Libby Rothschild, CEO of Libby Rothschild, LLC offering coaching and training on business growth and social media. Follow on LinkedIn.
Social media is part of the marketing ecosystem for business owners, especially coaches and consultants who want to scale their businesses. But, using social media for organic growth can feel scary to many small-business owners who are limited on time. Despite social media’s popularity, I’ve observed that many small-business owners aren’t using any platforms for marketing purposes, which can mean money is left on the table.
After working with thousands of owners who have come to my company for support with their business’s social media growth, I have seen three common mistakes: They lack a strategy, focus only on hard sales and ignore engagement. Let’s break these down and consider actionable steps for addressing them:
Mistake No. 1: No Clear Strategy
The most common mistake I see among coaches and consultants who want to get clients from social media is lacking a strategy. Without a strategy, you have nothing to measure for progress, and this can feel frustrating.
A social media strategy involves defining clear goals and your target audience, selecting the appropriate platform and creating content that lands with the people you want to reach. Reviewing analytics and adjusting your strategy based on those analytics is also a key component for improving your strategy and measuring results. A coach or consultant should use a clear brand voice with their strategy as well, as this will give them a better chance of creating compelling content.
An example of a common social media strategy is creating a content calendar that outlines what and when you post and that aligns with your brand message, voice and tone. For instance, you might have a theme or post a type of content on a certain day (e.g., “about me” on Fridays or “behind the scenes” on Mondays). A coach or consultant can avoid a lack of strategy by prioritizing social media and planning their strategy 30 days ahead. Documenting the strategy is a great process that can help you reflect and improve for the future.
Mistake No. 2: Focusing Too Much On Sales
I often see coaches and consultants fall into two categories: never promoting their services or only promoting their services. As a coach or consultant, it’s important to strike that balance and not overpromote. If all of the content on your platform is hard selling without any content that builds rapport or creates an engaging experience, you might want to reconsider how you plan your content calendar.
A great way to balance overselling is to ensure that 20% of the time you’re sharing content without any intention of selling. This can look like posting a story on Instagram or a short on YouTube about a day in your life or behind the scenes with no intention of asking people to buy. In my experience, buyers are sophisticated and exhausted from being sold to, so it’s important to know your ideal client and maintain a level of sensitivity to what people want.
Mistake No. 3: Ignoring Engagement
I find that many coaches obsess about creating a content calendar and branding but forget the most important part: talking to people on the internet. Social media was created as a social platform. Coaches and consultants who allocate time every week to engage with potential and current clients are building a strong and trustworthy brand that stands out from the competition.
Engagement looks like responding to comments and direct messages and reaching out to people with a genuine interest and supporting them online. While this might seem tedious at first, with a simple process, such as allocating 20 minutes twice a week to social media engagement, you can help people feel more connected to your brand. Connection is good for business.
Leveraging Social Media Successfully
I believe the biggest mistake any coach or consultant can make is not using social media for business growth. If a coach tells me they don’t want to use social media, I immediately tell them that their competitors are, and if they refuse, they can lack relevance. From my perspective, using social media is the modern way to network, and doing so organically can build your brand for free; the primary cost is your time to set up processes such as the content calendar to keep you consistent.
The three mistakes of lacking a strategy, only focusing on sales and ignoring engagement are all common, but if you identify which mistake you resonate with the most, you can start making small changes to avoid them. For example, if you are on social media but you don’t review your goals or analytics, you can start developing a plan for doing so. If you only show up to sell, you can soften your approach by sharing behind-the-scenes and about-me posts or videos. And, if you post and ghost, never engage or ignore your followers’ comments, you can set aside 20 minutes twice a week to respond to people in your target market.
As a coach or consultant, using social media is your best secret weapon to standing out, building your brand, making sales and showing you care.
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