀
Today, we’re talking about outbound engagement…
We’re letting you in on three of our favourite ways to find, attract, and engage on Instagram so you can confidently go forth and build an online community of users that are genuinely interested in your brand. Free of charge (with the added bonus that it feels really good to find your people!)
DETERMINE WHO THEY ARE + WHERE THEY SPEND THEIR TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Put yourself in the shoes of your audience. Where do they spend their screen time? Are they scrolling on Instagram? Facebook? TikTok? Pinterest? Spend some time thinking about who you want to reach and meet them where they are. If you know that your audience spends time on one platform, focus your attention there. After all, you don't go to the desert to catch a fish, you go to a river.
2. FIND POTENTIAL CLIENTS + CUSTOMERS USING HASHTAGS
Find a few hashtags that pertain to your niche, both super-reachers and small granular hashtags and follow them. Spend some time reaching out to the users that frequently use those hashtags. Get personalized in how you interact with each individual and start building those connections. 
3. CONNECT WITH OTHER BRANDS IN YOUR NICHE
Consider your ideal consumer and how they’re spending their time on social media. Who are they talking to? What local businesses are they interacting with? Do they follow other brands in your niche? Think about a few brands that your audience may be interested in and engage with their posts. By engaging with those brands, not only are you connecting with other businesses but you’re also putting your brand in front of the eyes of your target audience. It really is a win-win. We know this may sound like a lot. Amongst all other things, it can feel impossible to find the time to engage with your audience. We understand that this is not going to feel like a top priority use of time for everyone - especially busy folks who manage their own businesses. Business Insider recently reported that nearly 40% of Gen Z prefers to search via Instagram and Tiktok - instead of Google! 🤯 If you understand the power (and honestly... in 2022, the necessity) of social media for reaching your audience and growing your business, but you simply don't have time to spend figuring it all out... we can help!At TIME Marketing, we believe in the power of outbound engagement. We’ve seen it work time & time again and that is why we build it into every strategy. But it’s just one piece of the puzzle - if you want to learn more about our unique approach, reach out! We’d love to chat with you.
