I travelled around the world in 2022 and yes, I mean that literally!
First, I flew from Cape Town to Frankfurt and then to Vancouver. From Vancouver I flew to Singapore and on to Australia. I then flew from Australia back to Singapore and on home to Cape Town, South Africa. Not in 90 days and not as I had planned but for reasons out of my control, I had to return and sadly lost several tickets in this process. But I know that I am exactly where I should be for this season!
This new season ushered in introspection surrounding social media and business. Social media is an absolute gift to brands, an attractively packaged, gift free to you to market yourself and your brand with simple trappings. Here are my thoughts on how you can leverage this incredibly powerful platform.
It is here to stay
Social media is here to stay, and it is moving forward in ways many of us are unprepared for in terms of how to implement or even keep up with the many changes. AI and Meta are here, and our marketing collateral needs to reflect that we understand these changes. Do you understand them and are you ready? No? Then I can help you to gear up and level up.
Who is your target audience?
Have you revised your target market recently? No? Your target audience may have changed, and you need to consider that your future target marketing needs to include the up-and-coming generation and that means selling to 20–30-year-olds. This is where it gets tricky. Do you know on which social media app they are spending their time? No? I will tell you: it is TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. Many of you are not using any or all of them. It is time to start. Do not put it off, just start.
It is all about videos
The future marketing methods have shifted away from print media and images, and we need to concentrate on video content that tells human stories. Rather than selling the product, sell the solution to the problem your potential client did not even know they had. Your marketing collateral needs to include reels, stories and TikTok. Not sure how? I can help you create content or better yet, I can teach you how.
Social media fatigue
We are seeing social media fatigue and burn out. People are tired of boring messages that are not authentic or brands that do not care about their customers. It is time to start forging real relationships with your clients and you simply cannot do that by just pushing your product agenda in the hopes that they buy your product. You need to genuinely care about your clients. Get personal with your followers and when they need to buy a product, yours will be the obvious one they choose.
Build relationships
Social media is social and building relationships is the only way to succeed on social media as a brand. Take note of the fact that people fatigued and offer them a reason to stay. Make sure your marketing strategy is reading the room and be sensitive. Be a “lekker person” and a “lekker brand.” If you make a mistake, apologise. Do not know how to ‘talk’ to your followers? Let us talk about how I can help you.
Take it down a notch
For those of you reading this who are feeling the exhaustion of social media, I get you. I really do. Scale back on your posts, only post what you believe in passionately and write from the heart. Keep your private life private and sacrifice quantity over quality.
I am here to help
If you need help with any of these points, I can help you with your strategy and implementing your social media every day. So many people say that they do not reach out because they do not have the budget. How do you know what budget you need if we have not even talked yet? Let us have a conversation and let us start looking at ways to save you time and get those clients that you need.
Have a wonderful week ahead and I will be seeing you on the social highways, posting my random photos of nature, sunrises, and sunsets.
Written by Stephanie Young