If you are new to freelancing, until you’ve built up a portfolio or body of work and have a few client projects under your belt, it’s less likely you’ll be in a position to rely on word-of-mouth marketing and client referrals for new business. As such, you’ll probably need to consider how to market and promote your business to attract new clients.
Social media marketing presents several options and strategies, including paid advertising, but what are some things you can do that don’t require a big budget and will get your name out there, be viewed as an authority in your field and be the obvious hiring choice for your ideal clients?
Here are some key pointers to consider:
1. Choose the right platform (and be consistent)
The platform(s) you choose will depend on your business and where your ideal client can be found online. For example, are they likely to be members of a specific Facebook business group, or do they hang out on X, Reddit, Quora, Instagram, or LinkedIn? Or somewhere else? What problems do they need addressing, and how can your content help?
Building an online presence via social media isn’t about the number of followers you have (as followers are not necessarily your ideal clients); as a freelancer looking for clients, it’s more about sharing helpful content and engaging with others. Vanity metrics don’t pay the bills. However, being helpful, consistent, and establishing yourself as the go-to person in your field can lead to some great opportunities and clients.
You don’t need to spend all day on these platforms to be consistent and active either; you can bulk-create content in advance and post it via a social media scheduler.
2. Be active and engage with others
Engagement on social media is key to building client relationships as well as relationships with other professionals in your industry or field. It’s often through social media post comments or via DMs that client relationships are forged (and sales made).
When you interact and engage regularly on your own and other people’s content, the more people will find you, and the more helpful and friendly you are, the more people will follow you. This is how you grow your audience and start connecting strategically.
Engaging with others can also inspire ideas for your own content. So, for example, a response you’ve written on someone else’s post could spark an idea for your next post or prompt you to share a business story. Crediting the original poster on your post will also help cement relationships.
If you share written content on a platform such as LinkedIn, you can invite people into the conversation by including a Call To Action (CTA) at the end of your posts, for example, asking people their thoughts and experiences on the topic in question. Engagement will help your content gain traction, get the right eyeballs on it, and build your brand. You might also consider adding a ‘Follow me for more tips’ type of CTA.
3. Make good use of your bio
Once people see your content, the next place they will look is your bio before deciding whether to follow, connect with or hire you!
Most social media accounts allow space for a bio; some are longer than others (think LinkedIn versus X). Either way, your bio is great brand real estate where you can let your personality shine and attract clients.
Whether this is by including keywords relevant to your service (i.e. web developer) to including an ‘I help’ statement, e.g. ‘I help service providers attract leads via their website’, taking time to craft a bio that is relevant to what you do is time well spent. You can also include a link to your website, a link to your schedule so clients can book a call, or even a payment link. There’s also usually space for a professional headshot of you and often a banner you can use to further advertise your work and include your brand logo and colors.
LinkedIn has more space as it’s basically your online CV, so be sure to complete as many sections as possible, including your education and work history. It also includes a generous summary section that can act as a sales page for your services.
The key is for visitors to understand what you do and who you serve, and be compelled to contact you thanks to your helpful content and professional-looking and friendly social media profile.
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