Wednesday Wisdom — Social Media Strategies that WORK!
Social media… love it or hate it, it’s become an integral part of our lives, and an essential part of the online business landscape. And even if your business is in-person or brick & mortar, social media needs to be an integral part of your marketing strategy, with traditional forms of advertising going the way of the horse & buggy.
So how do you build a strong social media presence that attracts your ideal buyers? If this is a question you’ve been asking yourself lately, you’re in luck! I’ve put together my 5 best tips for social media success!
And even if you’re not using social media for business, not to worry! You can still use these tips to grow your personal social media presence.
So without further ado, here’s how to build an effective social media strategy:
1. Bring Value
You’ve probably heard this one before, but it still stands repeating. In today’s quid pro quo online landscape, your followers need to feel like they’re getting something by following you. It doesn’t need to be much — there’s a lot of value in making people laugh, feel inspired, or validated in their feelings — but gone are the days when just pretty pictures will suffice.
Your social media presence should be aspirational for visitors, in that it should either be a reflection of themselves, or it should make them aspire to a desired outcome. I can’t emphasize this enough — this is how sales work on social media! If you can portray your product or service as an essential piece of the puzzle in achieving your followers’ aspirations, YOU PRIME THEM TO BUY from you!
2 . Curate your Content
If you’ve always been the type to just throw up photos & videos willy-nilly on your social feeds, you might want to re-think your methods! There’s a lot to be said for a carefully designed & curated social media feed: 1) it legitimizes you in the eyes of your visitors; 2) it sets you apart from your peers and/or competition; and 3) it just looks better!
Don’t let the image on the right intimidate you — it’s not actually that hard to do.
If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you know how much I love Canva as a design tool — but did you know you can add pre-made templates like the one you see here to your Canva toolbox to help you create a highly-curated stylized grid for your (Instagram) feed?
You can also use post planning apps like Hootsuite and Hubspot to visualize your feed before you post.
A couple of tips for using puzzle grids like this one:
- Use the puzzle piece photo as a cover in a carousel to still post any additional photos or videos that go within its theme.
- Shake it up! New visitors only see the first 9 posts on your grid, so if you want to try a different aesthetic, it’s ok! There’s no need to feel like you’re locked into one look or design forever.
- Keep it simple — if there’s more you want to convey than there’s room for on a certain square of the grid, use carousels or the caption for the additional information.
3. Play the Heartstrings
This goes back to tip #1 with bringing value. Nowadays, people increasingly want to feel like they’re connected to the brands they buy from, and it’s not just another faceless corporation. One way your followers can feel more connected with you or your company if you get vulnerable from time to time.
Now, that’s not to say you should tell them a sob story and bare your deepest darkest secrets all the time, but rather being open and honest about where you came from, how your business started, or a key moment in your life that led you to an insightful realization.
Struggles (and the desire to overcome them) are universal, so these stories resonate with visitors and make you seem like a real person!
4. Consistency is Key
I know you’ve probably heard from other social media marketers that you should be posting 3 times per day, every day, and when you’re marketing on multiple platforms, that sounds overwhelming!
The good news is — you don’t have to do that!
Consistency is just about keeping yourself to a regular schedule. Maybe you post on Instagram Sundays & Wednesdays, Facebook on Tuesdays & Thursdays, and LinkedIn on Mondays & Fridays. That way, you give yourself a break day!
As long as you stick to a schedule, your followers will love you for it, even if it’s not every single day. As you build the habit, they’ll come to expect and even look forward to your posts!
If you’re anything like me and have a hard time keeping to a regular schedule, here’s a few tips to help you stay more accountable:
- Use a content planning tool — they make physical planners (like the one above) available for purchase, or use a scheduling app, like the aforementioned Hootsuite or Hubspot. Canva also offers a content planning calendar!
- Batch content! Instagram lets you keep drafts to post later, so you can save a bunch of posts to upload at a later time. Most content planning tools do this, too. You can also keep a folder in your phone or on your computer for content to be used later — this way you always have fresh stuff to go back to & don’t have to feel pressured to come up with a new idea every time.
- Keep a working list as ideas or inspiration comes to you. I have a file on my digital notepad just to jot down ideas when I have them so I can implement them later.
5. Show Up!
A creator I follow on TikTok had a large following & was getting success and engagement for some time, but that engagement began to drop and her views were going down, even though she was being consistent, giving value & staying true to her popular content. Confused, she asked her audience why they’d stopped engaging, and the answer she got was that she was too inaccessible! Basically, after she’d make a post, she just expected engagement for nothing, and never commented or engaged with her followers herself.
Remember how I said people want to feel a personal connection? If you just post and then bounce, without commenting on comments or engaging with your audience, they might lose interest because they might not feel like they are engaging with a real person. When that happens, they get bored!
So the key is to make them feel valued and heard. You don’t need to respond to every single comment, but make sure to respond to some of them from time to time.
And there you have it! 5 tips for creating a winning social media presence to attract loyal followers and excited buyers!
Want some practical steps for designing your social media profiles into sales magnets?? Well, I happened to put together a free training to tech you exactly that! Get into the free masterclass, here!
Contact Us To Learn Social Media Strategies that WORK!
Until next time, happy humpday!
