How do you feel about social media? Do you love showing yourself and always know what to post or do you sometimes dread this "task"? Staying consistent is most important when it comes to your social media presence - but it's also the hardest part. But there are ways to make your life easier.
Social Media is here to Stay.
Here are a few stats for you.
4,95 billion people currently use social media.
69% of marketers use social media to build brand awareness
The average time a user spends on social media is 2 hours 24 minutes per day
37,6% of all internet users worldwide use social media for work purposes
Pinterest dominates with female users - 78,4% to be exact!
That's why you shouldn't underestimate social media and its power to grow your business.
Do You Struggle With Any of These?
Not knowing what to post
Having trouble making your posts stand out
Crafting posts that are "on brand" and just look incredible
Creating reach and interaction
Finding the time to actually do it
We all struggle with these things. And I'm saying "all", because there aren't many people who find social media easy-breezy - even businesses who make a living from it! Me included...
My social media presence is still not perfect (and I don't think it will ever be. Read on to see why that's ok). I struggle most with finding the time to actually do it. We consider other tasks more important and end up neglecting our accounts for - let's say - a while...
So here are a few tips to make social media easier for you:
1. KNOW YOURSELF
If you really know who you are and who you want to work with, planning your social media content will become much easier, because you know who you are talking to. You can now address your dream client's problems and their goals!
Get Clarity on Your Business
You want to know yourself as best as you can. What are your services and why are you providing them? Which benefits do your clients get by working with you and what's your USP (=unique selling point)? What's your brand voice and who's your target audience?
Only after you answer all these questions (and many more!), will you know how to create an effective social media strategy that speaks to your dream clients.
Use Personas
If you haven't done this yet, create 1-3 distinct personas (Persona = detailled, fictional representation of your dream client). Every time you sit down to create content for your social media sites you can think of them as a "real" person and specifically target your posts to fit their needs.
2. START THINKING IN CATEGORIES
Creating engaging content is hard, if you try to wing it every single time. It can get really exhausting! That's why many people quit posting regularly. I used to be no different in that regard (and I still sometimes skip a few weeks...).
Content Themes
To help your future self, figure out what kind of post categories you can create. Coming up with ideas afterwards will make your life so much easier - promise!
Focus on these main categories first:
Educational
Personal
Entertaining
Promotional
All of your content themes should fall within any of those. Now think about broader topics for you and your business, like "5 facts about me" or "10 mistakes I always see in [add your industry]. To gain inspiration, hop over to social media and look at other creators and their content. Now analyze their feed for categories.
Pro Tip:
Look at creators from different industries than your own. This will help you gain inspiration, without copying them (voluntarily or accidentally) and create content with your own brand voice that's unique to you.
3. CREATE A POST CALENDAR
To stay accountable, you might want to create a post calendar. First, decide how frequently you want to post. Pick a schedule you can actually stick to long term! If you are not sure, start with lower quantities, like 1-2 posts per week. After a while you can increase it slightly and work your way up without getting overwhelmed at the start.
For your calendar, you can either pick days of the week or days of the month. It could look something like this:
Scenario Nr. 1 - Days of the Week
Monday - Educational
Tuesday - Promotional
Wednesday - Entertaining
Thursday - Personal
Scenario Nr. 2 - Days of the Month
1st - Educational
8th - Promotional
15th - Entertaining
22th - Personal
Seasonal Planning
Are you in an industry where seasons carry a lot of weight due to specific holidays (like Valentine's day, Hanukkah or Christmas). Make sure to address them when planning your content to gain the most from your post strategy.
There are also days of the year you might want to look into. Browse Days of the Year to get inspired for content - I'm sure you'll find something that fits you and your business.
Whenever you need to schedule new posts, you know exactly what to do. This will save time and worry!
4. BATCH CONTENT
Creating your content is a lot of work. There's a reason why social media manager is its own profession. But it doesn't have to be a full-time job for you, if done right.
With your categories and post calendar in hand, you can easily start creating now. Whatever you do, if it's filming reels or creating posts in canva - batch all tasks. This way you are much faster and generating ideas is so much more efficient than swapping between different to-does all the time.
Here are some steps you can batch for social media:
For image posts
Brainstorm Ideas
Create visual category templates
Create posts per category
Export all graphics
Write the captions
Schedule your posts
For video posts
Brainstorm Ideas
Write the scripts
Create visual category templates & assets
Film videos per category
Cut all videos
Import them and finishe them in app (e.g. music, text overlays, etc.) - and save them as drafts!
Write the captions
Post videos
5. USE TEMPLATES
You want your life to be as stress-free as possible. That's why you have to create templates for yourself (or get them made for you by a pro). If you do this step once, creating new posts simply will be a copy-and-paste chore. And creating these templates won't be hard, if you've already created your categories. Now you know which pages you need for text and which ones for images. Some will be a combo of both. Set them up in your preferred design program and you are good to go.
Pro Tip:
Wanna know another reason why templates are a must? They make sure you stay consistent within your social media appearance! There's nothing worse than seeing five different image styles in your feed with mixed colour schemes and fonts. By using templates your feed will look harmonious and followers will start to recognise you. This builds trust over time - and will lead to more followers and sales!
6. SEE THE BENEFITS
How many tasks do you have to do in your business, which you aren't particularly fond of? I have a few. Most of them have to do with accounting (like writing and sending invoices and doing my taxes - boring!) But we still have to do it to run a successful business.
When you realize that social media is no different - you'll use it as a tool to level up your biz. Sure there are other things that are more fun - but just imagine the day when your dream clients start flocking to you. That's when social media will be fun!
It's also a free tool. So why not use it? Especially if you are just starting your business adventure, you might not have the finances yet to invest in a website and marketing campaigns. And you don't have to - social media can be your first platform to get to know your clients, interact with them and make sales.
7. JUST DO IT
This is the last step - get moving and actually do the work. Because that's what it is - work. I'm not gonna lie to you and tell you that social media will one day be a walk in the park. But, if you follow these tips, instead of climbing over rocks, it will feel like skipping over pebbles.
Perfectionism
Done is better than perfect.
How often do we intend to do something, but quit, because we can't get to 100%. If you are a business owner, you might want to embrace not being perfect all the time, because there's a learning curve in everything we do - especially if done for the first time. And there are many firsts in running a business!
Nothing has to be perfect right from the start. No one ever started as a pro. So don't compare yourself to people who are doing this for way longer than you. They've started the journey before you, so their level is higher. If you keep going for a while you'll catch up to them. And there might be the time when you realise that others are looking up to you - because you are now ahead of them on the path to running a successful business.
Set Aside Time
Within every month, set aside 2-3 days for social media. One half for content creation (like brainstorming new ideas and putting the visuals together) and the other one for scheduling. This process might take you longer in the beginning, but as you get used to it, you'll be much quicker.
This also leads back to taking social media seriously. So don't skip this step, because bad habits will take over faster than you'd want to and your social media will be as empty as a ghost town - again. And we don't want any tumbleweed on our feeds, right?
Pro Tip:
Use handy and time-saving tools to schedule your posts. For Facebook and Instagram, you can use the Meta Business Suite to schedule a month in advance. There are also third-party sites (like Hootsuite and Zoho Social) who offer different solutions.
Now there's no more excuses for procrastination. So get your ass up and do it! And I say that with a lot of love 😉 If you want to rock your social media with some extra help - feel free to schedule a free call and talk about how I can help you.
Don't even know where to start with your social media presence?
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Level up your business with regular tips on branding, product design and strategy. My Magical Biz Letter (aka newsletter) is for business owners young-at-heart who want to get the party started and leave a lasting impression with their audience. Ready? Let's go!
Written by Nina Schindlinger
As the founder and creative director of MilkyRosa design agency I’m your partner in crime for projects regarding branding, product design and talking strategy for your business. I create bold designs for business owners young-at-heart to spread joy and positivity. It’s my mission to make your company tangible for your customers and create an experience they will remember.
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Facebook: @milkyrosadesignagency