THE NUMBER ONE INGREDIENT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS


Every day I talk to people who want to get in on the social media game.

Not everyone is quite sure what it is, but they know it’s a powerful tool in the marketing arsenal, and traditional advertising avenues aren’t yielding much anymore.

But once they have a decent grasp on how social media works, the number one question is, “What’s the best thing I can do to be successful with social media?”

Consistency.

It’s not glamorous or easy, and it’s definitely intimidating, but consistency is the fastest route to building an online community that likes, trusts, and interacts with you. Which leads to what we all want most – buying.

Let’s break down what consistency provides:

  1. Credibility
    Credibility is everything when it comes to your brand. It’s the integrity of your business and the heartbeat of your sales process. If your brand isn’t credible, then why would people purchase your product or service? Why would they believe in it? Which brings us to..
  2. Trust
    Without trust, you can’t build, develop, or grow successful relationships. And in social media, there’s no reason to partake if you aren’t ready to invest in building solid relationships. Without them, there is no social in social media. But in order for there to be trust, there must be..
  3. Stability
    Stability makes us feel secure and empowers us to make bold decisions. Would you want to have a job or be with a person who isn’t stable? Of course not. So why would you want to buy or invest your time into a business that isn’t stable? I doubt you would. Without stability, we can’t build trust and therefore have no credibility.

These are the three underlying traits of consistency, and they must be used in every aspect of your social media marketing.

But how does that translate?

What consistency looks like in your social media marketing

  1. Posting consistently.
    This is a major problem for the majority of business owners online. Inconsistent posts and updates – one here and one there. I tell my clients, decide how many posts you can commit to every day, and do it. Put it on your calendar, schedule in reminders, and stay on top of it.

The best average of posts vary among the social networks, but even if you commit to the smallest amount, you can build up from there. It’s a new habit, but one that will reap heavy on benefits.

  1. Interacting and engaging consistently.
    This is another biggie I see with business owners – they aren’t spending time interacting with people who comment or RT their content. We must prove to our online audiences that we are ready, willing, and available to them – especially during working hours. Thank people every. single. time. they leave you a comment or share it, even if they are promoting their content on your FB page or tweeting at you. Build appreciation into your brand from the beginning and people will honor it.

In addition, spend time everyday nurturing your online audiences. Ask them questions, share their content, give them feedback or just say hello. The more you show up, they will.

  1. Sticking to your brand personality consistently.
    It’s not always easy for business owners to understand what a “brand voice” is, but this is important to your online audience. For example,

I worked with a nonprofit client for three years steadily building up a rich, diverse, and engaging audience. The organization had some growing pains and couldn’t continue to invest in my services, so I provided them with all the materials I used for the board member who was taking over. I don’t normally do that, but wanted them to be successful.

However, that person spoke completely differently to the audience, shared different content, and eventually squeezed the pulse out of the page. It was devastating to watch.

But it’s a perfect example of what happens when an online audience gets used to being treated one way and the tables turn.

Write out a minimum of 5 adjectives that describe your business, ask yourself how you will handle certain situations – happy, sad, thoughtful, funny, etc. and stick to them. Maintain brand consistency.

  1. Showing up, consistently.
    VERY important. Just like posting and interacting consistently, you’ve got to show up even when there’s nobody there to show up for. And if you’re a newbie on social media, expect it to be that way for a while. You’ve got to prove to the community that your business has what it takes to endure, i.e. consistency.

But if you build it, they will come 😉

  1. Sharing value consistently.
    What we share online says a lot about who we are as individuals and businesses. Have you ever looked at someone’s Facebook account and thought, “Wow – they share all this awesome stuff, they must be an interesting person”? Or maybe the opposite? The same goes for your business.

At ARCH Digital Agency, we put a lot of thought into each and every post that goes out. We post with purpose. And this is an excellent philosophy to incorporate into your own. Think about what you’re posting, will it add value to the audience, will it teach them something, encourage them, or make them laugh?

Use your content to make an impact on people consistently and they will come to you often.

  1. Being consistent across all social mediums.
    Finally, all these principles must be applied across every social network. You might prefer using one more than another, but consistency means being consistent everywhere – not just where you want to.

If you follow these values, I guarantee you will see an enormous change in your social media success.

Commit to your audience and be consistent.

How will you be more consistent today?