How to have social media worth following (aka Social Media tips and tricks from a 11 year Social Media Vet)
I have been consulting brands and businesses of different sizes for over 10 years now. Every time I go on an initial consultation, I run into a lot of the same questions:"How can I make my brand look good online?"
"What am I supposed to post?"
"What are the best apps?"
"Why do I even need a social media profile?"
Today, I am taking some serious time to answer a few of these and give you a few hacks to make social media less mysterious (and even, a bit of fun, maybe?)
So, why do you even need social media?
Social media is the way of communicating in the 21st Century. Furthermore, social has become the lifeblood brands, businesses, even churches.
More often than not, people will discover your brand, blog, business through your social media. It is a direct thread from the interwoven fabric of the social conversation that leads straight to your site.
Therefore while your site should be clean, easy to use and simple to understand your organization's message, your socials should be even more so. I'm talking quality images, relevant posts, and timely content all pointing back to your church, blog, business, or brand.
How I like to look at social media is that it is an ongoing and ever-changing conversation. Each platform continues the conversation in a different way. For example, Instagram is the curated, magazine-like platform, while Twitter is the short form conversation platform. Facebook is where we get to browse and witness it all.
Your goal on social media is to simultaneously transfer the conversation that you already have going on on your blog or website or business to the social media platform while directing people from your socials back to your website. This cyclical process maintains interest in your organization and crafts a quality community of active and engaged followers and connects then not only to you but to each other.
Before we get to the gems, we have to do some serious work by talking about a few "DUH" tips of Social Media:You Should Be On Social Media:
You simply should be on social media. By not being on social media, you miss a large portion of your targeted audience. Remember social media is how we have a conversation. You want to be where the conversation is.
Let Your Readers Know Where You Are on Social Media:
Many blogs, brands, businesses fail to notify their potential clients and followers that they are on certain platforms. Make sure you list on your blog site the places where you were active on social media.
Have Branded Accounts:
Your followers will want to see the same language, the same images, and the same discussion on your blog as they will want to see on your social media. It is key to use the same profile pics, the same images, and definitely the same language from your blog to all of the social media sites where you are.
Always Have A Bio:
There are so many people who either avoid or do not complete writing a bio line. But by simply not having one of these makes your profile looks incomplete at best, and at worst unprofessional. And I know you, boss brand or blogger don't want to be considered any of those. So do yourself a favor, and create a bio line.
Where Applicable, Use Hashtags:
Some people feel like it's corny or cheesy or even spammy, however, hashtags are the way we connect to others looking for the content we are producing. How do you expect people to be able to find your content if you don't use a tag to find it? Hashtags do that for you and they also make you look super engaged.
Now that we've talked about all of the "duh" moments, go back through your social media.
Social media is essential for good creating a good community in and around your brand, business, or blog.
Why?
It's additional spaces where others can come to discover you. The internet is so huge and there is so much noise and clutter there, it's rare that people will stumble onto you the same way people will discover you on Instagram or Twitter.
In fact, almost all of the brands that I have worked within the past 5 years have discovered me on one (or multiple ) social platforms. Usually my Instagram. The majority of my readers come from Facebook, Google+ and Instagram, but I also have a strong and loyal following on Tumblr.
Why?
A few reasons that sound simple but mean everything for recognition:
I'm Picky With What I Post:
I don’t just post anything.
But I do style everything.
I curate my sites the same way I curate my blog
I'm Consistent:
My vibes on my socials match the vibes on my socials.
I post around the same times of day and usually the same content
I Talk To The Brands:
I tag them in posts
I share products I like
Most importantly...
I Talk Back to the PEOPLE:
I answer every comment, even if it's just with an emoji
I am a habitual "liker", retweeter, reblogger, and overall responder.
I ask questions
I make clear calls to action
I treat each reader as if they were the only reader I have.
Basically, being successful on social media means being social on social media.
The key to quality social media is to remember that you are the product that you are selling on social media.
So you have to think:
Now that we've talked about all of the "duh" moments, go back through your social media.
Social media is essential for good creating a good community in and around your brand, business, or blog.
Why?
It's additional spaces where others can come to discover you. The internet is so huge and there is so much noise and clutter there, it's rare that people will stumble onto you the same way people will discover you on Instagram or Twitter.
In fact, almost all of the brands that I have worked within the past 5 years have discovered me on one (or multiple ) social platforms. Usually my Instagram. The majority of my readers come from Facebook, Google+ and Instagram, but I also have a strong and loyal following on Tumblr.
Why?
A few reasons that sound simple but mean everything for recognition:I'm Picky With What I Post:
I don’t just post anything.
But I do style everything.
I curate my sites the same way I curate my blog
I'm Consistent:
My vibes on my socials match the vibes on my socials.
I post around the same times of day and usually the same content
I Talk To The Brands:
I tag them in posts
I share products I like
Most importantly...
I Talk Back to the PEOPLE:
I answer every comment, even if it's just with an emoji
I am a habitual "liker", retweeter, reblogger, and overall responder.
I ask questions
I make clear calls to action
I treat each reader as if they were the only reader I have.
Basically, being successful on social media means being social on social media.
The key to quality social media is to remember that you are the product that you are selling on social media.
So you have to think:
What kind of quality product am I trying to "sell"?
What will my readers respond to?
What are their pain points?
And how can I ease those with these posts?
These will let you know not only what kind of things to share and post but also what kind of content to focus on in your social profiles.
These will show you your Tribe.
A tribe is different from standard followers and likers. Your tribe isn't here for just the glamour or the pretty posts. They aren't here for the show. They aren't here to be just spectators.
Your tribe is those people who get you. They get your quips and quirks. They get your sense, sensibilities, and sensitivities. They pick up on something within you that connects within themselves. These people are on your team. These are the "right" kind of followers that are magnetically drawn to your content and you.
Remember, we aren't creating content for everybody. If you're writing for everybody, you're writing for nobody.
No, you brilliant person, you are creating for your tribe. You are filling every piece of content, from the shortest tweet to the most comprehensive blog series, with your vibes.
Why?
Because your vibe attracts your tribe.
Got it? Cool...
Onto another topic...
Back to that Bio. Remember earlier when we talked about your bio?
These will let you know not only what kind of things to share and post but also what kind of content to focus on in your social profiles.
These will show you your Tribe.A tribe is different from standard followers and likers. Your tribe isn't here for just the glamour or the pretty posts. They aren't here for the show. They aren't here to be just spectators.
Your tribe is those people who get you. They get your quips and quirks. They get your sense, sensibilities, and sensitivities. They pick up on something within you that connects within themselves. These people are on your team. These are the "right" kind of followers that are magnetically drawn to your content and you.
Remember, we aren't creating content for everybody. If you're writing for everybody, you're writing for nobody.
No, you brilliant person, you are creating for your tribe. You are filling every piece of content, from the shortest tweet to the most comprehensive blog series, with your vibes.
Why?
Because your vibe attracts your tribe.
Got it? Cool...
Back to that Bio. Remember earlier when we talked about your bio?
Well, you don't just want to create a basic bio line that only tells what you do.
Your bio should tell a story. Every part of your brand's social media should tell a story. Your bio is where you capture your audience. So make it compelling. Use the language of your tribe (because you know it since you know who your ideal people are already!)
Your bio also creates culture. For example, if I'm a fashion writer, and I say "I'm a fashion writer" in my bio line, that just tells the people who I am and what I do. There's no culture established. However, if I say "A girl should always be 2 things, whoever and whatever she wants"- Coco Chanel #fashionblogger ", I've grabbed the attention of people who love Chanel, love fashion, and are now potential followers and potential tribe! See? Even your bio is special!
Create Your Own Hashtag And Use It Often:
So many people omit creating their own hashtag at the risk of looking spammy. But hashtags are the most amazing tools to help both brands and readers find you. They are flares in the dark vastness of social media, guiding interested readers to you.
However, making your own hashtag takes that idea to the next level. Using your own your hashtag creates a branded catalog of your content. Encouraging others to use it creates a larger buzz around it, and thus, you.
The most important thing to remember is that, yes, while getting followers on Social is awesome, the point of social is to drive traffic back to your blog. So your socials need to always have that in mind.
There are some tools that have helped me elevate my social media game a lot. These are my current faves.
CrowdFire: My fave, my fave, my absolute fave. I love CrowdFire for its simplicity, its linking capabilities, and its ability to find other interesting stories to share on my own platforms. It's an effective scheduling tool that allows me to schedule the posts I want shared at the best times for them to be shared to reach a larger audience. This app/site also allows me to see who is/isn’t following me on Twitter. It’s great for when I need to do my monthly social edits of unfollowers and inactive followers. This app helps me keep my socials neat and clean. An essential for anyone who is taking their social seriously.
Hootsuite: Confession: I actually rarely use Hootsuite for my own personal social media, but it has been a phenomenal tool to manage the social media posts and platforms of the other businesses I manage. It's super easy to set up and use.
Over: Over is my quick and easy photo editing app. I make all of my stylized, wordy posts using this handy and stylish app. From quotes and sayings to adding an artistic yet subtle touch to my posts, this app does it all. Definitely a must-have.
Your bio should tell a story. Every part of your brand's social media should tell a story. Your bio is where you capture your audience. So make it compelling. Use the language of your tribe (because you know it since you know who your ideal people are already!)Your bio also creates culture. For example, if I'm a fashion writer, and I say "I'm a fashion writer" in my bio line, that just tells the people who I am and what I do. There's no culture established. However, if I say "A girl should always be 2 things, whoever and whatever she wants"- Coco Chanel #fashionblogger ", I've grabbed the attention of people who love Chanel, love fashion, and are now potential followers and potential tribe! See? Even your bio is special!
Create Your Own Hashtag And Use It Often:
So many people omit creating their own hashtag at the risk of looking spammy. But hashtags are the most amazing tools to help both brands and readers find you. They are flares in the dark vastness of social media, guiding interested readers to you.
However, making your own hashtag takes that idea to the next level. Using your own your hashtag creates a branded catalog of your content. Encouraging others to use it creates a larger buzz around it, and thus, you.
The most important thing to remember is that, yes, while getting followers on Social is awesome, the point of social is to drive traffic back to your blog. So your socials need to always have that in mind.
There are some tools that have helped me elevate my social media game a lot. These are my current faves.CrowdFire: My fave, my fave, my absolute fave. I love CrowdFire for its simplicity, its linking capabilities, and its ability to find other interesting stories to share on my own platforms. It's an effective scheduling tool that allows me to schedule the posts I want shared at the best times for them to be shared to reach a larger audience. This app/site also allows me to see who is/isn’t following me on Twitter. It’s great for when I need to do my monthly social edits of unfollowers and inactive followers. This app helps me keep my socials neat and clean. An essential for anyone who is taking their social seriously.
Hootsuite: Confession: I actually rarely use Hootsuite for my own personal social media, but it has been a phenomenal tool to manage the social media posts and platforms of the other businesses I manage. It's super easy to set up and use.
Over: Over is my quick and easy photo editing app. I make all of my stylized, wordy posts using this handy and stylish app. From quotes and sayings to adding an artistic yet subtle touch to my posts, this app does it all. Definitely a must-have.
VSCO: Every social media maven and man worth their salt has some sort of photo editing app, one that is meant to polish up less than perfect pictures. That is what VSCO is for me.
That's all the social media basics I have. Got a specific question? Drop a comment below or email me (TheReclaimedBlog@Gmail.com). Let's talk! Looking forward to hearing from you!
That's all the social media basics I have. Got a specific question? Drop a comment below or email me (TheReclaimedBlog@Gmail.com). Let's talk! Looking forward to hearing from you!
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