When I started my business, I didn’t truly appreciate how heavy the web-designer hat, the email marketing hat or the public speaker hat would feel. You didn’t start your business to spend hours thinking about content, diving into analytics and trying to stay up to date with the latest updates. It’s something you’ve learnt, something that still feels icky sometimes, something that you know is worth it, but something that often leaves you feeling like you should have done more.
Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve
How many times have you caught yourself thinking or even publicly admitting:
“I should have mentioned this weeks ago”
“I should have posted about this more”
Sometimes you even reach your goals, but that voice still tells you that you could have reached your dream goal if only you’d posted more, posted sooner, posted better!
It can leave you feeling like you let your business down.
But here’s the worst part: you know you can do it.
When you’ve got the time to focus on your social media, your content is good. You know who you’re talking to, you know what you need to say. When you show up, you show up well. You’re good at keeping your social media quietly ticking over – so why is it so easy to let the ball drop as soon as you actually need to use it as a marketing tool?
Reminder – you can’t do it all, and that doesn’t diminish what you did achieve. Don’t forget to celebrate what you did do before beating yourself up for what you didn’t do!
The OK Results Paradox
This is a pattern that I’m seeing more and more in small business owners. It’s the OK Results Paradox. You know you can, but you don’t – so you chalk it down to a discipline problem.
I disagree. It’s a strategy problem, or more accurately, a sub-strategy problem!
On social media, you’re talking to multiple people at the same time:
- The stranger who is getting to know, like and trust you
- The target audience who is starting to understand that they need you
- The ideal client who is ready to buy from you
It’s not about getting more content out; it’s about getting the right content out at the right time. As an example, let’s take a little look behind the curtain at my own strategy.
Next month, I want to focus on selling social media strategy support, so what does that look like on social media?
- I’ve got my ‘quietly ticking over’ content going out as usual
- I’m focusing on explaining why a social media strategy is important and debunking some myths. I’m doing this in various formats – including this blog.
- I’ve started sharing some “this is what I offer, this is how you get started” posts, but without the urgency. Until next month, my message is to think about it, not to actually get started. Next month, I’ll be ramping these up more!
So if you’re good at keeping your social media quietly ticking over, you’ve mastered your sub-strategy talking to the stranger. If you feel like you let the ball drop every time you need to use social media as a marketing tool, your sub-strategies talking to your target audience and ideal client are failing you.
Fun Fact – there is such a thing as posting too much! Find out more here.
What social media support can look like
Getting social media support isn’t about handing over control and hoping someone else can show up for you and get better results; it’s about building those sub-strategies and allowing you to focus on the aspects that feel less icky.
I don’t offer full management. I won’t take that social media marketer hat off you, but I will help you straighten it and carry it more easily.
Next time you catch yourself saying “I should have posted about this more”, take a moment to celebrate the posts you did create, and then have a think about why you’re really feeling this way. What was missing from your strategy?
PS. We could have that think together if you book a 1-2-1 Powerhour!
I help passionate small business owners with their social media so that they can create a powerful and supportive space to promote their business.
Share this blog