Make social media marketing easier!

In today's digital world, getting your brand noticed can feel like trying to stand out in a crowded marketplace. With tight budgets and limited resources, it's easy to feel like a small fish in a big pond. 

BUT, you’ve still got to put yourself out there. 

Here are some quick tips to help make marketing your business fun and more efficient!

Get organized

1. Create a social media folder

   This is where all things social media should live. We use Google Drive for ours, but you can use whatever works best for you. This is where we write content, store screenshots, keep images and videos to use in our content, dump ideas, store our tracker, etc.

   If it involves social media, it lives in this folder. 

2. Dump your ideas

   Throughout your day by doing what you do, you’ll come across a ton of ideas that you don’t want to forget. Pick a place to dump them so you can move on with what you’re doing. This can be things you’ve seen, things clients have said or just random things that pop into your head. If when the idea comes up you feel inspired to start a caption - go for it. If you just have a topic you want to save, that’s fine too.

   The idea of the brain dump is to get it out of your head so you can focus on the task at hand.

3. Screenshot ideas

   Sometimes it’s too much work to write out ideas or copy and paste - so just take pictures/screenshots. If you’re reading a good book and something jumps out, take a picture. If a client says something in an email, take a screenshot. If you see something on IG that you like, take a screenshot.

   **When I say screenshot ideas on IG I do not mean to copy their content. Make sure you are using other people’s content for inspiration and not just taking it.

4. Create a tracker

   Use a spreadsheet to store your content. This includes posting date, the caption, graphic, hashtags, locations, which platforms, analytics and any notes you want to remember.

   Not only does this make it easier to see when you need to write more content, but it also makes repurposing content later much easier (and means you have a copy of all of your content should anything happen to any of your accounts).

Create processes

Instead of trying to remember all the moving bits that are needed, make a process. That way when you need to do some social media you have something to refer to to make it easier and take away some of the stress. Make sure your process includes all the elements you want to do on social media: posts, stories, engagement etc. Here are some key areas to consider: 

1. Analytics

   Make sure you take time to pull your analytics. Analytics can give you insight into what people are responding to. What is getting the most attention? Be careful not to get too obsessed with these vanity metrics, this part is meant to help you adjust what your content is, not send you into a spiral. 

2. Content creation

   Create a process for what you write about and when. This way when you sit down to do your content, you don’t have to think about what topic is next. If you have a content plan you follow, you can look at the next topic, go to your brain dump for some ideas and you’re off to the races.

   This doesn’t mean you have to stick to the content order, this just means if you don’t have any ideas you want to write about, you have some guidance to get started.

3. Graphics

   Create templates and some sort of plan. I’m not saying you need to have a strict graphic pattern on your IG grid. Just like content, if you have some sort of pattern you follow, it makes it easier to create a graphic for the caption you just wrote. Example, you could rotate between your brand colours, you could rotate between photos and text, you could rotate between your 5 favourite templates.

   The goal is to eliminate worrying about what graphic to use. 

4. Engagement 

   When are you going to engage? How? For how long? Are you going to engage with your current audience or do lead generation? If you just open your social media without a plan, you will most likely end up going down a rabbit hole. Make sure you know exactly what you want to accomplish so you can engage with a purpose. 

Get creative 

Now that you’re organized and have your processes in place - you can have fun with your content! You are the expert in your business. Instead of worrying what you think people want to hear or what the “experts” have told you online, write about what you do, who you are, who you help. Share your passion! 

If you’re feeling inspired, awesome! All you have to do is create, put it in your tracker and you’re done.

If you’re not, it’s ok! That’s why we have the idea dump and content process. Look at the next topic you want to talk about, go to your ideas and pick the first one that jumps out. Don’t try to force yourself to write about something you’re not in the mood for. If you’re still struggling try Googling or asking ChatGPT for some inspiration. Anything to get you off a blank page. 

Don’t force it

If you’re anything like me, you can’t force creativity. I need to be in the mood and I need to feel inspired.

If I try to write content (or a blog like this one) when I’m not feeling creative - it will take FOREVER and I will hate every minute of it.

By being organized and following a process, you give yourself time to have those non-creative days. You can walk away and try again another time because the pressure of needing a post “right now” is eliminated.

Marketing doesn’t have to be hard 

Being organized and having processes is not meant to restrict you, it actually allows you the freedom to be creative. All the external pressures are removed so you can focus on the task at hand: sharing your passion on social media.