What is social media tagging and why should you use it

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Social media has become an integral part of marketing your small business. You probably check your social account several times a day. Using social media helps your business to be seen.

But more than that social media helps you reach your target audience in a way small business never could before. It also performs another important function: it allows you to reach beyond your immediate network and access your followers’ networks.

Sometimes, though, it can be tough to get your posts seen. Those pesky algorithms are forever being updated. That’s where social media tagging comes into its own.

In this post, we’re going to look at how you can effectively use tagging without annoying your followers. Because, let’s face it, we’ve all got lots of things to do, without having to look at notifications from social media!

First off… what is social media tagging?

It’s when someone mentions you in a post. Not just by name, but by using the @ symbol to find your profile. This means that your name is linked to your profile and you will receive a notification to let you know it’s happened. Think when a friend adds a photo to Facebook, and you get a notification because you’ve been tagged.

Why should you tag people in your posts?

Well, there’s one, big reason. It guarantees that the people tagged will see your post. But, and this is a BIG but, don’t randomly tag people in your posts… it’s annoying!

Instead, think of the relevance of the post to the people you do want to tag. Maybe a customer has sent in a great review, which you’re sharing. Tagging the customer and saying how much you appreciate the time they took to leave will leave them feeling good.

Or, perhaps you’re sharing something that includes suppliers you’ve used. Paul, who owns Rigsby Wold Holiday Cottages (and who asked me to write this post) might tag the photographer who did the photoshoot for their cottages on Instagram.

Do you see what I mean by making it relevant? Tagging people for the sake of it is really off-putting. Don’t be that person!

How do you tag people in posts?

It’s pretty similar on all the main networks. Let’s break it down by network.

Instagram

You’ve selected your image and filter. You then move on to the next screen where you type the caption. This is where you tag people too.

1. Tap on “Tag people”
2. Tap the photo to bring up the search bar.
3. Search for the person and then tap their name.
4. When you’ve finished, tap on the blue tick in the top right-hand corner.
5. Then continue to post as normal.

As well as tagging people in photos, you can mention them in the post you write.

1. Compose your post.
2. Where you want to tag a person, type the @ symbol and then the rest of their Instagram name, with no spaces.
3. When you see the person in the list that comes up, select their name.
4. Finish composing your post as normal.

Facebook

When you start a new post, all you need to do is type the @ symbol and start to type the person or business name without a space. After a few letters, you should see the account you want to tag. Select this and finish off typing your post.

Twitter

With Twitter, there are two ways you can tag people in your posts. The first is within the tweet itself.

1. Compose your tweet.
2. Where you want to tag a person, type the @ symbol and then the rest of their Twitter name, with no spaces.
3. When you see the person in the list that comes up, select their name.
4. Finish composing your tweet as normal.

The second way is to tag people in images or photos.

1. Select the photo or image you want to use.
2. Select “Who’s in this photo”.
3. Search for the person and select them from the list.
4. Select “Done” in the top right-hand corner.

LinkedIn

As with Twitter, there are two ways you can tag people. The first is in a written post.

1. Compose your post.
2. Where you want to tag a person, type the @ symbol and start typing their name with no spaces.
3. When you see the person’s name in the list that comes up, select their name.
4. Finish composing your post as normal.

The second way is to tag people in images or photos, much like Twitter and Instagram.

1. Select the photo or image you want to use.
2. Tap on the photo to search for the person you want to tag.
3. Select them from the list.
4. Select the arrow in the blue circle in the bottom right-hand corner.

How often should you tag people?

My advice is to do it sparingly and when you want the biggest impact. It’s not a tactic I particularly like happening to me, so I figure other people don’t like it either.

Remember, relevance is the key. If you were tagged in a post that had something to do with your business or perhaps it led you to some important information, then you’d be happy.

Put yourself in other people’s shoes and listen to your gut. If you wouldn’t like it, chances are they wouldn’t either!

Now you know what social media tagging is, do you have ideas of how you’ll use it? Tell me in the comments below.