How good is your social media game?

Over the last year or so, my Instagram following has boomed.

Social media hasn't always impacted the property sector so much, but with so many platforms and users now, it’s no wonder certain personalities out there have become legitimate celebrities and business icons in their own right!

But there’s a real difference between using social media for leisure and entertainment, and leveraging it effectively for business and marketing, and it’s easy to get lost in the noise of all the competing advice out there.

So, this week I’m sharing some of my top tips and advice, those things that I’ve found work well for me.

Decide why you’re there in the first place

Before you start posting anything, using social media in a business sense requires a little more thought and strategy than just broadcasting your thoughts.

Think about how you want your social media content to benefit your business, and then spend some time making sure you understand what you want your audience to get out of it. There has to be some value in it for them. It’s all very well thinking of crazy things that make you look great, but is that going to give your audience any benefit, or just stoke your ego?

Find ways to be unique

Take a close look at any specific sector on social media, and you’ll often find that it’s one big game of ‘follow the leader’. There’s a lot of chatter out there, so it’s really important to find an angle that sets you apart from the rest of the noise, and that isn’t an obvious copy of what someone else has already done (and probably done better). If you’re clearly copying a more successful creator’s content, you’re going to lose your audience, or (even worse) people won’t bother to engage with you in the first place.

Remember, when it comes to making social media content, authenticity is key. Audiences can see through someone fake straight away, not to mention the fact that if you’re presenting something that isn’t true to your values, it’s so much harder to maintain!

Get training and support

It’s important to realise that you don’t know what you don’t know when it comes to social media for your business. Posting a bunch of pictures on Instagram is a very different beast to (for example) building a channel and a following on YouTube.

There are far more experienced people out there who understand best practice when it comes to the various platforms, who can help you get things set up, and importantly, make your content look good.

As I often say, it’s not always about the ‘How’: you can't do everything yourself! Is there anyone in your network who can help you out? ?Remember, the ‘rules’ for social media algorithms are constantly changing (*cough* LinkedIn cough), meaning you have to stay on your toes, so if there’s someone you can learn from who really knows their stuff, you’d be a fool not to ask for their help.

A personal brand is more powerful than the corporate

Daniel Priestley often talks about the difference between a company and a personal brand, and I find that a lot of people are (at first) reluctant to be on camera, but in this day and age, it has become absolutely essential for your business to have a human face.

What would you be more interested in watching/looking at? A series of anonymous reels or videos that just show you what a company does, or an engaging video with an actual human being explaining more about what they do and why they do it?

People are far more interested in hearing from the person, not the brand. It’s all about that human connection – although that does bring me neatly to my next point…

Don’t overshare

A bit of personality is good but no-one needs to know what you had for breakfast! This goes back to my first point about your content being relevant for your audience.

What do you want them to get out of your content? Do you want them to learn more about your business and your values, or do you really, really want them to know that you think avocado on toast is the best way to start the day?

Your content has to be relevant for your business, otherwise you risk pissing people off and losing whatever audience you’ve built. By all means, post personal stuff if you want to – but do it on a private or personal account, not your business pages.

Develop a thick skin

You’re never going to please all the people all the time, especially if you’re posting about something that divides opinion.

I can remember when one of my videos went viral on TikTok for the first time: I posted it at night, went to bed, and when I woke up in the morning there were 58,000 views and about 200 comments. Half the comments were really positive, but the other half were people calling me names, asking how I dared to have an opinion on whatever it was I’d posted about.

Managing your online interactions is an important skill to learn. Focus on meaningful engagement with your genuine audience and make sure you’re maintaining professional boundaries. Trolls and keyboard warriors are sadly part and parcel of having an online profile, especially as you become more visible. Remember, moderating your community by blocking and deleting rude or abusive comments is absolutely acceptable – define clear community guidelines for your platforms and stick to them.

Do remember though, criticism of your content can sometimes offer valuable insights… as long as you can distinguish between constructive feedback you can learn from and comments that are best ignored.?

Set boundaries

Setting boundaries is a key element when it comes to social media, both in how you engage with your followers (eg blocking anyone abusive), but also how much time you spend curating your pages.

It’s easy to let your online personality absorb your life. Say you’ve gone for a hike or a run in the country – are you spending that time taking great pictures for your Instagram feed, or do you switch off so you can really be in the moment??

If your mindset is ‘If it’s not on Instagram, did it really happen?’, maybe it’s time to think about just how healthy that is.

Be consistent - there’s no point in half-arsing it

With that said, you can’t half-arse a social media strategy: it takes time, commitment, and above all, discipline! You can’t post ad-hoc and expect to develop a decent following. Build your strategy, start to post and publish, look at what works well (or doesn’t) and take it from there.?

A schedule will help you stay consistent, which automatically makes your life easier and allows you to plan things out properly, rather than posting something sub-par on the hoof because you’ve realised you need to get something out on your channel.

Like anything, building up a social following takes time. Don’t assume that you can set up a platform and on Day 1 you’ll know everything and have thousands of followers. Be patient!

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I hope you’ve found these tips useful, but really, they’re just scratching the surface! For a deeper dive into winning social media strategies, especially on YouTube, check out Episode 205 of the podcast, where I chat with Joanne Lavelle, an estate agent based in Ireland. She shares some fantastic insights, so go and have a listen for more tips and advice.