You have to have some kind of social media strategy nowadays in order to survive in the online world, no matter what your business is. It doesn’t matter how much you may hate social media; you just have to do it.
But you don’t have to do ALL of it all the time. You can start with a few social media websites and build from there. Start by choosing platforms based on your specific skill set and what will be easiest for you in the beginning. If doing video is not for you, then don’t pick YouTube. Even if everyone is yelling “You have to be on YouTube!” They are wrong—you don’t have to be there if you don’t want to. If you hate writing, then don’t commit to a blog.
There are platforms out there for every strength. If you like writing, then choose platforms that allow you to write so you feel comfortable when getting your feet wet in the social media world. As we talked about last month, you can start a newsletter using SubStack.com. You can use Medium.com or Linkedin.com for posting articles. Even with Its 240-character limit, Twitter can be a great tool for a creative writer.
Of course, if you like being on video, then yeah, use your video skills to communicate because that’s one of your strong points. YouTube and Facebook are great places to post your videos or do live streams to engage with your audience and potentially get new viewers.
More comfortable talking or telling stories? Do a podcast and post on podcast platforms or try doing Clubhouse. You just need to choose a platform and modality to get started with. When it comes to social media, you don’t want to put yourself into a situation that makes you uncomfortable because:
- You won’t necessarily do the most effective job at it.
- You won’t continue doing it because you aren’t comfortable with
That is just the reality. You need to choose the modalities that are in your favor, that you like, and that are going to allow you to continue to do it because consistency is the key to social media.
There are no rules as to how often to post to your chosen modality. It’s going to be different for each person, and it’s also based on the platform you are using. It might be once a day, once a week, once a month. All of it is fine, but once you make that decision, be consistent in doing it. If it is daily, make sure you do it DAILY. Weekly? Make sure you do it WEEKLY, and so on.
No one is going to chase you down and tell you that you aren’t posting enough or that you have to do it this often or that often, but they do want you to be consistent!
I think, in some ways, social media shouldn’t even be called social media. In today’s world, I think of social media as branding. I truly believe that. You should think about social media less along the lines of social and more along the lines of using it as a branding platform. Because it is showing you or your business; it’s showing your point of view, how you look. It’s your voice. It is all of those things. And what is your brand? All of those things, as well. It is a platform to show people you and your brand. Your strategy should be set up to show those off in the best possible way you can.
It is also very important to pay close attention to what you post on social media. It doesn’t matter if it is to your personal social media or your business social media. Be aware that what you post not only is your voice, but your brand’s voice too.
I dare anyone to look for anything that I’ve ever posted on social media that is controversial in any way, shape, or form. You’ll never find it because that’s not what I want to present myself as. You’re not going to find anything controversial because I don’t see the need to be controversial in order to get my point across. That is not the way I use social media.
You don’t need to be controversial in order to get a person’s attention. My point of view is you can be informative and get just as much attention as being controversial. And I think it’s a whole lot easier and alienates a whole lot less people who could be buying from me.
Honestly, I’m going to be the first one to tell you I could be doing a whole lot more on social media. And just like everyone else, I just have to put forward the effort to get it done. That is one of the things that we’re working on in my company going forward—to create more things that I can post, to post on a regular basis and on several platforms.
But again, the key is consistency. Find the best social media modalities that work for you. Decide on a posting schedule that you can confidently maintain and be consistent. Happy posting!
