LK Consultants regularly seeks experts in their field to help bring additional value to readers of The LKC Blog. Please enjoy today’s special guest post by Cali from Uncommonly More.
Social media is one of the most intimidating aspects of running a business, especially if you are a small team (or a team of one!).
That’s why today we are sharing 4 quick insights as to how you can start growing your social media presence with minimal effort and time, so you can focus where your business needs you most.
Why Your Brand Needs to be on Social Media
First, let’s make sure it’s clear why you need to be on social media:
This is FREE marketing. Never before has it been cheaper to get the word out about your business. With some strategy, streamlining, and tools you can make social media painless while receiving significant ROI.
Social proof. How often do you search for a company that you want to learn more about to see what its website looks like, read reviews, or check out its following on social media? When you do that, you are looking for social proof. We all do it and you don’t want your absence of a social media presence to be what stops potential clients from interacting with you.
Proof of concept. There are more than 1 BILLION people on Instagram and Facebook, with 60% saying they have learned about or purchased a product or service on these platforms- make sure yours is one of them.
It’s where your clients are. Potentially the most important reason you need to be on social media is that this is where your clients spend time. They are willingly giving their attention to these platforms, removing the biggest marketing barrier- getting face time. By not engaging in social media, you’re not even putting your hat in the ring to be discovered or make a sale.
How to Make Social Media Management Easy (Even When You Are a Team of One)
Now let’s talk about how you can actually do the work to grow your social media presence.
1. Make a plan.
This is by far the most important (and skipped!) step in using social media. Without making a strategy you begin to get overwhelmed by decisions- which platform should you use? How many times should you post? Let’s break down where to start:
a. Choose 2 primary channels you will post on most regularly. (Hint: choose the channels where your audience is spending time, not where you spend time).
b. Determine how often you think you can realistically post. Don’t worry about what you “should” do, focus on what you can do right now.
c. Create a calendar. Start with 30 days. Based on the channels you will be using and how often you will be posting, map out the core offerings you want to promote on your calendar (blog posts, courses, books, 1-1s, etc.). Then add to the calendar any events you want to promote, followed by special days you want to highlight (anniversary, social awareness day, holiday). Finally, fill in any gaps with something else you’d like to share - fun facts, other people’s content, quotes, etc.
2. Automate/Streamline.
Now it’s time to execute the plan! Use your calendar as a guide and just start filling in each planned post with the actual caption, link, and/or photo you want to share.
Here are some tips to make this painless:
a. Batch: One of the easiest ways to minimize the time it takes you to create your social media is to batch - this means sitting down to do one type of task at a time: writing captions, editing photos, engaging, etc. Schedule in time to do each of these items separately so your brain can focus on one action at a time.
b. Repurpose/reuse: One of your best tools will be to repurpose content you already have or are releasing. For example, if you write a blog post, use that as a base for some social media posts. You can fill at least 2 weeks sharing points from the post, reminding your audience it’s new, sharing quotes from it, etc. As you create new posts, you can still post about this older post regularly to drive clients to your content, this is the tactic of reusing. Don’t be afraid to continuously share older content, it is still new for someone!
c. Automate: There are many tools that will help you schedule your social media posts (so you don’t have to daily!), will generate hashtags for you, and even reuse posts indefinitely. Search on Google for “social media tools” to find examples of tools you can use (or contact us at @UncommonlyMore to see what we recommend).
Still Feel Like This Is Too Much? Start Here:
1. Show Up As You. Struggling to post often? To find the “perfect” photo? To caption something in a fun, yet meaningful way? Tell your audience. What they want is to get to know you. They want to relate and feel like they are working with a brand that is authentic. The easiest way to show this? Just show up how you are, start now (even if you don’t feel ready) and grow from there - your audience will understand.
2. Engage. Social media is about connection and building community. Even if you can’t post as regularly as you’d like, you can take 5 minutes a day (I promise you can find those 5 minutes!) to like, comment, and share other people’s posts. We like to say you just need to pretend you are at a party - how would you mingle and interact with others? Do that online. This is where the true client building and growth comes from; it doesn’t need to be perfect, just start engaging.
Find Support
Of course all of this takes some time. You won’t be perfect overnight, but just remember that everything that’s worth doing is hard at first.
And if this still feels like too much, there are levels of support you can reach out to - whether that’s finding tools to help automate, a virtual assistant to schedule posts, a social media manager to run your accounts, or an agency to help you make a plan of action, you have options.
Now, your first step in growing your social media presence: go post one thing to one of your social media accounts and tag us (@UncommonlyMore) to let us know you are taking action!
Uncommonly More is a digital marketing agency for female leaders. We create custom marketing packages to serve your goals. Whether you are looking for an extra set of eyes on your marketing plan, need help while launching a new podcast or product, or want a team to help you execute your overall strategy, we’re here to support you! Contact us today to find the best option for you: hello@uncommonlymore.com.