Does the thought of creating weekly content for social media make you want to run the other direction and hide? You're absolutely not alone.

Social Media is hands down one of the most common topics I speak about with anyone when it comes to marketing.

The pressure, the unknown, the vanity metrics and all the contradicting advice are leading to so much frustration, overwhelm and confusion.

In this solo episode I chat through one of the most common reasons I believe so many people are feeling so overwhelmed - too much information, too much advice and an onslaught of contradicting advice.

So what do you do instead? How do you use social media to build your brand, grow your business and make more sale? Tune in now!

Connect with Kristy

Find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristypask/

Visit my website to learn more about working with me: https://kristypask.com/

Episode Transcript:

One of the main reasons I believe business owners are so confused and overwhelmed when it comes to social media marketing is at any given point in time, there is so much information and advice that is available to us. 

In a lot of these instances, it’s decent advice, I believe most of it is given with nothing but the best intention and the people giving it really do want the best outcome for you. 

However, one of the problems I see and I sometimes also feel, is the advice, tips and tricks on how to use social media can at times come across as fact, like an invisible list of rules that have been written for us that often don’t work for us or our business, but we think if we don’t follow the rules or do what we feel like we’re being told to, then we won’t get the results, and if we don’t get the results, that our efforts are a waste of time. And so instead, we do nothing, because if we can’t do it properly, if we can’t follow the plan then there is no point in doing it at all - can you relate?

And on top of that, not only have you got this set of rules you feel you have to follow, depending on what sources you look to the rules feel like they keep changing. 

You head to one person's profile and they’re telling you that the best thing you can do is batch a months worth of content in advance, and if you’re not batching, you’re wasting too much time creating content.

Only to head to another experts profile who is telling you batching your content makes your content sound robotic and dull, and that you should create content only when you feel inspired and when the energy is there. 

Someone else will tell you to post every day, while someone else will tell you that you only need to post 3 times per week, but post to stories every day. 

Someone will chime in and tell you that you should be posting 3 reels, 1 carousel and 1 static post each week. Someone else will tell you Reels should be your only focus only to have that contradicted by another person sharing the story of how they generated 6 figures in sales by only posting carousels.

But really, we only need to look around at all the different pieces of advice to remind ourselves that it’s just that, advice.

Advice we’re receiving or seeing that is based on different opinions and experiences, experiences in terms of professional experience, individual experience with the different apps through trial and error and testing, it is so often formed off the back of what someone believes to be true, from different view points, individual opinions on what works best and on what people simply believe is the best way to utilise social media to grow your business. 

And if you’re here listening to this, you’re using social media to grow a business, the frequency of our content alone and the format in which it is delivered will not be the sole contributing factor as to if our business is a success or not. 

Any of the frequencies, strategies or tactics I have just mentioned could work, and they probably have worked, it’s why they’re being taught.

While I understand it can actually feel quite frustrating for some to hear that there that there is no right way, there is no easy to follow map to social media success - I do hope that this news actually free’s you and gives you permission to create your own path. 

Which leads me to the second problem I usually see, and that’s most people are turning to too many experts looking for advice and that’s contributing to the overwhelm and confusion. We think that we need to know more or to learn more. 

I see so many business owners turning to too many people or multiple information sources and platforms for advice, searching for the silver bullet, the guaranteed way to get results, the shortcuts and the hacks and they believe that there is some secret out there that everyone else must know about that they seem to be missing and if they just knew what it was, they’d be able to crack the code.

And if they could just crack the code, find the right way to do these things, the secret formula to marketing a business on social media,  that would alleviate the stress that comes with these using these platforms and would enable them to bring in all the clients and customers they desire.

But the truth is there is no code to crack, there is no secret formula and there is no single, correct way to use social media to grow your business. 

When it comes to social media marketing, in most instances there is no guaranteed, single, right way to do something, there is no best posting schedule to stick to that is superior to others, there is no platform that is guaranteed to bring you better results over another. 

The truth is you could take any of the posting schedules I mentioned earlier, implement it, and see results.

But there is no point sticking to a daily posting schedule if you simply cannot manage that load, if you can’t create that level of content on an ongoing basis. There is no point doing a 30 days reel challenge if it’s going to take over your life and stop you from doing all the other important things in your business that actually move the needle and make you money. 

On the other hand, you might find you’re full of ideas, they just don’t stop coming and you love creating content - in which case sticking to a much higher frequency might really work for you, it might energise you and you attract the right people into your world. 

Throw away the invisible rules and create your own. 

You might even find that you have so much to say and share that short form video doesn’t cut it, and you need to start a YouTube Channel.

Maybe you love to deep dive into topics and decide a Podcast is actually for you. 

Perhaps you love writing, so you start a blog and repurpose that to create all of your short form social content. 

There are no rules. 

I myself have never really been one to tell people what they should or must do with social media and wholeheartedly believe that the best strategy is going to be one that suits you, your brand and meets your customers and clients wherever they hang out.

That doesn’t mean if you don’t like video you don’t have to make it, I encourage you to push yourself out of your comfort zone and to try new things, however it doesn’t mean going all in on a tactic you simply don’t enjoy because someone told you it was the best way to grow. 

And so to conclude…

I suggest you find a handful of experts who maybe focus on different areas or who each bring you something different to think about, or who inspire you to create great content. 

And to focus more on the actual content you’re creating, first and foremost you need to be creating great content that speaks to the heads and hearts of your ideal audience, and once you have thought about that you can decide on the frequency, the platforms and the format in which you would like to create your content. 

But ultimately it’s up to you, there are no rules and you don’t have to do something just because some expert told you you do, instead find what works best for you, understand what’s going to help you grow your business and build your brand and I encourage you to think outside the box, don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone and try something new every now and then.

Find the way that works best for you, commit to it, stick it out - and the results will come.