5 Social Media Tips For People Who Suck At Social Media

It's 2020 and everyone and their mother is on social media. We know this because our mothers are constantly embarrassing us by posting political views, weird prayers and spamming our friends with chain letters in via Facebook Messenger. No, not you? Just us? Ok, well, isn't that nice for you.

Anyway, while we can so easily get sucked into the mindless vortex of puppy videos and parenting memes that make social media so enticing, we forget it's a proven fact that platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter can be extremely valuable mediums for businesses. That's IF you're using them right. 

We've put together a few basic tips to give you a leg up when trying to build an audience and use it to your business's advantage.

1. HAVE A PLAN AND BE CONSISTENT
People can tell when you're just taking up space on social media by posting when you have nothing to say. Have a strategy to get your most pertinent and timely information out to your followers. Try to follow a posting schedule but only by sharing truly attention-worthy content. And never underestimate the power of a share. Unless it's your mom sharing a post with a teddy bear hugging a heart. Then you can ignore that one. Other than that, sharing relevant content brings a range of value to your followers and will also help you build your own community of other businesses on the platforms you're using.

2. CHOOSE YOUR WORDS
Engagement is based on quality, not quantity. You can post 100 times a day like our moms, but if your posts aren't getting likes, comments or shares because you're missing the mark, you'll lose followers who don't want you clogging up their feed with nonsense. A post that your followers will relate highly to based on your brand will get you AND your followers the most bang for your buck. You're not wasting your time posting nonsense and your followers will be engaging with what you have to say.

3. Q & A CAN SAVE THE DAY
Knowing your audience is key and the best way to get to know them is to ask questions. This achieves two very important pieces of the puzzle. By asking questions and getting answers you're gaining vital information about your followers AND driving engagement by having them comment on your posts. This is an excellent and super easy strategy that everyone business should be using.

4. SIZE MATTERS
While we don't suggest letting your self-worth hinge on the number of followers you have, you should consider that more followers means more opportunity in general.  More followers means more engagement and more engagement means more eyes on your business. And real eyes on your business comes from truly interested followers. Don't fall prey to schemes where you'll gain fake followers because they will ultimately get you nowhere. Creating relevant and meaningful content is the way to gain and keep real followers.

5. KNOW WHO YOU ARE
Just like your audience can tell when you have nothing real to say, they can tell when you're not being authentic. That doesn't mean we should all mold into a one-version-fits-all society media presence. It means you have to see what is unique to you and your business when you're creating your content and using your voice. Treat your social media relationships the way you'd treat your in-person client relationships. Authenticity reigns supreme.

There's a treasure trove of strategies and skills that can take your social media presence to the next level but these 5 tips are a great way to stay on track if you're starting out from scratch. The most important advice is to stay driven, stay authentic and block your mom if you have to.