With the school summer holidays well and truly underway, you might be finding it hard to stay motivated with your social media. You might be focused on looking after the kids, looking forward to a well-deserved holiday, or just desperately in need of a rest! Whatever your circumstances, summer is the perfect time to ‘turn the cruise ship around,’ or in other words, do something different with your socials – especially as business can often be a bit quieter in August, giving you more time to work on your marketing.
Why the need to make changes? Well, you may be familiar with one of the most famous quotes associated with Albert Einstein: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” And if this describes how things are with your online activities right now, you may not actually be insane, but definitely ready for a breath of fresh air! I appreciate it can be hard to break away from a comfortable routine, but promise me, it could be the key to turning the cruise ship around in terms of really getting the results you want from social media.
You could well be thinking: “How do I get started with doing things differently online?” My first piece of advice would be to look at your social media data. All the platforms provide access to metrics and reports, giving valuable insights into which posts and content types are getting the most engagement. You can also invest in social media dashboards, which bring all your data together in one place.
Take my own Instagram account as an example. I recently checked out my data to find out what’s getting the highest engagement levels. In my top five, four were made up of the Lives I do every Monday morning, whilst the fifth one was about my cat (pet-related posts nearly always get great engagement levels!). This is highly useful information as it tells me that (a) the time invested in my Monday morning Lives is definitely paying off and (b) if I do a few more posts about my cat, I’ll be reaching a potentially different – and new – audience.
So, have a look at your own data and see what it’s telling you. Then use the insights to update your existing social media strategy and plan, or create new ones if you don’t have these in place yet, to reflect what’s resonating with your target audience.
It’s also a good idea to check out your website data, using Google Analytics or a similar tool, to find out how many referrals you’re getting to your site from each social media platform, as well as other sources such as email marketing. Again, this will provide insight into what to focus on with your online marketing activities going forward.
You might be surprised at what your metrics have to tell you, but whatever they reveal, you’ll be much better placed for success by understanding the impact your social media posts, content and other marketing activities are having. After all, without knowing what’s working and what isn’t, you’re basically fumbling around in the dark with no idea what changes you need to make! And of course, if you need any help with your social media strategy and planning once you’ve analysed your data, you’re very welcome to book a 2-hour planning session with me to craft your shiny new roadmap to success.
So, let’s get motivated this summer and maximise your social media mojo!
PS. If you’d like to receive regular social media tips and insights direct to your inbox, please subscribe to my newsletter. You’ll also find lots of free and paid-for resources on my website. Have a lovely summer and let’s chat soon!