The connect and engagement that social media gives is unparalleled. When I decided to claim my space in the virtual world because it was time to stand out in the crowd, I found it to be an overwhelming experience. I spent endless hours scouring websites and social media platforms to explore the labyrinthine ways of this huge revolution. It wasn’t a day’s job to master it but gradually I have found my comfort zone.
I’d like to share some of the things I learnt in the process:
1. Social media is a great networking tool. The reach is exponential and platforms like Twitter can give you instant engagement. If you know your target audience, geography is not a constraint.
My initial aim was to connect with people and inform them about what I do and hence I chose platforms relevant to my goals. Twitter connected me to top HR influencers and I got to learn a lot from them. Professional networking sites connect me to people of my profession and Facebook gave me exposure.
2. Social media is overwhelming. Despite months of reading up, I kept digging up new tools, apps, platforms and information about it. There are numerous tools for scheduling, integrating content, accessing social media and what not.
I found it hard to cull through all the information and stick to what was relevant to me. Gradually, I figured out apps that were easy to use and helped me meet my goals and have stuck to them ever since. This is the key to make sense of the madness.
3. Presence on social media is time consuming. Even though social media gives you exposure, reach and engagement, it is very time consuming. Posting meaningful content on platforms to keep your presence going requires commitment and constant work. If you can afford to, it is not a bad idea to outsource your social media. However, there are a few road blocks to that seemingly easy solution. One, digital marketers are expensive. Two, there is no objective parameter to establishing the expertise of a vendor. Since there are no entry barriers to the profession of social media, there are many startups that claim to do a great job.
I hired a couple of them without much success or help.
4. Social media is your online presence only. While being online is a great way to tell a large number of people what you do, getting real business requires meeting real people.
Your personal presence adds credibility to your online image. So, ride on your online authenticity to further strengthen your ties in the real world.
5. Social media is forever. Just as I figured my way through social media and had sorted how content and scheduling works, I realized that that was just the beginning. The life of your content on social media is very short. And hence you need to post constantly and repeatedly.
Though, I wasn’t too happy about the discovery initially, planning and scheduling apps have helped me a great deal in keeping a constant presence online.
Social media can be too much to manage at the beginning, but it is worth it at the end of the day. Be it personal goals like learning new things or professional goals like connecting with your target audience, social media has made a huge difference to my life.