We’ve all seen them — the infamous “Self Promoters.” These are people and companies who use social media as a platform to pound their own chest, and talk about how great they are. In fact, you may be one of them! (Don’t worry — we’re not here to judge, we’re here to help!). It’s very tempting to use such an open platform to try to get your own message across to as many people as possible. We get it.
But what we know from helping countless recovering self-promoters is that being social always performs better than being selfish. That is, the more you take time and energy to engage with your audience on their terms, the more response you can expect from your communities. That means more likes, more retweets, more regrams, and most importantly, more business!
Here are a couple of ideas to break your self-promotion streak:
1) Share someone else’s post/update
Sharing content relevant to your industry (but not about you) is a great way to start and participate in the conversation. Not only does this method allow you to post more often, but it also sends a message to your community that you are there to help — not just toot your own horn.
2) Ask a question
Make it open-ended to engage people. Or throw out a challenge or mind-game puzzle. Be playful and see how others respond. They’re likely to come back for more if you change things up a bit from time-to-time.
3) Less is more
Please excuse the cliche, but less is more when it comes to social media. Posting more deliberate content/updates less often, will bring better results. Think through why you post/update before you do. Don’t just spew out every cute cat photo you see!
So let’s start a revolution for organizations to start using social media how it’s intended to be used — as a means of interacting with your communities, rather than just blasting them with marketing messages. You’re likely to learn more about others and even more about your own organization, and find more people listening in the process.
And we have the perfect tool to help you keep all of your social media posts (and other content like blogs and email campaigns) organized! Check out our Content Calendar!
