It’s a crazy world out there in social town right now―blogs, content, sharing, repurposing, originality and the constant need to be ‘out there’ spreading the word―your word! It’s exhausting and, quite frankly, it seems never ending.
Well if you are going to be the kween/king of content than may I strongly suggest you do it right…and by right, I mean do not be boring. Ain’t nobody got time for that! There is a frightening amount of content out there, every day, hour, minute, competing for your readers’ attention and if yours isn’t cutting the mustard then you’re wasting your time.
I’ve seen a lot of social media disasters and people getting it extremely wrong. I’ve outlined some points below on how you can make sure your social media posts are working hard for the (your) time and money invested in them.
Know thy own self! The Ancient Greeks knew this to be true and things haven’t changed in these modern times in which we find ourselves.
Let’s be VERY clear here―YOU.ARE.YOUR.OWN.BRAND.
Every word you type, every image you post, every thought you share must be reflective of you―your beliefs, your values, and your position. If you are posting anything that doesn’t reflect you, then simply don’t post it. If you’re all about the quirky humour or the ‘cuttingest’ of cutting edge fashion than sharing anything that doesn’t 100 per cent adhere to those values is muddying the waters of your brand value and message.
Know your own customer! Absolutely nail who your customer is…and I mean nail them down before you even think about touching your keyboard. If you don’t intimately know them you can’t speak to them in their ‘language’. Don’t ever feel you need to run yourself into the ground by writing and publishing on each and every social platform out there…choose the two where your people hang most and have a sniper like aim on them only.
A picture is worth 100,0000 words. No exaggeration. Great swaths of text become rapidly dull for any social media reader. People love images to bring a blog to life. And it can greatly help get your point across quickly, in an interesting manner and lend personality to what you are saying.
Have nothing to say? Then say nothing. If you are about to post something simply because you think you need to create some content, then back away from your keyboard. If it doesn’t support you, your story or provide some behind the scenes insight to your brand then it has no place out there in cyber space. Keep it real. Keep it true to you. Keep it relevant.
Social media software abuse. So rife there should be a hotline. Canva is amazing, I am obsessed with it myself. But here’s the thing―make it your own. Don’t just use the standard layouts it offers…play around and put your own stamp on them. Upload your people, your images, and your fonts. Upload ‘you’ essentially. If you don’t have your own jaw dropping shot of that ‘unicorn in a raindrop’ that is essential to getting your point across (and let’s face it, who would?) then scour the web to take advantage of the plethora of free stock image sites out there. Someone has got ‘that’ shot. Trust me.
Social media doesn’t have a user manual. But you sure could benefit from one. Just dabbling around with social media is like trying to build DIY furniture without an allen key. If you’re not connecting the right dots, hash tagging correctly or using ass kicking images, well, you’re going to be left with a pile of useless wooden shelves to be brutally honest. Don’t fight it alone, get someone to help you.
Jemimah Ashleigh is founder of Epic Social epicsocial.com.au
