How to Be More Effective on Social Media in 2020

Do you ever get that nagging feeling after you’ve posted something perhaps *a little* too honest on social media? Do you ever second-guess yourself on Instagram Stories; so much so, that you replay the video over and over again until you’ve watched yourself so many times that you can’t take it anymore? Does your Instagram bio change by the week? (Summarizing everything that you are in 150 characters is damn hard).

Yeah, I’ve been there. In fact, I used to feel all of these feelings to my core. I often asked why I would second-guess myself so much. And do you know what I found when I dared to be honest with myself? I wanted my online identity to be a genuine reflection of who I was offline. This, as you may already know, is no easy feat. (And exactly why my job exists).For as much as we talk about the negative impacts of social media, it’s also true that we have access to some of the world’s most engaging people than ever before. We often spend more time communicating with people online than we do offline, and the opportunities that social media can provide are truly abundant. You just have to show up for them.

So, those feelings of, “Am I doing this right?” are totally natural and warranted. The internet has shown us that it’s here to stay, so putting our best foot forward on social media is important. Building your personal brand is simply just another way of saying, “I’m being intentional with my online presence.” 

I’m going to give you 3 useful tips that will help you crush your social media goals in 2020:

Before you can be effective online, you have to be effective offline.

Self-awareness is one of the most important qualities you will develop as you build your personal brand. In order to create a truly authentic (and effective) experience for your online community, you must know yourself wholly and completely.

“Self-awareness enables us to stand apart and examine even the way we “see” ourselves and our self-paradigm, the most fundamental paradigm of effectiveness. Until we take how we see ourselves (and how we see others) into account, we will be unable to understand how others see and feel about themselves and their world.”

Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

People really want to see the real you! They don’t want a water-down, diluted version.  I’ve come to understand that people can always tell when someone isn’t being authentic on social media; just because we can communicate with people through digital screens doesn’t mean those screens are any less telling of how a person conducts themselves and their life.

Being truly effective on social media requires radical self-awareness so that you can communicate yourself confidently and authentically. The deeper you go inside yourself, the better you can communicate yourself with confidence. This makes for a more authentic, engaging experience for your audience. 

Practice empathic listening before you create content for social media.

The essence of empathic listening is that you seek to understand your audience emotionally as well as intellectually. When you create content for social media, your goal is always to provide value for your audience, to create and distribute content that they are genuinely interested in hearing (with your own personal flair, of course).

Empathic listening is much more than simply “registering” what your audience is feeling and writing something about it, it’s listening deeply with the intent to understand. In order to do this, you cannot project your own feelings, desires, or key motivators on to them. You’re focused on fostering a deep connection with the people you are seeking to serve. How to do this? 

• Respond to every comment and direct message genuinely.

• Focus on community-building tactics: Facebook Groups, LinkedIn Groups, Instagram Challenges, etc.

• Pick 10 people to interview as a “market research” study. Ask them questions about who they are, what they’re struggling with, and how someone like you could help solve their problems.

• Go deeper with the clients you already have. Treat them like your loved ones and family members. I’m serious. Show them unconditional love and encouragement.

Influence doesn’t derive from how we speak to our audience, it comes from our ability to understand them. Empathic listening will make you a phenomenal copywriter, marketer, and entrepreneur. It will build brand trust and loyalty for years to come.

It’s not quantity vs. quality, it’s quantity = quality.

Do you create content for your audience consistently? Most of the time the answer is eh, or no. And most of the time it’s because you’re thinking about this as a quantity < quality issue. It’s not.

The more you create content, the more you give your audience an opportunity to know you. When more people know you, greater advancements and more opportunities arrive at your doorstep. In order to hyper-attract healthier business relationships, and build a loyal community of like-minded individuals, you have to put yourself out there--a lot. Not a little a lot. A lot a lot.

This means you have to get over the fear of what people are going to think about you. Your blog posts won’t be perfect, neither will your videos, the first podcast you record will probably sound a little bit shitty. But here’s the deal, the more you post, the better you get. Quantity LEADS to quality. So stop telling yourself that you’ll do a better video next week, and never post, it’s time to put yourself out there. 

The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll become phenomenal. It just takes time to get there.

And if you need a little help along the way, that’s what I’m here for.