Today we're going to chat about some algorithm tricks, what's working in the industry today, and what it means to "treat it like a business"
"Treating it like a business means being ALL IN, not just when it’s fun and things are going well. Usually, pretty simple in the beginning to stay motivated because it's new and you're excited. It's also easy to stay motivated when you've been in for a while and you're making a decent amount of money. What's hard is when the newness wears off, your warm market blown through, and you don't have the skill set to make long term money yet. That's when we all start to question if this is for us or not. By the way, it's not for everyone, so there's no pressure to stay in the game if being an entrepreneur just isn't for you.
If you're serious about your business, you have two options when you're in that middle area we just talked about. You can rely on the social media algorithm or you can build a personal brand.
There are hundreds of "influencers" out there who teach you how to trick your way into some followers on social media. Most of these "tips" are temporary at best, at worst they'll flag the algorithm and get your account shut down. I'm not saying it's not worth learning some social media strategies, I'm just saying don't put your eggs all in one basket. Social Media is funny because one week some of these tips will work and the next week it won’t. It can become very frustrating.
This is precisely why I focus on teaching branding and not teaching the algorithm because tips and tricks change, value based content is here to stay.
Again, I'm not against learning some tips and tricks to grow your social media WHILE creating your long term brand. I have 5 tips to share with you today, and today these work AMAZINGLY, but I want to caution you not to rely solely on them because they may not work tomorrow.
Consistently posting value based content is what will create long term money for your business, and that starts with having a solid personal brand. If you don't already have a solid brand, check out the BossMom Branding Bootcamp and set yourself up for long term success and long term money instead of hopping from trend to trend hoping to gain momentary growth on social media.
Having said that, let's check out what's working today.
1. Reels- 2-3 PER DAY are what will grow your social media presence right now. You have to be consistent for this to work.
2. Posts- 1-2x per day. You want to post at least once per day, but no more than twice. Here are the types of content that will help you grow. What you don't want to post are spammy before/afters with your company logo plastered all over them, join my team posts, buy this products posts, and word vomit. There's a time and place for marketing your products n social media, but you definitely don’t want to be spammy. value, jab jab jab right hook. This video will walk you through how to market any product or business.
Hashtags- #s are in right now if you use them correctly. You want to use #s that are both relevant to your niche and specific to your post. For example, I'm a homeschool brand, so most of my posts have homeschool hashtags on them. If I post a picture of a new planner I have for sale however, then I may use one or two homeschool hashtags, but the majority of them will be related to the product I'm posting.
A great way to get hashtags is off of google. If you have a hair product you're posting about, go to google and look up the top 25 hashtags for that industry.
Here's an example of why those of us who make a long term career out of social media don't bank on the algorithm. Not too long ago 23 was the magic number of how many #s to use and they needed to be in the caption not the comments, then it switched to putting them in the comments, now how many and where aren't that important. The algorithm game is always changing. Rely on building a solid brand and then simply use the algorithm as a tool to promote your brand.
Another way to use #s is in your stories. Same rule applies, use #s that are relevant to your brand. Hide them in your stories by making the same color as your background, making them super small, and/or pulling them off to the side.
Birthday messages- These are a great way to get more eyes on your FACEBOOK content. What you don't want to do is send a message like "Hey babe! I saw that it was your birthday, so I wanted to send you over a 40% discount code to use for anything on my site". Or "Hey girl! I've got a present for you since it's your birthday! Here's a $10 gift card you can use on my website. Have a great day!"
Yes I've received both in real life plus dozens of others. It's sad, but it's true.
What I'm teaching you is to simply use the birthday messages to start a relationship, that's it. Most of us have 10s of thousands of people on social media, it's hard to keep up with everyone. Birthday messages are a great way to interact with people who would otherwise go unnoticed.
I literally just send "Happy Birthday". When they replay with thank you I say "You're welcome! Did you do anything fun? Or just kind of another day? I know as adults we don't do near as much for our birthdays as we did as kids haha" Then I have a short convo with them. That's it, no sales pitch...ever!
You may be saying "Well Tonya, why do you send them then? Isn't it a waste of time?" The answer is no because
1. It shows Facebook that you're friends since you're having a conversation which means Facebook is then going to show your stuff in their newsfeed.
2. It peaks their curiosity to go to your page and see either who you are if they're someone you've never talked to or what you've been up to if they're someone you're already connected with in the past.
and
3. Your page should page should be set up to where you have an email list they can join for freebies. When they go creep your page, they usually also join your funnel.
So birthday messages 100% lead to sales if you do them in a non-spammy way.
Decide which daily tasks you're going to use, and track them. I've included a tracker below for you to keep track of your daily tasks. Consistently is key when it comes to the algorithm, so pick 6 things (some from above and some that you already do) and do them every day for a few weeks before deciding to reevaluate and add or subtract things from your daily list.
You get two commodities in life, time and money.
Everything you’re doing in your business ask yourself, what is the ROI I’m receiving, return on investment. You're either spending time or money, make sure it's worth it worth it for long term growth, not just a quick buck.
Example:
Messaging: there's a way to message for long term growth and also a way where it's bringing in a little money now, but does nothing for your business long term.
If you're messaging asking people to buy your product or post for you- you may get a quick buck, but you're spending a lot of time with very little LONG TERM ROI.
If you're messaging to grow your email list, you're leveraging your time for the long term. Sure, you'll probably make a quick buck as well, but you'll also be padding your funnel for consistent sales later on. Not sure how to set up a funnel, check this out. Each time you launch a new product, your company has a promotion, or a new affiliate program comes your way, you'll have a pool of people to market to immediately. You'll spend 15 minutes crafting an email and the ROI will be massive compared to spending hours messaging everyone one at a time.
Example #2:
Learning how to brand
You can spend hours on YouTube getting all the free resources and get to a solid personal brand in 3-6 months. Going this route will allow you to EVENTUALLY have a decent brand. It won't be great because you'll have to wade through a ton of trial and error with no extra set of eyes to help you fine tooth, but it'll be decent.
On the flip side, you can spend a small amount of money- enroll in the bossmom branding bootcamp and have a solid, STRONG brand in 3-6 DAYS, and in 3-6 months you could be making 6 figures doing what you love instead of still worrying about finding your brand.
This is where you show your true colors. How serious about your business are you? Are you only serious when it’s free and convenient, or are you serious when it’s time to put your money where your mouth is and actually invest in yourself and your business.
This is the exact pep talk I gave myself 5 years ago by the way. 2 years in and I had an OK brand, but not a lot of money coming in from it. I was way too proud to hire a coach because my upline kind of got snarky every time I asked about it until one day I decided to just go for it, and the rest is history. A solid brand equals consistent money... period.
If it saves you time, it saves you money in the long run. Remember that. Are you fully engaged in the game of entrepreneurship? Are you willing to invest in your business? If not, this game probably isn’t for you and that’s ok. Not everyone is meant to be an entrepreneur. There are some really good jobs out there, go find one that you love and live your best life.
Hope these tips helped, until next time, this is Tonya reporting to you live from the social marketing trenches. Happy Thursday!
