Solve your Social Media Marketing Stress: 10 Heart Centered Tips for 2023
Moving into a new year is a great time to revamp your approach to social media management. As entrepreneurs we wear many hats every day, and sometimes marketing and social media can feel like a heavy hat! Without a clear plan or direction that is in alignment with our business goals and purpose, social media can take up alot of our precious time and energy. If you often worry about how your content will come across to others, regularly lose sight of why you’re posting in the first place, unsure if what you’re posting is working, constantly questioning what you should be posting and when, and full of confusion, doubt, or stress when it comes to managing the social media for your business—you’re not alone. Social media marketing can be overwhelming but it doesn’t have to be. As a social media coach, I can assure you that you can feel a sense of clarity, confidence and calm around your social media strategy. Here are 10 tips to help you get there.
10 Tips from a heart-centered social media coach:
Review all your posts from the past year and take notes. Log into your social media accounts and look at statistics about your best performing posts from the past year. Which posts got the most engagement, and which posts went unnoticed? Find patterns—what do the top performing posts all have in common? Make plans to create more of the types of content that your audience has liked and commented on in the past.
Map out your year and record important dates by month. Create a list of important dates, holidays, or events relevant to your business. These are things you might consider incorporating into your posting plans. For example, if you’re a wellness-related business owned or led by women, you may choose to acknowledge World Mental Health Day and International Women’s Day in your posts. Do you want to acknowledge your staff birthdays or employee work-aversaries? Are you launching a new product, hosting workshops, presentations, or other events you want to share on social media? Write them all down, organized by month, and refer to this list whenever you sit down to create social media content.
Plan your content in advance. I promise you, this will save you time and effort. Make space in your schedule every month to sit down and spend 2-5 hours planning and creating content for the upcoming month. Assign dates, images, and captions to each planned post. It’s okay if you waver from this plan, but having the plan will give you a sense of relief and ease every week. Having everything mapped out and written in advance means all you’ll have to do is copy and paste to publish your content when it’s time. Better yet, use a scheduling tool to make it even easier! See Tip #8.
Get clear on your brand and your messaging. Who are you as a business and what do you value, stand for, and represent? If your business was a person, what would they be like; personality, preferences, interests, desires? What are you as a business all about? Make a list of your values and the key messages that you want your audience to remember about you and the work that you do. These things may seem obvious to you, but may not be so obvious to your followers. Refer often to this list when creating your social media content and don’t stray too far from your brand identity and brand messaging. Be consistent, and remember that it’s okay to repeat yourself often.
Be authentic and social to save money and maximize organic reach. Ads can be a great tool, but social media is about so much more than just the hard sell. To get the most out of your social media efforts without spending extra on ads or boosting posts, focus on creating quality content to maximize your organic reach—that means the number of people who see and interact with your content without spending money to increase the visibility of your posts. Social media networks are designed for interaction, so think about how you can represent yourself as a business beyond convincing people to buy your product or service. How can you engage with your followers, express your brand personality, and build relationships with your potential and/or existing clients and customers? Remember it’s not just about ads!
Provide value with thoughtful content. Social media is full of constant, relentless demands for our attention. Instead of just adding to the noise with sales-related messaging that makes your followers feel like you’re trying to get something from them, make your audience remember you by giving them something that adds value to their experience online. Show them something that will make them stop scrolling. Make them smile or giggle. Inspire or motivate them with a quote. Make them feel seen and validated in a relatable struggle. Educate them about your industry (but make it interesting!). Give them a tip that could improve their life in a simple way. What intangible gifts can you give them, besides selling your product or service?
Know who you are talking to. In order to really provide value to your followers, you need to know who they are. Who is your target audience? Who is watching your social media accounts and what are they interested in? What are their struggles, wishes, hopes, and dreams? Get to know them so that you can learn to speak to them in a way that attracts their interest, trust, or respect.
Use a scheduling software tool. These tools allow you to plan your content and schedule all your posts for automatic publishing at the most optimal times—the times when your audience is most likely to be online and see your posts. Do a little research and try a couple to see what feels best for you. You could try AgoraPulse, Later, Hootsuite, Sendible, Loomly, or others. Most have free and paid versions.
Know the difference between stories and posts. Posts are permanent content that your audience can access long after it’s posted. Stories are temporary 24-hour panels that are often less planned and offer a glimpse of you and your business behind the scenes or on the fly. Stories and posts are different, each with unique advantages. However, not all content is well-suited to both—your content should be tailored for use in either stories or permanent posts. You might choose to focus more heavily on one over the other, or use a blend of both. Experiment!
Work with a social media coach or hire a social media manager. When in doubt, hiring a professional can help you find clarity, confidence and calm around social media marketing. Learn more about 1:1 mentorship services with Costron + Co.
Our social media manager could be the coach you are looking for.
Maybe you’ve tried all these tips but still don’t find any joy in the social media realm. Maybe you want someone to do it all for you—you can have that! Or maybe you want someone to lead the way so you can be involved but not overwhelmed—that’s an option! Sometimes all you need is someone experienced who is in your corner to answer all your questions, provide feedback and tips, and keep you feeling empowered to manage your own social media. Whatever level of support you feel you need, Costron + Co. can help you find the right fit.
Get in touch with us to discover how I can help you feel good about the social media strategy for your heart-centered business, either directly or with support from the experienced marketing collaborators of Costron + Co!
