When I started my career, social media was in its adolescence. Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok didn’t exist. LinkedIn for Business seemed like something only the Marriotts and the Hiltons had to do. However, things have significantly changed over the years. The idea of promoting my business on social media was not even on my radar.
As my business started growing and growing, I realized that I couldn’t ignore social media anymore. I wanted people to not just hear about me from friends, but to actually find me and see all the work I had been doing. It was time to explore and grow the business by developing a social media presence. I knew that no matter what, consistency would be key. But it was not like switching on the lights. I had to start from the beginning. And I knew I needed an expert. I was elated when I found someone with both social media and hospitality experience. Karis could appreciate a well designed lobby, and was passionate about elevating my work.
Four years later and we are on a roll with social media thanks to Karis and Ellen, our newsletter copywriter. We’ve made significant progress. So what are our secrets? While we can’t tell you everything, we can share a few things that we’ve learned along the way.
1. Understand how algorithms work. If you haven’t noticed from your own feeds, social media engines rely on your day-to-day behavior to keep you at the top of people’s feeds. AJC discovered that without consistent posting schedules, no one was going to find us or know what we’re up to.
2. Focus on a few core channels. While we were tempted to try TikTok for business, we quickly discovered that we had to focus on our key audience. Would they be watching TikTok all day or likely checking LinkedIn? We realized the latter and adjusting our channels and posting schedules accordingly.
3. Keep things organic. So in addition to your produce, organic social media growth is also healthy. The paid approach doesn’t guarantee growth or an engaged audience and can seem inauthentic when things are thrown in your face. Which brings us to number four.
4. Just be you. What draws people in is when someone is authentic. Not who we want them to be. That’s why our social media approach is to showcase me in all my dimensions – a mom, a world traveler, a business owner, and an art lover.
5. Go beyond pictures. Pictures of past projects are clearly important in showcasing the depth of my skills. However, my newsletter is my channel to share my thoughts and my stories and practically unfiltered. They are a way to tell the story in a way that creates feeling of connection. Hopefully, people read and want to take an action.
If you haven’t started social media for your business, it’s definitely not too late. And it’s definitely not as easy as you’d think. It’s hard to promote yourself. That’s why I hired someone. Furthermore, a lot of planning and intention goes into our weekly social media posts on LinkedIn and Instagram, as well as our newsletter. Of course, as much planning as it takes, we have also learned to be agile and flexible in our process. Some pictures don’t get the likes and comments we’d thought. Sometimes we don’t push out our newsletter on the date we hoped. We’ve realize that our “grid” isn’t perfect, but neither as we. Learning new lessons are just part of the creative process.