It’s no secret that social media is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it can be an effective tool for engagement and raising brand awareness. On the other, it can be a breeding ground for trolls and misinformation.

What to do?

USE IT.

I am not a huge fan of tracking my every muscle movement via social media. But, I’ve found how to make social media work for me and my small business. 

It started with my mindset. I had to take a step back and ask myself how I wanted to approach social media. I got to work making a list of what my goals for my business were, how I would represent my small business brand, and how much I would market my offerings. Most of all, I had to clear my mind and tune out the thousands of posts I was scrolling through every day. I wanted to influence without being an influencer. I didn’t want to be beholden to social media, be like anyone else, or just as bad – have no one notice me at all. 

Most of all, I just wanted to find new opportunities to serve.

Once I organized my goals and expectations of social media, I began to see the puzzle fall into place the way I hoped. I realized that when done right, social media marketing is a small business owner’s best friend. First of all, it’s free (unless you’re doing sponsored posts), you can reach a lot of people at once, and you can engage with them to build relationships and trust. 

Here are some pointers that I consider in my own small business social media marketing strategies. I’ve also included how my team organizes and implements our social media process:

• How you approach social media depends on your mindset: Take a step back before creating content and focus on your mindset. Remember that you’re the expert in your business, but also remember that how you feel comes through when you communicate in any forum. I know that on days I’m feeling positive that it’s translated in my messaging. Now, you have to balance this because you don’t want to engage in toxic positivity, but remember your posts are not your personal journal, and that you are there to support the needs of your clients and customers.
• Your why: What is your mission? Who are you, who are you serving, and what problem can you help them solve so they can meet their goals or experience a transformation? I want to eradicate entrepreneurial poverty, so most of my output supports that.
• Pumpkin Plan your strategy: I take methodologies from the Pumpkin Plan and apply them to my social media strategy. By auditing what you don’t need and getting rid of the noise, you make more impact. For instance, if you have a big webinar coming up, don’t bombard your audience with a promotion a day. Consider one or two leading up to the webinar with a last call the day of. 
• Call to action: You don’t have to focus on sales in every post but do offer something to people, even if it’s a laugh. I like to make sure that each week I post supportive information and resources at no cost, as well as offerings that I know will support my fellow small business owners. Be sure to add your links and clear directions.
• Social listening and engagement: Use analytics to gather data on the performance of your social media posts and on what platforms. Engage (or have an assistant engage) in the comments, and note what your audience’s needs are. This is social listening – monitoring how your prospective customers feel and what they need so you can serve them better than anyone else. They will feel understood and will trust you to meet their needs.
• Implementation: Nitty gritty time. Here’s how our implementation goes in a nutshell:
  • Choose a theme: Get your social media or marketing team together to discuss a monthly or weekly theme. Base the theme on what will help you meet your quarterly or annual goal. As an example, if I have a book launch, I will begin posting about subjects from the book months in advance. I want to show how the book will be valuable to readers.  If I have a workshop coming up, we post about that, and so on. Remember that people get sold to all day long, so jazz your strategy up and remember to post about part of your life, current events, or something you love that has nothing to do with sales.
  • Mix it up: If you see the same thing over and over you’re going to tune it out, right? This is your opportunity to show who you are. Break the expectation of perfectionism, because that’s what audiences struggle with. Social media usually illustrates attractive, picture-perfect scenarios, but we all know that’s not reality. And, regular marketing posts don’t really allow space for you to show your personality or values. Of course, those things come through in your business style, but sometimes people want to see that you’re a flawed human. Once a week or so I get personal with posts from home, with my wife, on the road, with my kiddos, and even in my garden.
  • Use a social media calendar: We have used a couple of platforms but so far we like Monday the best to create a calendar of posts. From there we use Sprout to schedule posts out months in advance. 
  • Be nimble: It’s important to be nimble in all facets of your business, including social media. Scheduling in advance will keep your social media strategy organized. At the same time, allow for edits and additions. What you scheduled yesterday may change

So, what’s your approach to social media? If you harness the power of it, your marketing can improve exponentially. 

Wishing you health and wealth always.

-Mike

PS – Here’s some fun news: The videobook for the Pumpkin Plan is out now! Get your LIT membership here and enjoy major bonuses!