The holiday season is officially here and every year business owners throughout the land report that their social media engagement is down. This can cause feelings of panic and you may end up creating content that you are not comfortable doing – such as dodgy dancing videos to try and be visible, or you may become disheartened and stop posting all together – which is not ideal for your business.
The great news is that engagement normally returns to normal in September when everyone is back to their normal routines.
During the summer slow down, you too maybe taking a holiday, working slightly less to enjoy the long summer days, or enjoying time with the children, and the last thing on your mind is posting on social media.
However, to keep your business in front of your followers, and to keep those bookings coming, ready for when you want to be busy, here are some ideas to help keep your business visible:
(1) Don’t Worry and Don’t Be Disheartened. If you have already started to see your engagement drop, please don’t worry this happens every year, as your followers will be going on holiday, and will be spending less time online.
Not only will your audience spend less time online during the summer months, they will also change the times they use social media, which may also impact the engagement you receive on your posts – so what worked for you in March, may not work for you during July and August. To help you could experiment with posting at different times of the day during the coming months to see if this boosts your visibility, but please don’t worry too much.
(2) Use Instagram Stories. Make these a priority in the summer, they are a fabulous way of connecting with your audience, by sharing authentic content. You can boost your engagement by adding stickers such as polls and questions to encourage your followers to connect with you.
I personally always view Stories first when I visit Instagram and don’t always look at the newsfeed – so there is a chance you and your followers may be doing this too, and if you are not using Stories you could be missing out on an opportunity to get noticed.
(3) Use Carousel Posts on Instagram. If you are posting less on your Instagram grid this summer, when you do post use carousels to provide supportive, informative and helpful content. These types of posts are more likely to be saved and engaged with.
(4) Engage. Even if you are not posting, you can engage on your followers posts to stay in their minds and to keep the positive relationship going. Remember, social media is about being ‘social’.
(5) Final Thought. Remember, it’s okay to post less during the summer months (you need a break too). However, when you do post, create high quality content that will connect with your audience.
Before you take time off from the treatment room, set aside an afternoon to create some content that you can either schedule or post when you want to – this will allow you to truly relax and enjoy your break, whilst staying visible.
If you are taking the whole of the summer off from the treatment room, remember to have some activity on your social media pages, as it will take you longer to gain visibility when you do return to work and you want your diary to be busy.
What do you love to try on social media when your engagement is low?
Do you plan to post less or differently over the summer?
Would you like some help?
Book a Private 1:1 for Therapists
This bespoke support could help you to develop a social media content plan, work on your marketing strategy, or learn new Instagram skills. These sessions are ideal for therapists who want to get the best results for their business and to attract new clients to grow their client base.
Click on the buttons below for more information, or email me to book.