When it comes to being a small business and marketing, the less you have to spend the better. So, naturally, using the free tools you have at your fingertips is a good start, but it’s best when you’re using them correctly. Here are 3 free social media marketing tools you are probably not using correctly–and how doing so can effect your organic reach.

NOTE: This works best with Instagram but can also be used as guidelines for other social media platforms as well.

1. Hashtags 
   Hashtags work–but only when you are using them correctly, and they work best in combination with the other two points below. But, before we get into those, let’s talk about how you’re probably not using hashtags correctly… Adding one or two hashtags to a post here and there probably won’t do much to make your profile more discoverable, but by adding 30 relevant tags consistently, that’s another story.Considering that Instagram allows you to add 30 hashtags per post, that increases your potential to be discovered organically x30 versus no hashtags at all. Keep in mind that being consistent with your tag categories is ideal, that way you attract the right audience. For example, if a makeup page starts tagging #food #yum #drinks instead of #makeup #beauty (etc) then they will be less likely to connect with people interested in their niche.If you feel like you can’t come up with 30 relevant tags, use a hashtag generator that picks out the top ones for your specified keywords.
2. Geolocations
   Geolocations are a must-use free marketing tool that often gets overlooked–and seriously, considering that it takes literally two seconds to tag your relevant location, why wouldn’t you use it?Geotags are an amazing way to be discovered by people looking for things in their local areas, and even if you’re an online-only business, tagging a place near you can still increase your discoverability by localized crowds. It’s another way to reach people for free, so why not?
3. Tagging
   Instagram allows users to tag upwards of 20 other accounts in their posts, are you using that to your advantage? Businesses should be tagging 20 business promoting pages, media accounts, bloggers, and any other relevant accounts to not only give those tagged a nudge to check out what they were just tagged in, but to also show up on their profile’s “tagged” section so their followers can discover you that way too. At the very least this is a good hack to increase your organic interaction rate!

   Do you know any other free marketing tips you’d like to share? Connect with us on social media and let us know!