I’ve been quite hard on myself recently about some of the things I SHOULD be doing on social media and aren’t doing. I look at what other social media trainers and experts do and worry that I’m not doing things the same as them. And yet, my advice to other businesses is always to be different and, more importantly, to be yourself.
We can read as many articles as we want. We can go on courses. We can take advice and guidance. But it still comes back to our businesses, our aims and our approach. And there is no SHOULD when it comes to that.
Because every business is unique, and every marketer unique too. And the most successful social media is the authentic kind. Where we focus on what is right for us rather than on what we SHOULD be doing.
At the start of the year, I wrote a post about my social media resolutions for the year ahead. When I look back now, I realise that post was focused on what I thought I SHOULD be doing, rather than what I knew was right for me to do.
It’s very unlikely that I will generate large volumes of business through Instagram. And yet, I thought I SHOULD be using it more. That I SHOULD be posting a picture every day. It’s been wearing me down, as I haven’t kept up that resolution. Yet, when I really think about it, what I really SHOULD be doing is what I’m already doing. Focusing more of my attention on Twitter and LinkedIn. Platforms that do generate business for me.
I worry that I’m not going to appear to be an ‘expert’ unless I’m spending all my time on social media. That I SHOULD have a good presence on all platforms and spend the majority of my office time and spare time being present on there. But there are many other things in my business that I SHOULD be doing too, and that I have to do. Plus, work/life balance is incredibly important to me. I have two young girls, and I want to spend time with them. I also want to keep up my other hobbies as well. And being an expert is showing other businesses how to take the right approach for them. I need to do the same for my own business.
I see other social media experts progressing their career. Getting great media coverage. Interacting all the time with other key industry professionals on social media. And, I think I really SHOULD be doing that too. But I look at my business goals and aims and know that that is not the right approach for me. That I have other things and areas I wish to conquer.
So, what SHOULD we (both you and I) be doing on social media? You should be being you. Focusing on your business aims. Taking the right approach for your business. Being authentic. Being different. And not worrying about the things you think you SHOULD be doing. That is when social media will really work for you and for your business.
