SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING BLOG

This blog is a resource for artists and entrepreneurs who are looking to amp up their social media marketing. Find tips, tricks, and a few laughs to get you inspired!

Social media marketing for artists and entrepreneurs seems so fun, but in reality, it is time-consuming and requires skill to execute properly. This blog will give you ideas as to how you can use social media to grow your brand and connect to your audience in a timely fashion. Distractions are abundant on social media, so these tricks could save you tons of time and energy!

Have a plan

If you feel like you are not getting anywhere with social media, chances are, you don’t have a plan. A plan helps you define what you are looking to accomplish and how you want to accomplish it. If you are simply posting because you feel like you need to be on social media, you are not going to see the results you want. A social media plan should include your goals, objectives, frequency, target audience, and ways you want to grow your business with social media. Write down exactly what you hope to accomplish (i.e. gain more followers, raise brand awareness, drive website traffic, etc). Add specific numbers and timing so you can check in on these goals to see if you are on track. Everything about social media will be easier once you have a clear and honest understanding of what you are hoping to accomplish. Approaching a professional presence on social media without a plan is sure to lead to disappointment and burnout. No one wants that! So get yourself a plan!

Schedule content

Any professional social media manager will tell you that scheduling content is an absolute must for making the most of your time on social media. It is incredibly time-consuming to make and share one post at a time. Artists and entrepreneurs need to focus on money-making opportunities in their day-to-day – not finding the best hashtag or trying to quickly make a post in Canva. Scheduling content makes life so much easier when looking to manage a consistent, professional presence. There are so many software services that offer social media scheduling tools. Many of them (like Buffer) have free versions that are perfect for solopreneurs. Once you start scheduling content, you can get the bulk of your work done in one sitting. Consider scheduling content two weeks or a month at a time and check-in three or more times a week to engage with your audience by replying to comments and liking relevant posts.

Set timers for engagement

Artists and entrepreneurs need to be aware that social media is the ultimate rabbit hole. These platforms are literally designed to use your time. It all happens so fast…One minute you are engaging with potential customers, and the next you are scouring Britney’s Instagram for clues. The solution is really easy – set a timer. Before logging into your professional accounts, set a timer for dedicated time to engage with your audience. We recommend at least five-minute check-ins, three times a week per channel. After you set your timer, engage with relevant hashtags, like and comment on posts in your home feed, share posts to your stories. Once your timer goes off, get back to your money-making work, or take a quick detour to Britney’s Gram.

Follow your target audience

Following pages within your industry seems to make sense. If you are an artist, you may want to follow other artists. If you are an entrepreneur, you may want to follow other entrepreneurs who inspire you. This all sounds great, but then your news feed will be dominated by your industry, not your customers. Follow your target audience instead. Define the demographics and types of people or businesses you would like to have as customers. Then find them on social media and follow them. Now when you log into your business accounts you will have immediate access to a hand-selected target audience at your fingertips!

Read the news before getting on social media

If you have been shut off from the outside world for more than a few hours, there is little hope for a distraction-free visit to social media. Breaking news about the world can be extremely distracting. This is why we recommend reading the news before getting on social media for your business. Find an email newsletter, podcast, or app that can quickly inform you of the news (like The Skimm). After you learn about all the major stories for the day, you can log onto social media with an expectation of what you may see. This will allow you time to process Oprah’s interview with Meghan Markle before you dive into work!

Outsource social media (or get coaching)

Even if you adopt every tip in this blog, you may still find it a struggle to make time for social media. This is why it is great to work with a social media expert who can plan, create, and schedule content on your behalf. It’s a great investment for your business because it saves you tons of time and gets you closer to your ideal customers. If you are not ready to take the leap and hire someone to post to your accounts, then social media coaching may be a great solution for you. Talk to an expert one-on-one to flatten the learning curve and discover specific solutions. Upward Anthems offers both social media management and social media coaching. Learn more.

If you liked this blog be sure to read others by Upward Anthems such as How to Grow Your Business on Social Media, The Mean Girls’ Guide to Social Media, and Favorite Free Social Media Marketing Tools. More inspiration and ideas can be found on Upward Anthem’s Instagram and LinkedIn!