Social Media Secrets: A Guide To Social Media Success

Social media is a crucial piece of today’s marketing puzzle. Sometimes social media feels like just that — a puzzle. At times it’s a simple 8-piece wood puzzle designed for children, and others it’s the most complex 20k+ piece puzzle to have ever been created (honestly it tends to be closer to the latter, though). So how do you achieve social media success? What’s the secret? I’m going to tell you all the dirty little social media secrets!

Who Am I To Tell?

Hey ?  I’m Drew Tumlinson, Webfor’s Senior Advertising Specialist. 

I manage both the Paid and Social departments at Webfor. I handle all of our client’s social strategies, content, posting, engagement, and more. This also means that I spend (arguably too much) time on social media in my personal life — feel free to find me @DrewskiParker on all platforms, but mostly Instagram.

Secret #1: You’re Doing It Wrong ?‍♂️

Listen, we’re going to be open and honest here. That means I’m going to be a little blunt at times. So, yeah, you’re (probably) doing social media wrong. 

I don’t mean that you’re not posting the right things at the right times (but maybe that’s also true) — I mean you’re likely not setting your goals correctly. Here at Webfor we have a saying; “what gets measured gets managed” and that aligns perfectly with social media. You have to define what success looks like for you before determining whether your social campaign has been successful.

Example of Misaligned Social Media Goals

If you dive into social thinking you’re going to build meaningful relationships and use follower growth as a measurement of success, you’ll quickly find yourself frustrated and confused as to why you’re not meeting your true goal. 

Hint: It’s because you are measuring your success incorrectly!

What is your “true goal?” I’m glad you asked!

Take a look at your engagement rates instead — seeing that improve indicates you have a more engaged audience, meaning you can build more meaningful relationships with your followers and establish rapport.

If your goal is brand awareness, maybe increasing followers by 4% is a good measure of success. But if your goal is curating meaningful relationships with your followers, improving your engagement rate by even half of a percent is a better measure of success. 

Secret #2: No One Knows What Will Work ?‍♂️

I know, I know…that Instagram guru you’ve followed since day 1 who has arguably been successful said that it’s “just a simple formula” and if you follow it, you’ll see success, too. But the truth is, that might work for you…and it also might not. 

There is simply no one-size-fits-all social media strategy that’s guaranteed to be fruitful for every single person that uses it. That’s the part of the beauty of social media in my opinion — it’s dynamic and unique for each user to an extent. 

How Do I Strategize Then?

You need to spend time defining your ideal follower. As a business owner, you’ve likely outlined your ideal client/customer. Your ideal follower probably looks similar to them, but you’ll want to identify some specifics about your ideal follower, like:

• What kind of content do they interact with? Share?
• What trends are they participating in?
• Are they spending more time on Instagram, TikTok, or somewhere else?
  • Are they mainly on the Feed? Stories? Explore/For You?
• Who do they follow besides you?

Answering these questions will help you craft a strategy that meets your ideal followers where they’re already at, giving you a leg up on success.

Secret #3: You Don’t Have To Be Everywhere ?

There are countless social media platforms out there (did you know MySpace is even still around?). But you do not have to be on all of them. In fact, it’s nearly impossible for you to be on all of them and on them well. You might end up looking like Jimmy Fallon:

I do think you should claim your username on as many social platforms as possible just in case you decide to dive into that platform in the future. That way you’ll have your branded username that matches all of your other social media handles. 

But you don’t need to be active on every social platform. Pick the platform(s) that make the most sense for your ideal follower, and give that platform (or platforms, depending on your resources) your all!

Secret #4: How To Create a Social Strategy & Be Successful ?

As a business owner or employee reading this post, you likely don’t have the time to create, implement, and execute on a successful social media strategy. Luckily for you, agencies like Webfor exist! We offer management, paid advertising, and strategy services to our clients. We work with everyone from small, local blue collar companies to nationwide B2B and B2C organizations. 

We want to work with you, too. In fact, I want to work with you! When you partner with us for a social media project, you’ll work with me and a team of marketing experts. We’ll all partner together to set realistic and valuable goals for your social media profiles, identify your ideal follower and strategize how to reach them, execute on the strategy we collaborate on, and deliver beautiful reports showcasing your wins and areas we learned from. 

You deserve a strategic social media partner. Don’t hesitate to reach out to succeed on social!