Today I just wanted to share how I personally manage all of my social channels – my secret sauce, if you will.
Let me first say, I do believe that you don’t have to be everywhere. I know for many people social media feels like a lot of work, and social media shouldn’t feel like a lot of work. With that being said, I am on a lot of social media platforms and there are a few reasons for that. First of all, I love social media and truly enjoy what it brings to my life. Secondly, it helps my business because I treat each platform differently. Each platform has it’s own reason. Each platform is like it’s own country – it has it’s own norms, it’s own culture and it’s own nuances. When you respect the culture, you’ll get more out of being a part of the community.
The mistake that a lot of people make is they sign-up for all of these social media platforms and they look for that silver bullet – that one button where they can post something and it goes everywhere. That’s not the way to go about it. I know the reason people look for these sort of short cuts – we’re busy. We don’t have time to be on social media all day. Even for myself, a social media strategist, I don’t have time nor should I be spending all of my time on social media.
So here’s how I use social media channels both personally and for my business.
First of all for my business, how I use social media is consistently driving people back to the hub of my business, my website. It’s important to remember that we don’t own any of the social platforms and they could essentially be taken from us at any time. When I think about social media for my business, I take a step back and look at my website and how most of my content needs to start from there. Then think about how that content is going to get populated and how that’s going to look.
So for example, when I publish a blog post and then push it out through my social channels that’s going to look different on Facebook than it does on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest. I think this is really about respecting the platform and respecting your audience.
Now let’s take a look at how I use each platform personally…
Facebook. For my personal Facebook profile I post at least once a day and around 80% personal, 20% business. I also have a rule that I don’t friend anyone on Facebook that I haven’t actually had a conversation with. Now that could mean I’ve had a conversation with them on Periscope or Twitter or in real life or email. Basically, I don’t friend anyone on Facebook that I have no reference to whatsoever. This is because Facebook is still a very personal place for me – somewhere I share photos of my family and moments of our lives.
My personal Facebook profile I use about 80% for personal, 20% for business.
I have also set up the follow feature on my profile. What that means is if someone friend requests you and you don’t accept them, they become a follower. Your followers can see anything you choose to share publicly. I will use this feature for big announcements, sharing articles I’ve written and things of that nature.
Another big tool for me when it comes to Facebook is using lists. Click here to read more about Facebook lists and how to use them >>
Instagram. I have one Instagram account where I post about 50% business, 50% personal and typically post 1-3 times a day. This has gone up recently as I’ve found Instagram to be busier and busier. I’ve also nearly doubled my Instagram following in the last few months as I’ve gotten very intentional with the platform. As far as pushing photos from Instagram to Facebook or Twitter, I generally push my personal photos to Facebook because I want friends and family to see those. With business related posts, I may or may not send those to Twitter – just depending on what it is I’m sharing. Probably 2 out of 3 photos I share on Instagram I push elsewhere. But I’m also a huge fan of creating content that is native to Instagram.
I typically post to Instagram 1-3 times a day.
Twitter. For me, Twitter is probably 90-95% business related posts and very little personal. That’s because I’m connected to more than 25,000 people on the platform. I don’t post photos of my kids on Twitter, it’s just too public for me. So what I mainly do on Twitter is a few different things. First, it’s a way to engage with others. So for example if I meet someone on Periscope I’ll then connect and engage with them on Twitter. The other way I use Twitter is to drive people to my website. Twitter is generally one of my top referring traffic sources. Thirdly, I use Twitter to curate content. I’m a big believer in Twitter lists and find them to be an extremely useful content curating tool.
Twitter is consistently one of my top referring traffic sources.
Periscope. A lot of things have changed for me in the way I use Periscope. I would say I use it around 60% for business, 40% personal. For me, most of my broadcasts are usually one of two things. Either it’s my #CoffeeWithKatie show where I’m just sitting in my kitchen with a cup of coffee chatting about life and business or it’s my #GetSocialSmart show where I’m teaching social media. This has really helped my business because I’m providing value. But Periscope is very personal to me because I’ve met some amazing people through the platform. I’ve met people on Periscope that I now consider dear, dear friends. I also spend time on Periscope watching other broadcasts and engaging with others. It’s an amazing synergy that I haven’t found on any other platform.
Check out my Periscope on this topic:
How do you use each social platform personally? I’d love to hear! Comment below or head on over to our #GetSocialSmart Facebook Group and jump in the conversation – I’ll see you there!
