The buzzwords that float around social media can be enough to leave you confused, struggling and wondering if anything is real anymore...

Authentic.

How many times have we heard this in a day, as advice from everyone. Now we have people being fake authentic without really understanding what it means to be authentic.

You know what I mean, it's the social media equivalent of people wearing make-up with perfectly groomed hair at the gym.

Perhaps its because we are not used to knowing who we are anymore that being authentic is now the 5 minutes when we wake up and brush our teeth that we are not wondering if this moment would make a good selfie.

Community.

I love seeing this buzz word. For a moment I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. For the moment until I see the same company not giving back, the only one missing on the list of sponsors, the person that is never there for the community events, donating, or adversely not supporting the community. Sometimes we notice just how much people do and we also notice how much they don't do.

It's not hard to be a part of the community, but it does require slightly more effort than just living in one.

Online community: This is an interesting one for me. I see people creating online communities with the purpose of offering something back to some niche area, but then ... suddenly charging for it. I love the idea of open collaboration within a group, I hate the idea of building and 'online community' just to then sell memberships to after the fact. I don't remember Gary Vee selling memberships to his online group... or selling memberships for nothing more exciting than a newsletter that really doesn't have anything profound or that you wouldn't find from a google search.

Online and social media communities should be a collaborative space where knowledge is shared freely.

'It will drive sales'

Whoa. Are you telling me that a really bad company using social media will still get sales? I actually saw this in a sales pitch for one of my competitors. That's a lie. Social media does not drive sales, so sitting in a presentation for 2 hours will not 'put sales in your pocket' I am really sorry to burst your bubble.

Do you know what makes sales? Good products or services. Social media is a great platform for advertising and connecting with your community but posting out on a daily basis will not drive 'sales in your pocket' so please don't fall for that. If you have a bad product or service, people will appreciate your perfectly planned instagram account but they will still not buy anything.

Focus on what you are selling first, there may not even be the market for it on social media. Example: coffins. When was the last time you saw a coffin on facebook ads and knew you had to have it.

Consistency is key

This is true, but quality is key too. I saw another 'social media manager' that only posted once every few months, another that took 6 months off... wow, I hope a stronger level of dedication is taken with your clients. Practice what you preach (hence why I am writing a blog)

If your last 100 posts look exactly the same, the standard picture with random text, I love your consistency but hate your value. I love your commitment to your scheduler but what about real life...ooooh authentic, posts? Its hard to make life fit into your simple color pallette, but I bet its 'putting sales in your pocket'.

I don't like to be to regimented with my standards, if I sway in 1-2 posts from my 'normal' appearance, life looks like that sometimes.

You have to do email marketing

Have to? Do I want a flyer for coffins monthly? No I do not, thank you. I don't do email newsletters because I want you to want to see my stuff. I don't want to be another email you get tired of and eventually leave behind. Email marketing is great in a lot of businesses -- retailers are you paying attention--- because we WANT to know about your sales. However Andy Frisella, I don't need to know about your group 2x a day for 3 days, if I wanted in you don't need to remind me 6 times, and thank you telus, I already get your bill and dread opening it, so you want to send me more emails so I think I'm being billed every 2 weeks.

Yes, people have to WANT to get emails from you (CASL) but they don't want to be harassed by you, even with the courtesy of having access to an email, be respectful of how often to use it.

Finally

There will be people that hate that I wrote this, that I up and discredited so much of what is the popular google phrase look up. Remember, these are my thoughts, and frame more of my outlook on building relationships with consumers than other businesses may.

I believe in building relationships, providing advice, working together with others and really being a part of my community so people can KNOW who I really am and engage me because they really are excited about what I can do -- whether a selfie opportunity or not!

Julie Boake

#socialmedia #authenticity #marketing #business #okotoks #highriver #highriverbusiness #planning #strategy #yyc