“I know that I should be using social media, but I don’t know what to post there.”
Have you ever had this thought?
You see people always posting something; you hear it helps people in marketing and sells, but what about you?
It seems that people do it so easy, post regularly, and it works well for them, while you are still thinking about what to do there.
I know it’s tough.
To tell you the truth, not everyone was good as they are now in the beginning. Many of those people felt stuck too.
The only way to get to social media is to start doing it.
And one of the best ways to get to the hearts of your followers and grow there is starting to tell the stories on social media.
No worry. You won’t need to write the poems there (but you can if you want to)
In this post, I’ll try to make the social media storytelling simple for you. Let’s go there step-by-step.
Pick the audience who you would like to speak to online. More likely you are a part of it, or you have the same interests as they do.
Then think about how would you like to connect with them.
Choose your way to communicate on social media
What is easier for you and what you enjoy doing most: to write, take/use pictures, create the videos?
Find your way to communicate to people and start from it.
Telling the stories on social media is just a skill as any others. It needs developing and practice. Also, it’s easier to learn something when you like doing this.
The way you engage with people on social media should be the same as in real life. It’s like you would talk to them in person just the method of interaction is different.
Choose a social media network
You can have the accounts on several platforms, but you may not have time to work on all of them.
Instead of spreading yourself through the different channels, pick the one social media network where you are going to invest most of your time now and master it.
You already selected your preferred way of communication online. Start producing your social media messages till you will feel confident in this skill.
If you focus on one thing at one time, you will see the progress faster and then you will be able to bring this expertise to other social media platforms.
Be relevant to your brand
After you choose the way of communication with your followers, make your messages relevant to your brand.
Be helpful, informative, entertaining and inspirational. The more people trust you; the more likely they will buy from you.
Planning your content you can use 5-3-2 rule where:
- Five should be content from others, relevant to your audience
- Three should be content from you, relevant to your audience (and not directly selling your products)
- Two should be personal, something non-work related to helping humanize yourself and/or your brand
Or just remember to focus more on your audience interests rather than yourself and humanize your messages. It can be by showing your personality, emotions or simply being real.
Craft your message and tell the stories on social media
There are many ideas of what to share on social media, whether it is your content or someone else. It can be your product pictures, behind the scene videos, testimonial, and much more.
Of course, you want to keep it as the branding part.
Take it easy.
From now on be open to everything you will do related to your business or even your life.
Tell the stories with the images. Posts with visual content generate more engagements. However, visuals are only one way of delivering the message.
You still get stuck with what to write in the capture.
Look around and ask yourself the questions:
What inspired you to do this work or project?
Show your behind the scene process and share a few secrets.
What people who you worked with felt or said about it?
The testimonial post or a share how people felt by using your service/product.
They could just tell you that, and you put it into the words on social media.
Or maybe they posted something good about you. Do a screenshot and share on your channel. What can be better than when other people tell something positive about your business?
What results did you get?
Oh, I planned to do this but got completely opposite 😀 Here you are with the new post. Or to show how well it came out.
What is your insight of the day?
Something, which got your attention: the quote; book, which you read; someone told you something; or you got a special gift. These are the little things to show the actual you.
"If you really look, and really listen, you can see things in a new way.” On ideas and innovation — https://t.co/H2CXri3Ruf
— Dorie Clark (@dorieclark) September 17, 2016
What are you doing now?
Are you on the meeting? Is it interesting or boring? Tell this.
Writing an article? Share a screenshot and write a sentence about your upcoming post.
Listening a podcast? Hey, there was a phrase, which got your attention – write about it.
Always remember that through social media you are building your brand. This way, posts of your everyday meals won’t be appropriate if you are not a food blogger.
But if you can make it up to the story to teach or entertain your audience – go for it!
What other people story I can share today?
Start collecting other people stories. Share their experience with your business or… the stories, which will be appealing to your audience, for example, tell the story about the local event.
Make it simple
Some people like to write, some not. If you are not a writer and don’t want to become one, that’s absolutely fine.
Share just one idea per post. Write one sentence in the capture. Simply pick the question from above and answer it with the few words.
Don’t forget to start a conversation
Write a simple open-ended question in the post. Ask about something your followers. Start a conversation first.
From the beginning most likely they won’t write anything. However, keep doing that even if it looks like you are talking to yourself for now.
It may take time before people start interacting with you. But it will come. They will get used to that you are open for a talk.
Conclusion
At one point social media is the marketing tool. Consider it as a serious investment to your business. At the same time calm down and start to talk to people there.
If you are still not sure about what and how to post or write. Choose the subjects around your business that you would enjoy knowing about and that you care about. Afterward, tell everything about it to your followers.
The best way to learn how to tell the stories on social media is the practice. Try to stay consistent in posting, even if you will have one post a day with one sentence.
Write what you think should be there. You can’t please everyone and in fact, you no need to. There will be people who will find your content relative and curious to them, and they will become your tribe. Make your content personal to them.
What other helpful questions to ask ourselves to tell the stories on social media? If you have any questions or want to share your experiences with storytelling on social media, I’d be happy to hear them in a comment below.
Marina Barayeva is an international speaker and coach who helps women entrepreneurs become recognized experts and confidently sell their services. She is also a TEDx speaker, has presented to audiences in Asia and North America, and has been featured in such media as ArtPeople, CCTV, China Radio International, and others.
Hey Marina,
The best thing to attract more people is let them know more about you. Engage them with an intresting story.
Keeping it simple is necessary because sometimes people don’t like to dwell more into it.
Thanks for sharing with us.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Yeah, keeping it simple and on the topic catches people attention, especially those who are interesting in your theme.