Learning to effectively communicate through social media can be an adventure. My adventure began approximately a year ago, and I have discovered a ton along the way. I’ve learned that spreading a message via social media can be quite the balancing act. Knowing what to share, how much information to provide, and how often to engage is never easy. And, if your message is something that you passionately believe in, deciding how frequently to present your “call to action” can also be a conundrum. Make too many requests and you will come across as pushy. Yet, people who don’t ask for the support of others fail to draw attention to their cause.
I’ve never met anyone who wants to sound like a salesman, and I truly believe that most people don’t enjoy spamming our inboxes. Yet, the push for sales and the spammy messages continue day after day. The truth of the matter is that trying to communicate through social media can be frustrating. The good news is there are strategies that work!
First, start now.
The number one piece of advice that I would give to anyone wanting to expand their circle of influence is to start now. When it comes to social media, experience really is the best teacher.
Perhaps you feel like you
- Don’t know enough
- Haven’t done enough research, or
- Aren’t sufficiently prepared
The truth is that you are probably right. Yet, taking the time to do additional research will only take you so far. Before engaging in new social media avenues, we don’t know what we don’t know, and the only way to truly learn is though hands-on experience.
Second, reach out to a few people a day.
Social media can be a “vanity metric” that looks good on the computer screen, but in reality is little more than a bunch of robots talking to more robots. Let me give an example of what I mean. I have quickly learned that not every account on twitter is real. You can buy followers, and some people use tools like Buffer App to pre-schedule their posts throughout the day. (This isn’t to say that pre-scheduled posting is bad, but rather to point out that in social media, not everything is always as it seems.) Although a massive network of inactive followers may feel good, it means little when it comes to spreading one’s message. On the other hand, a small, engaged tribe can have an enormous impact!
I’m learning that the key to social media is to stay consistently engaged, even if it’s just for a few minutes a day. Strong social networks are built daily, not in a day. After nearly a year, I am finally feeling like I’m finally forming some real relationships, and this makes all the networking worth the effort.
Third, strive for balance.
There is a fine line between posting too many calls for action and not posting enough. Growing up I had friends who would say:
- “Why not ask? The worst someone can say is no.” and
- “If you don’t ask, people can’t say yes.“
Both statements are very true. I believe that people often fail to engage via social media because they don’t want to sound like they are giving a sales pitch. Yet, products don’t sell themselves and worthy causes go unnoticed all the time when there is no leader to champion the cause.
Yes, there are the occasional outliers – those incredible stories about someone placing a single social media post before going to bed, only to find that it has gone viral and reached hundreds of thousands by morning. Yet, these stories are the exception and not the norm. In most cases, effective communication takes persistence and hard work. The important thing is to not let the fear of overdoing things prevent us from sharing our message at all. If we overdo things one day, it’s not the end of the world. Most people respond well to a polite apology, and those who don’t take it well need to be gently removed from our social network audience anyway.
Finally, don’t be afraid to experiment.
The only consistent thing about social media is change. What worked well yesterday may not produce the same results tomorrow. New tools are popping up all the time, and the very best way to learn about these tools is to take them for a test-drive.
When trying out a new tool, I like to tell myself, “it’s an experiment.” I picture the classic mad scientist, running a test with two beakers in his hand. The scientist knows that once he mixes the two vials anything can happen. He may make an incredible discovery, the beakers might explode, or it’s entirely possible that nothing will happen at all. What I love about experiments is that nothing has to happen, and nothing can’t happen. An experiment is all about gaining knowledge. The classic, smiling, mad scientist–the one getting ready to mix the two beakers full of “mystery chemical”–knows one thing for certain. He knows that once those two beakers are mixed, he will know much more than he did at the beginning of his experiment.
Experiments are all about learning, growing, and eventually discovering what works through a process of trial in error. In fact, I’m in the middle of an experiment right now. This weekend, I learned about ThunderClap, a social media tool that allows those with a worthy cause to band together with their community and send out a tweet or Facebook post in unity. The only catch is that 100+ people must team up in order for the process to work. I would love it if you would join me in my latest ThunderClap experiment and help spread the word about my upcoming book launch. It will be fun, and I’ll be sure to keep you updated on the results!
Finally, how can I help support you in your networking, experimenting, and growth? I love meeting new people, cheering on worthy causes, and networking. It would be an honor to partner with you on your journey!
Great post, Jed. Happy to join your thunderclap. It is a tough balance between talking about yourself too much and pushing it, but as you said, if you build relationships throughout life and make it a way of life and not solely push relationships at point of release of your product, then people will share out of love for you, not a feeling of obligation.
Thanks Adam! Sure appreciate you, the encouragement, support, & wise advice 🙂 I’m excited to see how this TC experiment turns out & thank you again for helping me test it out!
Count me in! I can attest that good things happen when social media is used responsibly and with real people kept at the core of things (present company included).