The scary side of social media

You might look at other small businesses and see them confidently posting on social media day after day, but it may not be the case

For some, the mere thought of putting ourselves out there on social media is the stuff of nightmares!

So what are the scary aspects of social media?

👻 Posting

Do you find yourself writing, and then rewriting a post before discarding it? Or do you not post because you don’t think your image is good enough? While we would never advise posting for the sake of posting, if you have got something to share, then share it.

Don’t stress too much about how well-written it is or how good your images are. Just put it out there, you might be surprised how well it is received. And if it doesn’t perform well? The fact is that not many people will see it, so analyse the results, learn from it and you will find over time your posts will improve.

👻 Short Form Video

Even the most confident speakers can go to pieces when it is just them and a camera. No interaction, no nods of agreement or interesting looks. It can also be a challenge to get your message across (in an engaging way) in just a few seconds. The good news is, although it is now a huge part of social media activity, other forms of content are still performing well. Images, blogs, and user-generated content are still performing really well. As for the short-form video, research what people are doing in your industry and practice, practice, practice (coming from a social media marketer that is probably more afraid than you are!)

👻 Algorithms

This scares many businesses! Why aren’t people seeing my posts? Is social media now pay-to-play for business? The good thing about social media is that good content will always shine through and be seen. That’s why people pull out their phone to use Facebook every time they have a spare 5 minutes because they are getting value from it. Whether they are being entertained, informed or even just seeing great offers.

Not every post will perform but make sure you learn from both the ones that do and the ones that don’t and you will soon find your content performing better.

👻 Hashtags!

What are they? Do they work? How many do I need to use? All valid questions and there is no one right answer. Hashtags work on some platforms and not others, sometimes 1 or 2 is fine, and other times you can go for 15 plus. The key is to experiment and test. Most platforms will show you how many people are seeing your content from hashtags so post with and without and compare and you will soon have a hashtag strategy that works for you.

What scares you about using social media for your business?