The 8 Commandments of Social Media

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A reference guide for every coach, instructor, educator, or other service solo business owner who wants to do social media effectively – the way it brings you, new clients. 

Being consistent with content distribution on social media can at times feel daunting. 

That’s why you must approach social media with a suitable plan & purpose that fits your business goals. 

I hope these 8 commandments of social media marketing help you see social media activities as an “INVESTMENT” for your business and not something “YOU HAVE TO DO.”

1. Thou shall be consistent

Consistency is far superior to everything else that you might think is important for running a successful social media account.

Posting consistently and regularly by sticking to the schedule will maximize your reach and increase audience engagement over time. 

The worst thing you can do is post for 2 to 3 months daily and then stop altogether to return after 4 months or so. Don’t do that. I think it is far better to deliver content consistently – even if that means posting only 3 times per week.

If posting only 2 or 3 times per week is sustainable and manageable for you now, it’s ok. Just stick to the plan. 

However, consistency in posting is not the only consistency you should pay attention to when it comes to distributing your content on social media.

You should also be consistent in your tone of voice and aesthetics. You want to curate a perfect-fit aesthetic, tone of voice, and content for your ideal clients and build a loyal audience that recognizes you from afar.

2. Thou shall have their profile primed up

The profile page is your sales page. And it would be best if you started treating it as such. 

A brief, short, and easy-to-understand description of who you can exactly help and how followed by a clear call to action (link to the specific page), is a bare minimum. 

Each platform has its characteristics & features, but one thing is in common. It’s a place where you should present yourself to your ideal customers, your target audience.

Regardless of the social media and its features, it would be best if you told in your profile:

• Why should people care? (Ideal clients)
• Why is your account unique? What proof/authority do you have?
• What are the benefits of using your product/services?
• What value will your audience get out of following your account?
• DO NOT FORGET: Call to action(s)+links to your page or specific landing page
• Explain your process of work or particular packages via Story Highlights (Instagram) or Featured (Linkedin)

3. Thou shall not give a flying toss about others’ opinions but their perfect-fit audience

If you create and sell your services or products to everyone and their mothers, you are doing yourself a big disservice. Because everyone will never like you, and you cannot help everyone on this planet equally.

You should understand clearly who precisely you can help and why. In other words, know your ideal clients inside out. 

What are their problems, how are they describing their problems, why do they deal with specific problems, why can you help them, how can you help them, and so on.

These are just some of the questions you should ask yourself when discovering your so-called perfect-fit clients. 

Once you understand who you are serving, your content on social media should reflect it. You should curate content for them and no one else.

4. Thou shall create valuable content for their target audience

Three months in, you’re regularly posting morning granola, pictures of someone sitting on the beach with the inspiring quote, yoga poses on the edge of the cliff – you even started explaining the benefits of meditation on Tik-Tok… but nothing happened. 

Not a single person reserved your introductory meeting; no one downloaded your e-book nor came to your 8-week breathing course.

Why is that so, you might ask yourself?

You are not creating valuable content for YOUR perfect-fit clients. Once you understand who you are doing your services, classes, or products for, it’s easier to create valuable content for them.

Don’t be vanilla, don’t be like everyone else. Pretty and inspiring doesn’t always bring results. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t post that kind of content, but you should start creating content that will hit the right mark with your audience.

You want your audience to be genuinely interested in what you have to say. They must find your content valuable, informative, funny, suiting, and so on. They have to connect with you, find you relevant, and as someone who can help them, as an authority in their field.

But unless you don’t understand your ideal clients well, you don’t have an effective content strategy, and you experiment with different content types consistently, you won’t be able to do it successfully. 

5. Thou shall not just post but also be active

Social media is not a one-way road where you shout, and others shall come to you. 

Think about social media as a conversational platform between you and your audience. Place where you can build a meaningful relationship with your audience.

• Tag people (when it makes sense to tag someone!)
• Like other people’s posts
• Comment (genuinely!)
• Follow people, connect
• Don’t sell them right away – build a good report with the audience first
• Answer to EVERY comment (even if it’s negative)

6. Thou shall be authentic

Being authentic on social media means that you are keeping it real, that you are not pretending, that you are not afraid to stand for ideas and concepts you believe in and that you are willing to share your experiences with your followers.

It also means that you understand your niche, your lane very well. You know where you are strong and what are the subjects/topics you want people to remember you for.

I believe that just as consistency, authenticity is the key to success in content creation. 

7. Thou shall NOT expect results overnight

Your organic social media marketing is going to be a marathon! 

Regardless of the platform, latest algorithm changes, new features, tricks, and tactics, you are going to have to be consistent and very persistent over a prolonged period.

Building your social media presence takes time; you want to become relevant in your field and build a loyal audience. It’s a process, but it will bring fantastic results if done right.

8. Thou shall NOT count the number of followers or likes

Let me tell you one of the biggest secrets of social media: the number of followers is nonexistent for business success.

Of course that more followers mean more potential and actual clients – that’s just a game of numbers, BUT engagement rate is a far superior metric for your business. 

That is why you must understand your niche and ideal clients very well. It’s far more important to create a small but super engaged audience than vice versa.

Ideally, you want people to share, repost, comment, and click on your page. A loyal audience interested in your content is more likely to buy something from you.