Of all the things I can attribute to social media success, consistency would be a key factor and the number 1 skill I would work on building. When you’re consistent and committed to the activity, you get better at the skill in the process. Being consistent helps you stand out because so many other entrepreneurs are inconsistent with their message and their follow through. If you want someone to commit to being a loyal customer or partner, than you need to be committed to providing value. Commitment to consistency improves your skillset, it sets you apart from your competition, and it shows that you are a person worth investing in.

The Truth about Social Media

I’m going to be straight up with you, because that’s what I do. If you’re not going to commit to being consistent on social media, it does not make sense for you to use this as a tool to build your business. Social media platforms reward those who use their platform consistently, and if you just want to randomly post when it feels good, you’re just not going to get results.

I’m also going to tell you that it can be simple for you to create consistency on social media by  making it a habit, and no you do not need to spend all your time on social media in order to have success. But you do need a plan, you do need to take action, and you need to take advice from someone who only uses social media as a tool for building their business...eh hem, moi 😉

In today’s article I want to give you some tangible tools you can start using right away and share with you some of my hacks for creating engagement so that I get my posts on more eyes every single day.

What you should be posting to build trust, rapport and authority as an expert on Social Media

Contrary to what we see on social media and how many people are using the tool, social media is not a place to make a sale. It’s a tool to market and facilitate a sale through relationship building and networking. Social media is a place where as a business owner we should be creating value and sharing the benefits of the service we provide, so that our followers will want to learn more about what we do, learn to trust us, and take action.

To create a well rounded content calendar you need to create a 5 dimensional brand. To do this, outline the 5 topics that describe who you are and what you want to be known for. You’ll want to consider your skillsets and strengths in your business in which you can share value driven posts that will demonstrate you are the person to follow when it comes to these topics. Some of the things you will see if you follow my social media are the topics of lifestyle, travel, family, social media, and health and wellness. These are the topics I am the most passionate about and are why I do what I do.

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Too often I see business owners giving a full out presentation on their timeline. They are skipping the courting process and asking their friends, family and followers to commit to the sale before they’ve even had an invitation to learn more. Social media is a great place to invite people to take a closer look, but you need to have a system set up where they can than see the presentation and take action.

The best way to share information is through story..you know the old “facts tell, stories sell” principle. Instead of posting pictures and facts about your products or the service you provide, share the benefit that you, your team or your clients received from using them. Be nonchalant in how you share these, and avoid using the name of products, your company, and specific details. People love to be curious and to ask for more information, so if you give too much, you leave nothing to the imagination. People will make a yes or no decision before you have a chance to have a conversation with them.

Every now and again you’re going to put out a direct post that invites people to learn more. This can be an invitation to a private event, a Facebook group, to read a blog post, watch a video, have a chat, or try a sample. Again, you want to create curiosity through  a story that gets your followers to raise their hands, so you want to speak to the benefits, and then give them a call to action to take the next step. Again, you’re not going to speak to the details of what you’re offering, but share the benefits, a transformational story /before and after, and then let people ask for more information. When someone raises their hand and ask for more information, you then have a new lead.

How often and when you should be posting on Social Media

Do you need to be posting on social media multiple times a day? The answer is no. There is a fine balance in being awarded engagement by these platforms, and the key is consistency. I recommend scheduling out 2 posts per week, and you can use this formula to be consistent:

Do this every single week. I recommend using a scheduler so you can sit down at the start of each week, or each month, and make sure your posts are going out consistently. I use buffer for this because it allows me to schedule to multiple platforms at the same time, and allows for me to schedule inside of groups as well. 

The great thing about Buffer is that it read your social media insights on each platform, and will send your posts out when you varying audiences are online. But if you want to do this manually, you can review your insights on each platform and schedule accordingly. Common times that people are online, and again this can vary, but as a general rule: 7-9 am, 1-3 pm, and 8-10pm.

Which Social Media Platforms should you be posting on?

Do you need to be on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Periscope….ahhhhhh the list never ends! The answer is no. Be realistic with the time you have to promote your business, and go where your audience is. As a full time stay at home mom, I was trying to learn and manage multiple platforms, because I didn’t want to miss out on opportunities to bring in leads. But the truth is, I was just spread thin and doing a lot of things, but not very well.

I reeled it all back, I chose my 2 favourite platforms that I love to spend time on and where my demographic is hanging out..Instagram and Facebook. Yes I have a profile on Twitter still, and pinterest, and linkedin...but right now it isn’t where I focus my attention to bringing in leads.

Consider the platform that makes the most sense to you and your business, determine if this is where your target audience is spending their time, and the learn these platforms in and and out.

Simple ways to engage your audience and boost your views on social media

Now everything I’ve discussed up to this point is what we call passive marketing. It’s part of the puzzle, but it’s not the only part. You want to have a nice blend of high tech and high touch, because people need to know you’re a real person who cares about their needs. One of the biggest mistakes we can make as business owners is assuming that our business or our social media is all about us.

If we’re just posting about our life, our successes, what we love, and what is important to us...people are going to get tired of hearing all about you. If you can take what you love and turn it around to show other people how to have success and be in love with what they have, you will build a loyal following and community of people who look forward to seeing what you’re sharing.

So how do we make our Social Media about serving others?

Set aside time each day to connect with others and pay attention to what is happening in your feed. I recommend scheduling in 1 hour to engage and network on your platform. Here are some things to look for:

• Who is liking your posts? Initiate a conversation with them about the topic.
• What are other people posting and how can you be supportive to them?
• Whose birthday is it? Send them a thoughtful message that will make you stand out from the other posts.
• Respond to posts other people leave on their timeline. Let people know what they post is important by leaving a thoughtful comment.
• Respond to comments people are leaving on your posts and tag them in the post so your posts are being sent back out into the newsfeed. Pro Tip: Never give more information about your business in the comments, always let them know you will pm them more info.
• Compliment people, offer value, answer questions
• Personally message and thank anyone who likes, comments or shares you posts and have a conversation.

I like to create consistent habits out of the tasks required for marketing my business. I have a 3x3x3x3 rule for myself and my team to maximize our time on social media:

• Meet 3 new people
• Have 3 new conversations per day
• Follow up with 3 current clients
• Invites 3 people who have raised their hand to learn more about my business/products/opportunity

You can choose to do more or less of each bullet, based on your own goals, but again, you are creating a habit so consistent is key. One thing I would not encourage you to do is have a minimum mindset for what is required in your business, but I also wouldn’t encourage you to set activity goals that are completely unrealistic for your schedule. This is only going to set you up to feel like a failure, so look at what works with your life, your job, your family, and make a plan that you can stick to.