BB Ep 55: Making a Social Media Strategy That Works with Amy Jo Martin

It’s time to talk about building a social media strategy that works. No matter the type or size of your business, having a strong social media strategy is important. You don’t have to be an expert to find success on social media. Getting People to the Party With an Effective Social Media Strategy I want you to think of your social media profiles like a party! And people can’t come to your party and have a great time if they don’t know about it or show up. I’m going to break this down into seven ways for you to step up your social media strategy to attract more followers. Seven Ways to Step Up Your Social Media Strategy 1. Be Visual If your social media page is a party, think about how you signify to real-life guests where to find your party. You put out balloons and maybe a sign. You want to make it really clear: THIS IS THE PLACE TO BE! Do the same thing when you post content on your social media page: make it visual whenever possible. This will instantly set your content and posts apart. Can you add a photo or video? Is there a graphic you can create? There are tons of apps and tools to help you create visual content in less than a minute. I’ve got a list of a few of my favorites on my Social Media Cheat Sheet. 2. Be Interesting The human brain is designed to ignore anything that is familiar. It’s constantly scanning its environment and labeling, categorizing and discarding anything that isn’t necessary for survival. It’s crazy. It’s the reason that I can say, “If at first you don’t succeed . . . “ and you instantly know how to finish that sentence. Your brain finishes it for you and moves on. But if I say, “If at first you don’t succeed, then skydiving probably isn’t for you,” then that stands out because it’s interesting. Related: Ep 31: Branding the Look and Tone of Your Busines 3. Be Varied When you add variety to your content on your social media strategy, it keeps people coming back for more because you’ve added an element of surprise and delight. It’s the same reason that I could go into T.J. Maxx twice a week but I won’t go into a department store more than twice a year. Department stores don’t have as much variety as T.J. Maxx! The variety is addicting and it draws you in again and again. Mix up the types of post you’re putting out into the world to keep your follower’s attention. Related: Get the Most Out of Your Content 4. Be Engaging If you want to grow your impact on social media, you need to increase your engagement. Engagement indicates how many people acted on your post—they didn’t just view it or scroll past it; they responded in some way. They liked it, shared it, retweeted it, left a comment, etc.  Any of these are great things because the more people that engage with your posts, the more “successful” the platform views that post and the more likely they are to show it to even more people. When it comes to your social media strategy, pay attention to what types of your posts get people to do something. 5. Be Responsive In life and on social media, one-way conversations are not fun. That’s why you should set aside a few minutes each day to respond to comments and feedback you receive. Your customers are more likely to respond to your content (remember: engage!) when you respond to them and engage. Treat others how you want to be treated, right? So if you want more responses, be more responsive. Related: 3 Ways to Connect With Your Tribe Using Social Media Content 6. Be Consistent If your social media followers see you four times a day for months, and then you choose to go off the grid, they’ll be confused. You have to show up when you say you’re going to and be consistent! You get to choose what your consistency is, but then stick to it! Your content should have variety, but your frequency should have consistency. Teach people what to expect from you and then follow through. Consistency is so key in building trust with your tribe. 7. Be Authentic Building a brand is easy when you are just yourself from day one. Then you don’t have to try to put on a show or be someone you’re not, which can be exhausting. Instead, you just put yourself out there—the good, bad and ugly—and let people come for who you are. When you do this, you attract the right people. Be authentic in your social media presence and watch what happens. You’ll gain not just fans, but loyal customers. Related: Ep. 51— How to Build Trust With Your Social Media Followers How to Build a Social Media Strategy That Works with Amy Jo Martin Amy Jo Martin founded Digital Royalty, where she helped corporations, celebrities and sports entities humanize their brands online through social media. Before exiting in 2016, she worked on social media strategies for clients like former Suns player Shaquille O’Neal. Y’all … Shaquille O’Neal! Amy Jo is the author of New York Times best-seller Renegades Write the Rules, and host of the Why Not Now? podcast. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Amy Jo began working for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Working in male-centric industries, Amy Jo developed a passion for helping women thrive in business leadership. She is currently spending her time researching the relationship between technology and humanity and investing in other female entrepreneurs so they can reach their full potential. She believes the future of technology is the future of humanity. Her motto is “humans connect with humans, not logos”. In addition to being an expert in creating social media strategies, Amy Jo has a pretty impressive social media following herself—more than 1 million people—and was named the third most powerful woman on Twitter by Forbes. I am thrilled that Amy Jo Martin will be a speaker at our Business Boutique 3-Day Event in Nashville this November! In this episode, Amy Jo Martin and I talk about: Social Media algorithms and how to best utilize them. How to engage your social media audience and connect with them better. Why you should be bold and take risks. Related: 3 Ways to Connect With Your Tribe Using Social Media Challenge: Determine Your Social Media Boundaries You probably already know this, but as a reminder, everything you put online is permanent. (Even if you delete it.) Since being more in the “public eye,” I’ve created boundaries to be proactive in protecting myself and my family when it comes to posting online. I’ve also set boundaries for my social media posting strategy and consumption. My Social Media Boundaries I never post on social media when I don’t want you to be looking at your phone. I don’t post on teachings on Thanksgiving or try to sell you something on Christmas morning. I may show you a photo of my family or my Thanksgiving turkey, but nothing that would distract you from your family. I never post any photos of my children that I would not want on a Christmas card. That means no naked, crying, screaming or having a meltdown photos. I want to protect how I present them online. I don’t want anyone to find anything that would embarrass them in 10 or 20 years. I never look at my phone between 5:30 and 7:30. I want to set that time aside for my family. These are the lines I’ve drawn for myself and my social media strategy and use. What are yours? Figure out where your lines are. Define what you post and what you don’t. Define what time you post and when you don’t. It’s your social media and your prerogative. But it’s time to be proactive and intentional. Related: How to Keep Up With Social Media (and Still Run Your Business) Don’t forget that I love hearing from you! Give me a call on my new toll-free line at 844.944.1074. You might hear your question on a future episode! 1:25 Seven Ways to Step Up Your Social Media Strategy 18:01 How to Build a Social Media Strategy That Works with Amy Jo Martin 41:27 #AskChristyWright 49:53 Challenge: Determine Your Social Media Boundaries Get Christy's Social Media Cheat Sheet by filling out the form here! Sign up for the Business Boutique Academy waitlist at BusinessBoutique.com/Academy. To save $10 on any Business Boutique Nashville ticket, use the code BBWRIGHT. If you have a success story you would like to share with the Business Boutique community, email me at [email protected]. New podcast episodes are available every other week.