When you get started on social media, it can seem impossible to get your content in front of other people. There are algorithms, verified accounts, and differential content preferences for every single medium. Where do you even begin? Though it may be daunting, social media is quite easy. It just takes work and consistency. Here are three of my top tips for social media.
Know Yourself
Before you start on any social media journey you must decide who you are. Or more specifically, who your persona is online. The key is to take Abraham Lincoln’s supposed advice, and “Whatever you are, be a good one.”
It doesn’t matter if you want to be the boss babe rocking the stilettos from 8 a.m. till 9 p.m., the party chick with her booty half out, the crafty mom with the ever perfect tablescape, the Jesus lover, the epic traveler, or heck, even if you are just the “I am barely holding it together, please God someone give me a coffee, my hair hasn’t been washed in three weeks, and I’m pretty sure that kid just pooped himself” jokester, you just have to be you.
When you are who you are on social media, people can feel it, and there is nothing worse than a thread that feels fake. Depending on the venue, authentic content may be very highly produced, but that does not meant that it is fake. If a fashion blogger didn’t have epic photography in dreamy locations with the perfect clothes, she wouldn’t be a fashion blogger.
But if a fashion blogger suddenly posts a grainy picture of herself digging a ditch in the most unfashionable grimy clothes with the caption of “Back to Work” in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon, you’d be shaking your head asking, “Where did this come from?”
Your writings and your photos must reflect who you are, the image you choose to convey, and the story you wish to tell.
Know Your Audience
On social media, you have to be talking to someone. And someone is not everyone. Someone is not anyone. Someone is the person whom you want to relate to.
To find your someone, consider this approach to find your niche. First, narrow your age range around yours. As much as you may like to, if you are a 44-year-old woman, it is going to be much more challenging to talk to 13 year-old boys about day to day stuff on an authentic level than talking to other 44-year-old women.
Narrow the interests. Not everyone is into cooking, or cosplay, or underwater basket weaving, but if you are, go to town. Someone else will also be into it. And your content will start to craft the community you desire. You can certainly have more than one interest: you can be a mom who guffaws at high heels, drinks a glass of wine before PTA meetings, manages to make it to the gym on occasion, and loves picnics with the family. There is another woman who get that.
Once you start growing an audience in one direction, nurture them. Talk to them, make them think you are consistently talking directly to them. Use caution in deviating from your core messages as you may alienate your base. That’s fine if you want to go in a completely different brand direction, but it can be a slippery, confusing slope for your audience if you have been posting about epic hunts and wild game kills for 3 years and then all of a sudden become a PETA flag waving vegan. It can happen, but just be prepared for the transition.
Know Your Platform
Different social media platforms require different content. If you are trying to grow on Facebook and you are posting the exact same content as Instagram, you are likely going to go nowhere fast. Same can be said for Twitter and Pinterest. Or Snapchat and LinkedIn.
If you have no idea why, you may consider starting with Gary Vee’s book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. This book is a bit out of date now, but it does give a really solid breakdown of the types of content that different social media platforms prefer. Shiny, glossy photos for Instagram, wicked comebacks in short form on Twitter, creative and viral videos on Facebook. To get engagement, you simply have to have the correct content for the medium.
Once you know yourself, your content and your platform, you better get to posting!
This is Just the Beginning
Once you get started posting on social media regularly, you will want to invest in some tools. Good lighting is key to making epic videos. Check out my favorite LED light panels!
I taught about my Top 10 Tips for social media, expanding greatly on these and showing you a private, behind the scenes view of my social media strategy, how it ties to the blog, and how it drives business. I even shared my biggest successes and some of the mistakes I have made along the way. Want to check out the replay of this class?
What are your Top Tips for Social Media?
