We're planting a flag. They don't understand.
The world is up for grabs.
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Fortunately or unfortunately, computers are here. Phones are even computers. I can honestly tell you I might even utilize urbandictionary.com at least once a week. The world is advancing, man. So let me ask you a direct question, my friends. What are you doing to proactively secure your space on this world wide web? If this social world is not your cup of tea, that's fine. Go back to blaring that vinyl record player while not ordering uber eats while looking up LOL cats on that foreign technology we call a computer.
You might have a business. You might be using your social accounts to help promote you in your career or catapult you into working in your passion field. Whatever your goal is, your dedication to the Internet and social media accounts can really advance you into whatever you want to do.
Do you want to know how much I've spent on online marketing, growing my follower lists or getting more likes on my posts? Zero, y'all. Ever. All I simply did was take my time to get a clear understanding of each social platform. School of hard knocks is how I roll and it's true I could of hired people or firms to help. But I take joy in knowing all aspects of my business and I have zero qualms about being able to tell people if they're BS-ing me or not doing the best that they can for me.
Can I now tell my friends objectively if their online marketing plans are working for them? Absolutely. But don't freaking ask me if you're not willing to accept advice or have the want to understand. At the end of the day, this is your business! The one piece of advice I have for you is this: Grab your business life by the horns. Ride that bull until the knowledge seeps into your brain and continue riding that bull until you appreciate it. One can teach the willing. Yet, ignorance is bliss.
So, how do you create a perfect social media strategy? To answer that correctly, it depends on what your goals are. Do you want branding? Do you want to sell stuff? Do you want your followers to remember you? Do you want to be considered an expert in your field? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you've come to the right place. Now that's a start. Good for you...
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So, yeah. I'm no genius but my persistence continues to pay off. I was pleasantly surprised to calculate my mid-year total Twitter views (which is 564,843 as of yesterday). Yes, there are several factors that have affected this number which I explain here and here.
For your reference:
Total Views Across All Platforms
1,528,926 Dec 2015
2,170,818 Dec 2016
While I'm great talking out of my butt on several topics (since ignorance is bliss), here are some pointers that I've learned throughout my time blogging on how you can develop a solid social media strategy. Enjoy. Let me know if you find them helpful or if you'd like to give me the talking out of your butt on social strategy 2017 award of the year. Heh. Heh.
#1- Think about what your goals are for your business. For example, if you're selling stuff online, you might want to opt for social sites that have "Buy Now" button options for advertising. Think click-thrus to your website.
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#2- Which sites do you enjoy? Also, what are a few you really enjoy after trying them out for a few days consecutively? You're going to need more than one so you spread the risk of it dissolving evenly over all your social platforms. 'Tis not good to have all of your followers in one place. At least then you won't want to curl up in a ball and die if someone buys that social channel out, something bigger comes along or the social site simply can't stay afloat with either the money needed or the technology to take out the next best thing. RIP my Vine channel. At its prime and before Vine announced it was closing, I had close to 9,000 followers in a little over two years. None of which I paid a cent for. Never thought I'd be learning valuable lessons from something I never dated. Lols. But man did it feel like a marriage. Heh. Heh.
#3- Make a plan and write it down. You've got to be able to measure and track your efforts.
#4- If you're a business, you better turn them into business accounts ASAP so you can gain access to the analytics and stats. Some of mine I didn't turn into business accounts until late 2014. What was I thinking?! My numbers would be way bigger if I could of kept track since 2012. Another lesson learned from something I never dated. Heh. Heh.
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#5- Set yourself a monthly budget to spend on social efforts and growth since you're not a weirdo like me. Seriously. Running all this stuff myself and growing my follower lists organically consumes a very large portion of my time. At this point, there is no turning back for me. I'm not a quitter and because I am an insanely dedicated person, I simply cannot stop until I prove to myself and all of the doubters that I'm not crazy. I told people long ago (probably dating back to 2009) I was going to figure out this digital advertising and social media marketing space we call the Internet. Furthermore, if you're going to pay to play with your socials, pay the companies directly (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) to help you advertise. Never pay $20 for several thousand followers! First off, you're cheating. Second, your likes, shares, click thrus and views are still going to suck. Trust me when I tell you that most people in digital marketing can smell an account with a fake liking app or fake follower app. I don't even want to know you or associate myself online with you. Shake. My. Head. In your general direction.
#6- Use HootSuite. HootSuite allows you to look at several of your social media accounts all at once and in one place. For a mere $19 a month, you can manage up to ten social profiles. Scheduling posts? Yes. Posting to a few or all at once? Yes. Tracking trending or your personal business hashtags that you'd like to interact and play along with? Yes. HootSuite will not disappoint you, my fine friend.
#7- Ahh, lucky number 7 is going to tell you to stay active and fresh with content. Also, followers remember consistency. You've got to stay memorable since all of your competitors are trying to inundate them with dark forces. The next thing you know is you've lost your sale and customer to Darth Vader. We've also been told Darth Vader wakes up early and eats worms.
#8- Be yourself. Boring posts excite no one except maybe my robot Roomba. Authenticity mixed with occasional vulnerability makes you real and followers will be more empathetic to your cause.
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#9- Check yourself before you wreck yourself. Every month or two, schedule yourself a meeting to analyze your growth. Reassess what's happening. Also, a monthly spreadsheet couldn't hurt for comparisons. You'll want columns for follower counts, impressions or views, click thrus, profile views and amount of posts per month.
#10- There are a ton of valuable YouTube videos that you can watch to help you with social sites. Chill on the netflix and chill and dork out with a fellow business friend who might enjoy watching these videos as well. Also, Marketo Blog is a valuable source for all things digital marketing. We may or may not know them very well. Click here. Or here.
Feel glorious about starting your social strategy.
Now's the time and today is the day. Please don't hesitate to ask me any questions and interact with me on your social media accounts! I promise I play nice and will do my best to help increase your likes, shares and online exposure.
Now's the time and today is the day. Please don't hesitate to ask me any questions and interact with me on your social media accounts! I promise I play nice and will do my best to help increase your likes, shares and online exposure.
Much love, my friends.
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