Everyone says you need social media but, for you, it feels more like a time suck than a pathway to business growth. You post regularly and get zero results. You wish there were an easy way to make social media work for you. Thankfully, there is. These four tips will help you StoryBrand your social media so that you can create effective, engaging posts that actually get results. 

Do I need a social media presence?

With everything you’ve already got on your to-do list, you may be wondering if you can grow a successful business without a social media presence. Giana Reno of Marketing Insider Group doesn’t recommend taking that route. She says that social media is more than a trend – it needs to be an essential part of your marketing strategy.

Social media can help you build trust with potential customers, gain brand awareness, engage with customers and build authority. However, none of that comes by posting one cool video and waiting for it to go viral. In order to get results with social media, you need a focused plan. 

A StoryBranded Social Media Strategy

StoryBrand partnered with award-winning author Claire Diaz-Ortiz, author of Social Media Success for any Brand, to create a free training series called “Social Media Made Simple”. 

She uses what she calls the SHARE model to help brands build a solid social media strategy for their social media channels:

Story – Content is key. What story are you telling?

How – How do you create a social media presence that builds your brand?

Audience – Social media is about your audience not you or your brand. 

Reach – Expand your reach by focusing on engagement. 

Excellence – Fine-tune your strategy for long-term success. 

Here are some great tips to help you put the SHARE model into action:

Tip 1: Know Your Audience

Before you can create great content on social media, or anywhere for that matter, you have to know who the content is for and what problems your target audience is experiencing. If you’ve taken the time to create a StoryBrand BrandScript for your company and products, you already have all the information you need to create targeted social media posts that will serve your audience well. 

The challenges and successes you’ve outlined in your brand message should guide the content you choose to post. You can even use lines directly from your BrandScript to educate followers about your brand, show empathy for their problems, and your authority to help solve those problems. 

Tip 2: Your Account Isn’t About You

As with all StoryBrand marketing, it is important to remember that your social media isn’t actually about you- it is about your customer.  The content you create and share should always be focused on how you can help your target audience achieve success, avoid failure, or live a better story. 

Your posts should be centered around solving your customer’s problems and highlighting their successes. Your content should always align with your brand story. You can also share content from others that will meet those same goals. 

Tip 3: Give More Than You Take

Be sure to always give away valuable content more often than you ask for something in return. This is part of building trust and a relationship with your audience. 

One of the best ways to do this is to take the time to listen to what your target audience wants and needs. Take the time to read and respond to comments and analyze which posts get the most likes and shares. This will help you understand what your audience wants more of and where they want to interact with you most. 

By giving your audience more of what they want, you are setting up your social media accounts for growth and success. However, don’t get too caught up in the numbers, at least not the follower numbers. 

Tip 4: Focus on Engagement More than a Number of Followers

When it comes to social media, and marketing in general, engagement is more important than just having a big audience. Social media platforms actually favor engaged accounts over big accounts.

Instead of focusing on creating content that goes viral, focus on caring for the audience you have and serving them well. Create content that people will want to interact with and share. That will grow your reach much more than going viral ever will. 

According to Claire Diaz-Ortiz, the key to an engaged audience on social media is showing empathy and taking the time to connect. That means you consistently post great social media content that you know your audience will love. You choose and create posts that show you truly understand your target audience’s problems and needs. 

If someone comments on a post, take the time to reply so that they feel seen and heard. Ultimately, you want to focus more on helping your audience achieve success than on growing your account. By treating the followers you have well, your follower number will grow naturally.

Tip 5: Tell a Clear Story 

Another pitfall that businesses often run into with social media is posting just for the sake of posting, without actually setting an intention or a goal for the post. 

In the Communication Made Simple course through Business Made Simple, Donald Miller outlines the importance of determining the controlling idea, or main focus, for any marketing campaign. Your social media posts could be one of the main points of that campaign. This can be something readers can learn or earn from engaging with your post, something they might miss out on, or a problem you can solve.

To do this well, you always want to have a goal or intention for your post. For example, if the goal of your post is to show how your brand is helping your current clients, you can share images of people experiencing success with your product or service accompanied by testimonials. If your goal is to learn what your audience wants more of, you can ask engaging questions and then take the time to engage in conversation by responding to the answers you receive. 

StoryBrand Your Social Media Today

Using the StoryBrand Framework to StoryBrand your social media requires just a few mindset shifts:

• Focus on your customers, not yourself. 
• Take care of the followers you have. 
• Set an intention for each post. 

By following these three principles, your social media posts will be more effective and engaging, helping you get the traction you’ve been looking for. 

If you’d like additional guidance on creating a StoryBranded social media strategy that gets results, we’d love to help. Contact us today to speak with one of our Certified StoryBrand Guides.