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Social media can be quite overwhelming. There are a lot of things to learn and catch up with. And, every time you think you’ve finally gotten an algorithm right or you’ve finally managed to get the hang of a new tool, the rules change and a new tool is introduced. Woooo!
So, in order to avoid the overwhelm, it’s best to focus on specifics. Concentrate on one small thing on your social media to do list. Then, just get it done!
Now, what’s one small thing that you can do on social media today that can make a difference in your use of your chosen platform – be it Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or something else?
In this article, I share with you five possible ideas. No need to do it all. Just choose the idea that suits you best right now and then go do it.
Be as specific as you can. Your goal can be anything from “Drive traffic to my blog” to “Increase sales on my Etsy shop.”
Once you have at least one specific goal, you can then come up with a workable strategy – choosing the right social platform, allocating the appropriate resources, and creating or curating the best content.
One of my clients’ main goal to invest in Twitter was “To have fresh content available on our website using our Twitter feed.” Their company’s website was primarily static, so having fresh content through their Twitter feed helps to showcase their main areas of expertise.
What if you have more than one goal? That’s okay. Just choose one goal to work on for now and build on it.
Follow at least 5 new people/accounts on Twitter. Or 5 new organisations/individuals on Facebook. Or, connect with 5 new people on LinkedIn. These may be some people that you might know in person, or some folks you might wish to know.
Once you’ve followed/connected with 5 on one of the channels, send at least 1 personal message to one of your new contacts. A Tweet. A comment. A message. It doesn’t have to be long.
Of course, 5 is an arbitrary number. You can choose your own number. Just commit to that number today – and keep repeating the process. Do this daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Whatever schedule suits you. What matters is you get into the habit of following and connecting.
One app you can use to help you with this on Twitter and/or Instagram is Crowdfire.
It’s Spring in Australia and we’re doing our usual spring clean – throwing out/giving away old stuff and making room for new ones. In social media channels, it’s good to keep things fresh too. Some ideas on how to do some social media spring cleaning:
• Change your profile photo, Twitter background, or Facebook cover.
• Add some new information in your LinkedIn profile or your Facebook timeline.
• Organise your contacts on Twitter and/or Facebook in to lists.
If you’re up for a major social media restructure or recalibration, consider doing a full social media audit. At Vervely, we run social media audits for various clients who are at different stages of their social media use. There are those who have just recently started their accounts but didn’t have a clear guidance on where they were headed, so they needed an audit to proceed with better clarity. Then, there are those who have been using social media for many years but haven’t seen the growth and engagement that they were hoping for. There are also those in-between who wish to review their use of social media and create a plan for future growth.
Contact me via Vervely if you would like to see if a social media audit can help you or your business or organisation.
If you’ve heard of a social media platform or tool that you’ve been meaning to try, give it a go now. Or, if you’ve seen an approach that you’ve admired before but you haven’t looked at it more closely, try it today. Some examples of new things that you might like to try, if you haven’t done so already:
• Try livestreaming. Use Periscope, Facebook Live, or YouTube.
• Work on the ‘stories’ approach. Snapchat and Instagram are the platforms that you can try these.
• Run a Thunderclap campaign. Or, do a giveaway.
If you need help with coming up with new ideas, or you need assistance in trying out these ideas, let me know. I’d be happy to help!
Social media is all about engagement. Figure out ways you can give more to others on social media. You can create helpful content that you can share, of course. But, apart from that, you can also practice regular generous behaviours like making it a point to like, Retweet, comment on, and/or share content that you find helpful or useful. Encourage someone. Commiserate with someone who might be venting online. Praise someone.
There are so many times when I’ve encountered people telling me in private that they’ve been enjoying seeing my photos or my art online, but they don’t usually leave a comment or like. This is baffling behaviour because social media IS all about connecting. So, be generous when you like or appreciate something that someone has shared online. You never know what difference it could make!
There are many other “small steps” that you can take to improve your use of social media. Hopefully, some of these ideas help to get you on the right path to social media success.
Shai Coggins is the Manager and Chief Digital Media Specialist at Vervely, an Australia-based agency serving local and international clients. One of the company's main clients is Microsoft. Shai has been featured in a number of media due to her online work, including being named as one of Fast Company's "Most Influential Women in Technology" list (2009).
