fbpx

The 7 Mindset Shifts Needed for Successful Social Media Marketing

Many people have a tough time fully understanding the nuances and the time needed to execute effective social media campaigns, which is completely okay. I still struggle on a daily basis in this area — it’s all part of the game.
Yet, the problem is most people give it a try, assuming it’ll be either be easy or similar to other marketing/business endeavors they’ve done in the past. After a few weeks or months go by, they get discouraged and start asking questions like:
Why am I spending so much time and energy on this?
When will I be compensated?
Why is shitty content getting more attention than mine?
After one final push, they either slow down their efforts to a snail’s crawl, or stop completely.
Addressing the true core of this issue begins with the foundation. And the foundation for successful social media campaigns starts by having the right mindsets in place. I’ve compiled 7 mindset shifts which encapsulate whats needed to take your social game to the next level.
Here they are…

Mindset Shifts

1.) Scalability

To reach the widest audience possible via social media marketing, you’ve got to shift to a mindset focused on scalability.
This is a tough one, especially for people who’ve been in business for a long long time. Changing something that has always worked isn’t easy. Yet, I promise the shift will be more than worth the effort.

The beautiful thing about social media marketing and digital marketing in general is that it is scalable. Your Tweet or blog post could potentially be in the hands of 10,000,000 people across the world while you sit on the toilet or take your dog for a walk. It’s awesome.

When working with clients who are either small business owners or aspiring small business owners, my brother and I always do one thing first: see how (not if) that person can scale a portion of their business through social media and/or a digital product.
There are more options than you might think. Here are just a few possible examples:

  1. If you’re a chef, create a Udemy course showcasing the fundamentals of cooking and your favorite dishes. Be sure to niche down as much as possible. If you specialize in seafood, focus on that.
  2. If you’re a yoga teacher, host Periscope and Facebook Live yoga sessions to build online relationships. In these sessions, only give your audience a snippet (~10 minutes) of your material. Then ask them to attend your weekly yoga webinar (which would be a full-length class). Charge them $5 each. Promote this online class in all of your in-person sessions and beyond.
  3. If you’re a dog-walker, create an ebook or a long-form article on topics like “Dog Leash Essentials”, “Picking the Perfect Dog Shampoo for Your Breed”, “11 Reasons Why Your Dog Is Probably Not Getting the Exercise It Needs”, etc. Link up your brand in all the content. Create Facebook Ads targeting Pet Owners and ages 30 to 65.

Marketing mastermind, Joe Polish says writing compelling sales copy is the easiest way to multiply yourself 1000x for free.
The same thing applies to creating digital products!
Back to Example #2 — the yoga instructor; even if the instructor was landing in-person sessions with Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, 500 people buying the instructor’s $5 online webinar would beat out the profit of their in-person’s time and time again.
Along with that, they’d also be building up their online brand in the process and saving money on travel expenses, wasted time, etc.
Not only will this virtually “multiply” the instructor so they could be in a million places at once, but it also increases the value of their in-person sessions. They’d be able to charge more for them.
The internet has opened up a whole new world and client-base that would’ve never been possible before. For instance, maybe the yoga instructor’s material would be insanely popular outside of your own country. Who knows? The internet allows for these types of circumstances to be possible.

2.) ROI

ROI is one of the most contentious issues within social media marketing. It truly is hard to measure the precise efficacy of social media as it relates from person to person. Even the most advanced analytics software and companies don’t have the exact solution.
Chances are, if you are reading this article you already know the value social media can give your brand, so I won’t dive too far into the subject. But let’s cover some of the fundamentals, shall we?
If you meticulously calculate the ROI of your social media strategy from the beginning onward, you’re going to go crazy. In fact, you might punch a wall or two. Possibly three.
Obviously, be sure to make data-driven decisions and pivot accordingly if something isn’t working. But if you spend 3 hours typing up a blog post and you don’t receive 3 hours of pay immediately, don’t trip about it.
Think of it in terms of some oldschool business practices. Do you think the owners of a town cafe ever write down billable hours spent chatting it up with customers about their problems, about their kids, about their lives?
Do you think the most popular bartender in town has a stopwatch and counts the minutes spent talking to a customer, then calculates the minutes against the amount of tips they received that night?
No. And that’s exactly why the customers keep coming back. Because those people are genuine. They’re real.
After working in the Bay Area tech scene since I graduated, one thing that bugs the hell out of me is the “my time is too valuable” spiel every wannabe Steve Jobs gets wrapped up in. Many people use this principle as an excuse to not do anything for anybody else (no matter how big or small), unless there is a stastically-sound reason for them to do so.
I’m not saying to say yes to everything. Be selective with your time. But don’t get ahead of yourself. For instance, at this point in my career I would never act like my time is as important/valuable as the Neil Patels or the Nathan Chans or the Gary Vaynerchuks. I’m not there yet. Not even close.
I stay in my lane, learn whenever I can, and share it with others. And I think that’s one of the primary reasons many have found value in my articles thus far.
To gain an even better understanding of this predicament, read Gary Vaynerchuk’s article What’s the ROI of Your Mom?

3.) Social Media as a Prerequisite

The easiest way to get rid of “social media entitlement” is to think of social media as a prerequisite, not a badge of honor.
Remember when having a website for your business was icing on the cake as opposed a necessity? I think the same thing will be true of social media. In fact, it’s almost at that point right now. It’s just a necessary part of the work now. It’s not supplementary.
You’ve probably heard people saying how every company today has to be a media company. It’s a content marketing world now. So think of social media (and the rest of your inbound marketing) as a standard piece of your infrastructure.
Once you have that mindset shift, the act of posting and interacting on social will become more natural and legitimate.
Don’t worry: it’ll be worth the effort you put in in the long run as long as you’re consistent with it.

4.) Immediate Sales Fallacy

If you think you’ll get immediate sales with social media marketing, you might be in for an unpleasant awakening. It’s gonna take time. And probably lots of it.
In social media marketing, you must give away information f or free . All just to be helpful.Adding value is what works best on social media and beyond.
Only after you’ve given value, then more value, and then more can you expect to successfully conduct a sales pitch.
The rut many people find themselves in is treating social media like a cold sales call. Scrolling down social feeds, you’ll see an endless amount of people asking for stuff.
Retweet this. Click this link. Download my ebook. Take my course. Buy my shit!
Why not try giving instead of asking?
I’m not saying you should do everything for free. You definitely shouldn’t. Have very strict boundaries for yourself.
From a psychological standpoint, people associate monetary value with credibility and confidence in one’s self. In the same sense, people associate cost with caliber.
Just be sure to be transparent with your costs. Make it clear from the get-go on what you charge for and what you don’t. No one will ever get pissed at you for having enough self-worth to charge money for your time and energy.
Don’t give everything away for free. But, be sure to earn the right to charge people money. How do you earn this right? Well, by earning their trust.

“Earn trust, earn trust, earn trust. Then you can worry about the rest.” -Seth Godin

5.) Following Your Preferences

Today, there are a higher volume of social media outlets than ever before, so your options are immense.
I discussed this in my previous article, but I’ll say it again: for your social media marketing strategy, pick the channels you enjoy using the most. Even if they’re only sorta applicable to your brand.
Are you on Pinterest all day long? Do you find yourself scrolling through the feed and consuming the content like there’s no tomorrow? Well, that’s a dead giveaway you need to get your ass on Pinterest! Same goes for the rest of them.
Create content on the channels you know best. This will save you time, energy, and thus money.

Remember: it’s better to start from level one than ground zero. Do what you already know, even if you aren’t a master at it.

6.) Building Credibility

There’s a reason why most job applications ask for links to your social media accounts. Recruiters use your channels as a window to your true self.
Effective use of social media validates your passion by separating you from the pack. It lets others know that even when you’re not working, you’re thinking about your industry. You’re learning about your industry. You’re a student of the game within your industry.
In software engineering, recruiters care mostly about what you’ve done. About your portfolio. About your GitHub. About your project history.

Your tangible work authenticates not only your skills but your drive. Your dedication.

In fields not as black-or-white as software engineering, we can use social media as that outlet. As that platform.
There are no excuses any more. Too many outlets exist online today for people to complain about not being able to spread their ideas and knowledge. Stop lying to yourself and put rubber to the road!
In short, use social media as the “show-me” platform. Show what you know.If you read a metric shit ton of articles, share them online. Share your thoughts on topics in your industry.

7.) Being genuine — above all else

To be successful in your social media campaigns and profiles, you must be genuine. Faking it might get you far, but it will only take you so far.
The days of bullshitting are numbered. And thank God for that! There are no excuses any more
If being unhappy, unsatisfied, and discontent isn’t enough to stop you from delving into an industry you don’t want to be in, then let this principle be it: lack of authenticity will only get you so far.
In this saturated, highly transparent marketplace/world we live in, being genuine is a must! People are smart. They can see through bullshitters and phonies.
Be real. Be relatable. Tell people how you really feel. They will respect you more for doing so.
Do what you love. Teach what you love. Tell others about what you love. That’s how you earn trust. That’s how you add value to others. That’s how you increase your social media influence.

Final Note:

Here’s the deal. I know it can get overwhelming to keep up with the digital Joneses. Social media platforms come and go and that’ll always be the case.
Take comfort in this: the humans operating them will not change.
Knowing that simple fact is power in itself.
Take some time to know consumer psychology. To know what people actually yearn for at their core. Neil Patel had a terrific article that he published on this topic, click here to read it.
Once you get an understanding of consumer psychology, take a thorough look at what makes for “ideal content” on any specific social media platform, and then mold your content to reflect it (with your own original twist, of course!). Plain and simple.
Pull out the embedded human element in these products. Extract the natural “human want” the product/platform fulfills, and act accordingly.
Wherever you might be reading this from, I want to thank you for taking the time to finish it and I hope you gained value from it. Good luck on your journey and feel free to reach out to me!
In the comment section: What do you struggle with the most when it comes to grappling social media?

Call to Action

If you really enjoyed this article and want to receive the shortened, PDF version of The 7 Mindset Shifts Needed for Successful Social Media Marketing , then click here to receive it now!

This content was originally published here.

Translate »