Like most kicking off the New Year with the best of intensions I decided this would be a fitting message to share with you while your head is also in a space of ‘doing it right’.
But can I just put it out there that over the years I have become a bit of a cynic when it comes to New Years resolutions. With that in mind, I have made these tips doable and breakable… ish. The thing is, we ALL want to be better at our marketing – especially the digital stuff since its what everyone talks about. The truth though – we are all students and one little change is far better than sitting still especially while we are more time poor than ever in 2019 (I have to wonder what I used to do with all my time). So how exactly do we improve our marketing and not use up precious time?
Without wasting any more time, here’s my top 5 tips to give all the appearances of being Social Media savvy, reap the rewards and not be glued to your phone and/or a computer (also a resolution for 2019).
1 – Be consistent.
(Did she just say that?!) I know, you have no time, so here’s the solution – Batch Post. Yep, set aside an hour to fast track and do the following;
- Find your top 10 motivational quotes, sayings, jokes, funny fails or really, any topic that makes sense to your business remembering to consider first and foremost your target market and what THEY want to see.
- Create a template post in a simple design app or program, my picks are ‘Canva’ on PC and ‘Typorama’ on my phone. Once you have a themed template all you have to do is reinsert different messages into your template for future posts. Then stick with it.
- Schedule and space out these themed posts on your Social Media platform, so they’re not back to back to give you plenty of ‘filler’ content to break things up while keeping your content consistent.
When I do this, I usually create 2-3 types of batch posts on different platforms. For example, Facebook posts x 10 for every Friday, a tip of the week x 10 for every Tuesday and inspirational business quotes x 10 for Instagram. This way I’m using my hour to be as productive as possible and I can have 10 weeks loaded in just like that.
2 – Do the Daily 10.
Now that you have a good chunk of your content scheduled, its still important to be present BUT you don’t want to be a slave to Social Media so here’s my solution. Pick a time each day that suits you to spend 10 minutes doing your check, I like to use my time when I have my morning coffee so I feel like I’m multitasking AND I have ticked a job off the days list before I even leave the house. Here’s what to do;
- Check notifications and respond to any comments and shares
- Check your messages
- Jump onto someone else’s pages and like/comment on their post/s
- Check your scheduled posts are going as planned and they are still relevant
3 – Know who you’re talking to.
To save time and avoid ‘content block’ (yep, it’s real) then it seriously helps to know your audience. I mean really know them, like their problems, their joys and especially what interests them. That way, you can get into their head. Newsflash, if you try to please everyone, you will please no-one. If you haven’t done it yet, do yourself a HUGE favour and identify your avatar.
4 – Get inspired.
Don’t reinvent the wheel, one of the best ways to build your business online is to take a leaf out of someone else’s book that’s already paved the way. Now let me clarify, I do NOT mean copying. I simply mean, check out some people that are in the same industry as you maybe even in another country and take some inspiration from what they do and put your own spin on it. It’s so important to be authentic and make it your own, people will see straight through fake and make believe so be careful with this one.
I like to spend a few minutes every now and then exploring big brands and players on social media. I take notes on observations such as their posting patterns, times, content types and exactly how they interact with their audience. I also note colours and language/buzz words that work for them. I use my observations and adapt to make it my own. This saves lots of time that I would other wise use experimenting myself when the hard yards have already been done for me!
5 – Set boundaries.
Ok, this one isn’t obvious but it’s the most important of all. Mastering your Social Media CAN become a drag as can any marketing if you let it rule your day and believe me, it can very easily take over. To be effective, productive and profitable and most importantly – doing the things in your business that you love, follow similar rules to me;
- Allocate a 2 hour spot in your calendar each week to do your content creation and manage ALL your marketing and make sure you stick to it. If you find you need more, add the time onto this spot, don’t try and find it elsewhere… you will either become haphazard and become less productive or worse, you won’t do it at all.
- Do your 10 minutes every 1-2 days, make it a ritual.
- Have a set time that your phone & computer go away each night and stick to it. If you have an Iphone, use the new screen time monitoring feature. You can even have it automatically switch to aeroplane or night mode or send you a warning at your designated switch off time.
- DON’T put your phone by your bed when you sleep. Why? Because its been proven that blue light activates our brain and can hinder sleep and if you are anything like me then you may find the temptation to check your phone if you wake at night too great… give yourself time to rest and switch off, that means your phone too.
Ps – I learnt these the hard way, you can thank me later 😉
To wrap up quickly – my hope for you, is that this year can be one of great growth without sacrificing your own sanity and health… oh yes I speak from experience. I would love for you to use all of these ideas and see great things happen. Remember that it all starts with one step so if you can take just one for now and consistently stick to it. I promise you will see results.
Time up 😉
Many blessings,
Sam
