Social Media is Really Easy

Social Media is Actually Really Easy

Social media is actually really easy. Just like anything in life that is easy, people must try to make it more difficult than it really is.

With that being said, does that mean that everyone can be a successful social media manager, community manager, etc.?

No.

Let me explain why.

Like the title of this post states, social media is easy, really easy. Let’s just take the first word of the phrase “social media”, which is ‘social’. Being social can mean a lot of different things, in this case, it just means being social on the internet. Let’s think about being social in person to give this example.

Going to a party

You are going to a party with a friend and it’s a new crowd of people, some you may have seen before, but majority of them you’ve never met before. When you walk into that party and you get introduced to people how does the conversation go?

Do you say – “Hi, my name is Tom and I sell widgets. Here’s 5 reasons why my widgets are better than the widget competitor. Also, if you want to buy some widgets right now, then you can use this code. Here’s another 5 reasons why you need widgets in your life.”

If you answered “yes” to that being how you would introduce yourself to a new group of people at party, well, you’re most likely failing at life as well.

You would never do that at a party. So, why would you do that on social media?

Take a look at your Facebook page, Twitter account, Instagram profile. Is it filled with only your own articles, products, coupon codes, you, you, you, you, you?

If it is, do you think people want to interact with you?

Absolutely not!

Once again, social media is really easy!

Happy Birthday at a Wedding

Here’s another example.

If you’re attending a wedding, would you show up to the wedding with balloons and a card that says, “Happy Birthday!”

If you do, then you may be the clown of the group, but you most likely wouldn’t.

What does that have to do with social media?

Simple.

Each platform is different.

Facebook images are different sizes than Twitter images. People react to different types of images and videos on Instagram than they do on Twitter. So, why would you just automatically share the same post to all your social media outlets at the same time? Why post something for Facebook onto Twitter?

Why bring a Happy Birthday card to a Wedding?

It’s simple. It really is.

What’s that, another example of how people make social media more difficult than it needs to be?

OK.

Party at Your Place…..Or Maybe Not

We’re going back to a party, in fact, we’re throwing the party this time. And we invite everyone over to our new house for this great announcement and information we want to share with everyone.

Except, when they get to the house, we tell them, never mind, you have to go down the street to the neighbors house to get it. But, then make sure to come back here for more.

Ever see this happen on social media?

I have.

A lot.

Here’s how: You have your Facebook account linked to your Twitter, so every time you post to Facebook it tweets out a message with a link to send people to Facebook. So, people who are on Twitter have to leave Twitter, to go over to Facebook to see what you have to say, then come back to Twitter to continue browsing……wait, no they didn’t.

Instead, they just didn’t click on the link to Facebook because, well, they aren’t on Facebook right now, they are on Twitter.

Why would you force people who are on one social media platform to go to another?

Why not talk to them where they are at already?

That would be the simple thing to do.

Is it the quickest and fastest way to do it?

No.

But it’s a lot more effective.

Social Media User vs. Social Media Marketer

But, that’s the difference between someone who truly understand social media strategy and how humans work and interact and someone who just knows how to upload a message to Hootsuite and blast out to one post to 10 different networks. Sounds like a great idea, until you see the engagement levels.

Here’s what you can do to help increase those engagement levels and make your social media efforts really easy. It’s going to require you to put in some work, but as long as you’re not afraid to outwork your competition, then you should be OK.

Monitor Your Social Media Analytics

Time

Take a look at your Facebook Insights, Twitter Analytics, Instagram data and find out when your followers are most active. Just scheduling a post every morning at 9:00 am is not going to get the job done. Test different times, days, multiple times a day, etc. You may find that you need to post in the morning for Facebook, afternoon for Twitter and night time for Instagram.

Type of Content

More than likely an image is going to do better than just text and a video with sub-titles may do better than the image. But you don’t know until you test and look at the data. The video may do great on Facebook, but an image may do better on Twitter. This is why it’s so important to know your data and figure out what receives the most engagement from your audience.

Long Form vs Short Form

This is an area of debate amongst social media “experts”. Which is better on Facebook and Instagram, long form or short form content? Well, the answer is. It depends. It depends on what works best for you.

However, I have seen short form and I have seen long form and I will take the long form majority of the time.

A lot of the time, people are afraid to write more than a sentence or two plus a link in a Facebook update or Instagram post.

Why?

Why not write an entire 500 word blog post in an Instagram post with an attention grabbing image?

Why not write an entire article as your Facebook status with a link to your call-to-action?

Here’s the usual answer:

You don’t want to put in the work. You won’t to be the status quo. You just want to do what you think everyone else is doing.

Try Long Form Content

Just do yourself a favor and try it.

Your next Facebook update, write 2 paragraphs, then double it the next time. Test the engagement.

You must keep this in mind though:

If your content sucks, it doesn’t matter if it’s short form or long form, it’s going to suck and people are not going to engage.

Use these analytics tips to help make your social media management easy again.

Think about the real life social examples before you post your next social media message.

It is OK to talk about yourself. But you don’t want to be the one in the room that is constantly talking about themselves and not engaging with others and asking about them.

Make social media easy again.