Social Media: Are You Trying to Hard?

Too often I talk to people who are trying to make social media work for them. They have the secret app that will help follow & unfollow and find the right “peeps” that may buy their product or service. But in an effort to gain followers and create interactions with influencers, too often we forget to be REAL on social media. Obviously my experience is with Twitter, but I know it’s similar with all social media platforms.

Don’t forget to be a person. Be real. I don’t want to hire a logo or a brand, I want to work with a real live person. Someone who posts pictures of their kids or pet or team dressed up for Halloween. Someone who answers my question WITHOUT a sales pitch attached.

If you are active on social media and have a hard time converting, take a step back and look at what you’re doing. Are you desperate to get that ONE big influencer to retweet you? Or are you having a conversation with your target market? Asking questions, answering questions, being a resource. If someone asks a question on Twitter and I know the answer or have a suggestion, I’ll send it to them. Be helpful, no strings attached.

As I seem to say too often in regards to Social Media, your desperation is more obvious to us than you think it is. Calm down, step back and have fun.

And if it’s not fun? Stop doing it. Make sure you’re active on social media where your target market is. If your focus is B2B and you hate Facebook, it’s OK to not have a Facebook business page (note how it has NOT hurt my business at all). If Twitter stresses you out, it’s OK not to be on Twitter. You need to do what works for you. We can tell when you aren’t having fun.