Making Social Media Work For Creative Entrepreneurs
Something really bad happened over the last decade. Business people, creatives and marketers took the social out of their social media. Companies large and small automated, hired interns or agencies to post to their Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest accounts. Yet, there is little or no engagement (and they didn’t care).
Social media is a standard tool for creative business. It’s been a thing for over a decade. Some creatives have rebelled and escaped the need or desire to test the social waters. However, now that we will have less direct social interaction for the foreseeable future, social media networking is more important than ever.
Social media works when you develop relationships, not count likes or subscribers as your KPI.
Social media, especially Facebook business pages have become a place to post stuff. Many professional social media accounts are now an open for business sign. Yes, we are open, posting so you know we are relevant, but no one is really here.
I must admit, I have a few of these social media locations. You may too. Honestly, it’s time to take inventory of what is working, what is not, and the accounts that need to be shut down or paused.
If we are going to make social media work again, we must work social media. It’s important to have one channel (social media account) to focus on to develop your reputation. For many creative entrepreneurs, it’s Instagram.
We need to make our social media social again, so it works for us. Below is a link to one of my latest videos about how to develop more engagement on Facebook. Honestly, the tips in the video work for most social media.
Social Media For Creative Entrepreneurs
If you want social media to work for you again, pick one. As I mentioned, for many creators it’s Instagram. This doesn’t mean you can’t have more than one social media account. It means you have one core account which you develop your expertise. One account to build your reputation, and in some cases industry fame.
Take time to review what is working on your channel. Are there posts which people share more, like or comment? Simply, do more of that.
If you want engagement. Ask questions, respond and ask more questions to keep the conversation going. Every interaction on a social page jiggles the algorithms a little more. Activity earns more activity.
As a creative entrepreneur you have an advantage. Creativity to capture peoples attention and imagination. Use your gifts. Create and separate yourself from the crowd. Average will bring you more average. Bring your A game to that one account you deem your channel building or influencer account.
It takes people to build a business and in todays environment, the use of social media is more important than ever, however, if you don’t earn engagement, your channels will not thrive.
What are you doing to earn engagement?