4 Big Things Stopping You From Succeeding on Social Media

category: content marketing content type: blog

You’ve probably heard the saying “Content is King”, right?

(Or maybe even heard it so many times that you wish people would stop saying it!)

Either way, the truth is that you can't be successful on social media without posting good stuff. And that good stuff? That's your content. That's what makes people sit up and take notice of you, makes them want to share your brand with their family and friends. No matter how amazing your products and services are,  you'll find it very difficult to promote them without supporting those promotions with a lot of great content.

The problem is, a lot of good businesses stop before they even get started because there is a lot of confusion about what businesses are supposed to do on social media. Below I've outlined 4 common myths that appear again and again in conversations with clients and other business owners - these are the big things that are stopping you from succeeding on social media!

 

1. You think it has to be perfect

This is often the first place small businesses get stuck. They look at big companies who are putting out professionally produced videos and heavily researched articles and think they have to do the same. After all, if anyone knows how to use social media it must be the big guys, right?

Not necessarily.

The key to social media is to be authentic. That may mean the occasional awkward selfie at a business luncheon or simple graphic. And that's OK (repeat after me – that’s OK!). It doesn't mean that you should get lazy with spelling and grammar (you still need people to take you seriously after all) but the content you put out doesn't have to be perfect. What it *does* have to be is representative of you and your brand.

 

2. You think you have to be a Kardashian

People’s general impression of social media tends to be celebrity-based, and so many business owners who are new to social media don’t get why they would want to post what they are eating for every meal or glamour shots of them at the salon. The answer is, of course, that you don’t want to do that (unless you are a chef or a makeup artist!).

You can be personal (i.e. social) without seeming irrelevant or giving away your private information.

Funny/interesting/inspirational/exciting things happen to us every day, and if you take the time to pay attention and share those things that relate to your business, you will seem more human. And (so far) the majority of the population would prefer to do business with a human, not a content robot.

Don't forget that being human also means being vulnerable. Your feed doesn't need to be *all* sunshine and kittens. Revealing your struggles or roadblocks may make you seem more relatable to your audience. Just be careful that you don't step over the line into pandering for attention.

 

3. You think you can’t promote anything

You’ve probably been a personal social media user longer than a business user, and you’ve probably unfollowed accounts that annoyed you with constant product and sales posts. In fact, you may have seen that so often that you think that’s what business social media is. And the problem? You don’t want to be that person.

Good for you!

The fact is, that you can promote – but you have to give in order to receive. You have to give people value before they will trust you enough to pull out their wallets. Always keep the 80/20 rule in mind: 80% value-added content for your audience, 20% promotion – at MOST. In fact, if your content is good enough, you should be able to promote less than 5% of the time and have it be effective!

 

4. You think your business is boring

Ok, so maybe you don’t think it’s boring. BUT…you think that other people think your business is boring. This can be a particular pitfall of service-based businesses who envy retailers' beautiful product photos (watch out - see #3 above!). There is a reason you're in the business you are, that you sell the things you do – you’re trying to solve some problem for your customers. Remember what that is, and infuse that belief into all of your posts, because if *you* think your content is boring, that is definitely going to come across in the language and tone of your posts. 

 

If you have your own sure-fire content that you regularly post, tell us about it in the comments!

 

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