Top Social Media Questions... Answered
For our Social Media Q&A Panel, Kerry Rego and I asked attendees to send over their questions beforehand so we could make sure we were able to answer their questions. We went long (the nature of panels), so I wanted to add my answers here so people could have a place to come back to.. And for people that were not able to make it out.
Below are some of the top questions I see over and over again. We did have some more in-dept questions that I will add to a follow up blog post as well!
What happens when you have social media fatigue?
We have all been there. Around the election, or just working on the same brand for years... It feels like creating content and connecting with people never ends...
Social media can start to feel that way. My two cents on how to fix this? Take a step back and figure out why you hate it. Is it taking up too much of your time? Are you not inspired? Are you not seeing results?
These can all be helped with a strategy. It takes time, but it is SO worth it to know what your game plan is first.
Another way to help: BATCH your work in time chunks. Schedule time at the beginning of each month or each week to create content and schedule it via Buffer or Hootsuite, etc.
When you are always creating content at the last minute, it is stressful—and it takes the mental energy and fun away from the act of CREATING. It's frustrating. So, take some time to plan your content and I promise it can be fun again.
If it isn't, maybe it's time to take a look at what you are creating and make it fun. Because If it isn't fun for you, it definitely isn't for your customer.
What if you’re simply too busy for social media marketing?
This is one my favorite questions to answer because we are juggling so many balls when it comes to our business, our home life, etc. that sometimes it’s hard to look past your own to-do list and find time for social media marketing.
One my favorite authors is Laura Vanderkam, who writes about time management. One of her most memorable quotes is “Stop saying that you’re busy, start understanding that you don’t want to give priority to that thing.”
When I first started dating my husband, I had a full-time job and my social media marketing consulting agency on the side. I barely had time to do anything outside of work, but I sure as hell made time for my love life because I really was excited about seeing him.
I managed to make him a priority while juggling two jobs because he became a priority. I didn’t let go of my other jobs, but I somehow found the time to see him.
Put that analogy into social media marketing: maybe it’s not a priority for you, and that’s okay. But social media is so important that you need to figure out if you can outsource it. Either within your company or by hiring someone to do it. That, or you find the time and the passion to learn how to do it correctly yourself.
Ignoring social media is not an option anymore, I can promise you that.
Social media success is a long road and it must follow a passion. Long-term commitment is to make room for your passion. It doesn't have to be whatever everyone else is doing. Find what makes sense for your brand. When you are creating content while having fun, you will find the time.
What type of content should I be creating?
Obviously, this is different for everyone. My recommendation is to check out your website and your past social media efforts. Which pages get the most traffic? What content has worked the best on social media in the past? (I use Buffer for all my analytics, but you can look at the networks themselves). You may start seeing trends, like images that have the same color scheme, or a specific menu item, or a rose (rose wine images ALWAYS do well).
Take that information and put it into a spreadsheet, then brainstorm other ideas. One of my favorite tricks is to take one idea and figure out multiple ways of creating content around that.
Let’s say you have a certain product that does better than others. You can create a video around it, take pictures, send that product to an influencer so they can share it with their community, do a giveaway, and create a blog post. There are so many different types of content.
And my recommendation would be to share those all at the same time.
Whether you’re a one-person team or a team of many, get everyone together (or chat with your community) and brainstorm ideas for content. Even if you’re the only one normally doing it, it’s great to hear from others of what they think might work.
If you had to pick one social media platform, which one would you pick?
Thankfully, we don’t live in a time where I have to pick! If you asked me in September 2017, I would have said Instagram. But after seeing how the Sonoma community came together and connected through Facebook, I’m back to loving Facebook again.
Facebook has the numbers. EVERYONE is using it. And it is a great channel if you are connecting with a local target market.
Instagram is more visual and allows brands to share behind the scenes information (in IG Stories) that makes their community more engaged. This is a place for connections. Especially great for hospitality brands that focus on tourism.
How do you get more people to interact with posts on Facebook?
If we are solely looking at unpaid ways to get engagement I would start off taking a look at the content itself. Good content matters.
Having a bright colored picture that matches your branding and your goals, and editing your description to tell a story, and have a called action like asking a question. Something that will evoke a response.
Then when someone does leave a comment, make sure to respond to that. Even it’s simple as a heart emoji for asking a question trying to get the conversation going even more.
Because you’re more engagement from people you get the more organic reach your postal again meaning more people will see this content. And so on.
Another way is for you to share a post from your brand page on your own personal page. Facebook has created an algorithm where profile pages get more clout than brand pages. Meaning that people see stuff from their friends. So if it’s a piece of content that you’re really excited about like a sale or a special offer or just something you're proud of, share it on your personal page and more people will have access to see it.
And as we know Facebook has become pay to play. Meaning if you put a few dollars into promoting a post on Facebook it will give me seen by more people. It really doesn’t take that much money. In fact, Facebook is probably one of the best advertising mediums to truly get the most out of your dollars. Where else can get you thousands of views for a few dollars?
Just try boosting a post or two and see what happens.
Tools for social media?
You can actually do a great job at social media marketing with just one tool: your phone. Most of the time, I take pictures with my phone or my camera, which has a Wi-Fi SD card so I can transfer images quickly to my phone. I edit those images using the Native or Instagram app and save to post later.
I have a few other tools if you are looking to take the next step... Check out my blog on Top Gifts for Social Media Marketers.
I use Buffer as my scheduling app so I can BATCH content for the week or month. This way I have a balance of content ready to go, rather than creating something JUST TO GET IT UP at the last minute.
Also, I love OVER or CANVA for adding text to images. My one rule there: make sure your text matches with your branding. Pleassssssseeeeee. I have said it before, one of my biggest pet peeves is having content that doesn't match your brand image.
What is your one takeaway for social media marketing?
I have two: when it comes down to it, social media is about strategy and having a plan, while at the same time being able to think quickly on your feet; and, it’s about community management.
It's as simple as answering questions when customers ask on social media. During the fires, many people had a lot of questions - wanting to know if places were open, or if they carried a specific product. Those people were asking via Facebook. And their answers went unanswered. In addition to losing a sale, they possibly could have lost that person's trust.
