4 Easy Steps to Get Started on Social Media
Social media has gained a huge prevalence fairly quickly over the past few years, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. While spending downtime on social can be a time suck as you get stuck in the mindless scroll, it can also be extremely helpful in marketing and promotion, as well as finding your target audience and connecting with them directly. If you’re unsure about whether spending time on social media content will be worth it, let’s look at the numbers to see why social media matters right now? There are an estimated 270 million active social media users in the United States. Facebook is currently the most popular social media site with over 200 million active users, and the most popular app is TikTok. That is a ton of potential clients.
Some of the major benefits of creating a social media presence include creating a community and being transparent leads to connections with people who may be too scared to ask questions in person, but a little bit of encouragement can go a long way. If you have a specific experience, it’s very likely someone else also has been through something similar. The empathy created between you and your audience will lead to trust and relationship. Beyond that is the financial benefit. There are multiple ways to make money through your social media presence and opportunities that are only continuing to grow. Creating an online business and growing my social media has allowed me to work part-time clinically and choose my schedule.
If you're feeling overwhelmed, let’s take it back to the basics. Here are four easy steps to get started on social.
Number one, set your goals.
What kind of account will you have? We’re all at different stages when it comes to our social media, but revisiting the mission of your account is helpful even if you are established in the space. The first thing to consider is what are your goals? There can certainly be overlap in these account types and your goals can change. Building a personal brand by showing your expertise and experience can allow you an audience and platform to build a business. An example of this is Dr. Pimple Popper. Dr. Sandra Lee started out by posting on YouTube and then transitioned to having a successful TV show and product line because of her online presence. A branded account can be a great building block for business and allows for potential growth by creating an audience of people who are interested in what you post and could become potential customers. Creating a skincare or clothing company becomes much easier when you already have someone to market to.
Another option is to start as an “influencer” and connect with brands to gain financially as you educate and show specific products. This term can carry a negative connotation, but is an account type with a lot of potential. Giving an inside look into your lifestyle and the things you enjoy will resonate with others who are similar in your audience. As an influencer, you’ll learn about negotiating and contracts, but there are many financial opportunities and some of the numbers being thrown out for a 15 second TikTok video are appealing. This is where authenticity comes in and only sharing what you truly think is a good product. It takes time and consistency to get started, but can lead to amazing opportunities once established.
You can also utilize affiliate marketing to get a percentage of sales made through specific links you share. You can do a little bit of both personal brand and influencer as well.
Number two, just start posting.
Once you've decided which direction you want to take with your account, you can start planning and creating content. There are other ways to categorize content, but these are three main categories. Education, Entertainment and Inspirational. There will certainly be crossover between these account types and they can be combined as well, but a good mix will keep variety in your audience and help you see what’s working. You’ll learn how to pivot and adjust if something is doing well or not quite hitting the mark. Don't worry about making your posts perfect from the beginning. You can get better at it as you go.
For post types, you can have photos, videos, or a graphic design. You can also combine these, but right now video is doing the best. For a static post, an image that includes a picture of your face will perform the next best. Some graphics or quotes can do well, but typically the algorithm will favor posts with people in them. Sharing general knowledge in an informational post or social proof with a review can help to build your credibility. And personal content always does well. This would be something about you that someone else could relate to or learn from. A peek at your job or what your life looks like after work helps your audience get to know you.
Number 3 - Stay consistent with your posting
Persistence goes along with consistency, but to continue to grow, you must keep going. One of the biggest mistakes of new creators is giving up too soon. You’ll hit plateaus and have times of great growth, sometimes without a clear explanation. That’s the unpredictable nature of social media, but if you stick with it, your account will grow.
And Number 4, pivot when needed.
If you see a new trend or something's not working or a post is doing really well, those are things you should be paying attention to. Once you start creating, you’ll need to understand the engagement of your audience and how many people are seeing your content and engaging with your posts. This includes likes or views, comments, and sharing. Your engagement rate is what drives an account and tells the social media platform that people are interested in your content, which gives you points in the algorithm. There are free engagement calculators online that will help you to understand how your content is performing. If you are below your goals, spend some time scrolling on your platform of choice to see what content seems to be resonating and what is falling flat. Get some ideas of ways you can make your posts more intriguing and see where you’re missing the mark.
We understand this process can feel overwhelming. Where will you find the time? What should you start with? We can help!