“…the effectiveness of social media on brand performance (e.g., sales, customer profitability, and cross-buying) can change, both positively and negatively, depending on customer participation and brand exposure on social media” the “unpredictable nature of consumer reaction on social media can cause a temporal variation in the effectiveness of social media.”
-”Synergistic effects of social media and traditional marketing on brand sales: capturing the time-varying effects,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science
Why Post To Social Media Regularly?
In short, the situation is not stable. Sometimes your posts get engagement and sometimes they get ignored. Think of social media less like a solid storefront and more like a pop-up shop.
I’m not going to regale you with the latest me-too social media ‘stats’ touted by your local social tyrant-guru sweating and spitting about how it should be your entire existence starting now.
What I will say is that it allows for actual, unprecedented access to buyers 1-on-1.That means that
-You can deliver messaging directly to new customers (outbound)
-New customers can deliver messaging directly to you (inbound)
Inbound leads are one of the best products of posting to social media regularly. Just by posting regularly I’ve received:
-Emails from prospects ignoring me for 7+ months.
-My largest proposal to date.
-International inbound leads.
-Award dinner invitations.
-Interview requests.
Also, as far as social media stats are concerned:
-75 percent of the business-to-business buyers use social media to make buying decisions. (LinkedIn, “Social Buying Meets Social Selling”)
-50 percent of B2B buyers use LinkedIn as a source for making purchase decisions. (Andersen Partners)
-76 percent of B2B buyers prefer to work with recommendations from their professional network. (Entrepreneur Magazine Online)
-In fact, 90 percent of C-level executives say they never reply to cold calls or cold emails.(Harvard Business Review)
-Today, roughly two-thirds of the buying process is performed digitally, via online content.(Sirius)
Keep in mind, the products and benefits of posting can easily be yours. Nay, I say you can achieve even more, much more. You just have to post regularly.
LinkedIn’s algorithm rewards people who post regularly, with more attention and increases the attention they get when people engage with their posts.
The more you post, the less any individual post will matter. Sweat less about posting perfectly and focus on posting consistently. Have fun with it!
The Hard Truth No One Is Telling You About Social Media
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing” – Walt Disney.
The hard truth (that I’ve learned from experience) is that posting every once in a while will only lead to frustration — because who wants to waste their time on something that gets zero traction?
And while everyone (and their mom) is telling you that you must create knock-your-socks-off content, the plain reality is that
-No one really cares what you post at first.
-When you start, people just want to see if you stick around.
-Early feedback skews negative (trust me, folks will let you know what you’re doing wrong).
-You don’t know what people really want at first.
The most important thing I’ve learned from posting to LinkedIn daily for over 1 year straight is that the biggest thing separating how posts are received are longevity and just sticking to the habit of regular posting.
I’ve seen some of my posts gather more attention and engagement versus a similar one from a business colleague — not because I had more interesting things to share — just simply because he’ll post to zero effect then disappear for months and then post again to zero effect.
So, You’re Sold On Social, Simple Tools For Regular Posting
Posting to social media regularly, even daily does not have to be difficult. Here are tools I’ve found for making the process easier.
Buffer
Don’t let experts fool you, you can get by with only a Buffer account for planning your social media.
Buffer is an easy way to share content to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. With their Chrome plugin, you can easily add something to your LinkedIn queue while reading a piece you think your audience might like.
The Buffer app is a great tool for adding articles you’re currently reading to your queue for later sharing on social media. This keeps you posting interesting content regularly.
Your smartphone
That block of computer technology in your pocket has become your premier mobile content creation tool. One of the best things about smartphones is they allow us to take casual video anywhere a creative thought arises.
Use the following iPhone apps to supercharge your social media content:
– Clips: allows you to record video with live captions, for increased engagement.
– InShot: a mini-design studio for your videos that has everything you need to build an audience, including sound design, background creator, and editing app.
-Buffer: plan your social media posts directly from your smartphone
Momentum
The Momentum Chrome plugin bills itself as a dashboard that opens whenever you have a new tab. But while its makers imagine it to be a great productivity, for social media posting purposes, I find it a great place for interesting and original quotes.
Whenever I have a lack of inspiration for what to post, I grab the latest motivational post from my Momentum tab and share it.
