The following is taken from a Dames Collective panel that our COO, Veronika Morgans, had the honor of speaking for. Dames collective is a networking group of modern female entrepreneurs, leaders and innovators.
Question One: When Creating Content, how do you start?
When it comes to content, how do you choose what to post and to what platform? Strategy is important, so how do you ensure that you’re being seen and reaching optimal engagement rates? Because as many of us know, a lot of times it just feels like we’re creating, creating and creating some more with zero results.
When creating content, strategy is paramount and comes down to a brand’s goals. Each brand will have different overall objectives. The two objectives that should be prioritized when creating a strategy are brand awareness and sales.
Consistency is key - and you’re right it does feel like we are creating, creating, creating - but the results are usually just building up for the breakthrough moment.
So, keep going.
Question Two: How do you Manage Social Accounts?
The brand objective plays a huge part in choosing a platform. Here are some examples of brands I work with and what our strategy looks like.
Brand Example: Marknology – An Amazon Brand Accelerator
Goal: Brand ourselves as an expert in all things Amazon
Main Social Media Platforms: Original Blogs, LinkedIn, Instagram
Strategy: Start with a weekly long-form blog post and break it down into the following
- 1 blog posted on the website and LinkedIn
- 4 short videos pulled from content from the blog pushed to Instagram & Facebook
- 4 Insta posts pulled from content from the blog
- 4 twitter posts pulled from content from the blog
We also schedule a team photoshoot each month for original posts and choose different locations such as coffee shops, coworking spaces and breweries. For reference, we have a team of about 20.
On Instagram, we are working on consistently posting on traditional feeds. However, we are also starting to dive into Instagram and Facebook stories as much as we can. We have an awesome culture and want to showcase this, which exactly the type of content stories are perfect for.
Lastly, our interns are currently teaching us Tik Tok. 😊
Brand Example: Landlocked – A Kansas City Company
Goal: Currently Sales – Previously Brand Awareness
Main Social Media Platforms – Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest
Strategy: We have shifted from a brand awareness mindset to a sales mindset. We now have a good social media following and brand awareness. This allows us to refocus our goals and strive for conversions as far as sales go. We are running strategic ads on all the above platforms to learn the best practices for converting our target audience into customers.
Managing your social accounts can feel like a full-time job. Between creating content for all your accounts, managing multiple businesses, and living your life, how do you prioritize time to engage with your own followers? Can you give any advice on how to master the ultimate balancing act?
I think balance is bullshit.
Have you ever heard of someone achieving something amazing by only going in halfway? To do something amazing you have to commit to it 100%. It must be what you think about when you get up and what you think about when you go to bed.
Unbalance becomes an issue when your heart and your mind is unhappy; that’s when you need to check yourself.
For me, I had to decide what is non-negotiable in my life. For me those are:
- Legacy: To leave one I’m proud of.
- Family: They always get my time no matter how much work is on my plate.
- Memories: I have always been obsessed with making memories (thanks, mom 😊). If it comes down to work or memories, I always choose to make the memory.
- Health: I need my mind and my body in order to be successful, so I don’t consider this optional.
Lastly, regarding engagement with followers, that’s my me time so it never feels like something I’m needing to do. I usually, however, do this at night before I go to bed. I don’t watch much TV so this helps me wind down.
Sometimes, not all engagement, or rather comments, you receive are positive and encouraging. How do you respond to negativity on your accounts? Do you ignore it, do you try to respectfully educate or do you lean in combatively?
I’ve been extremely lucky to not have run into many haters on my social media (knock on wood!). A lot of my followers are smart, funny, intelligent women who lift me up and are my biggest cheerleaders.
However, I would say that the negativity that I have received has been self-imposed. As a female who helps run two companies, I am a strong advocate for authenticity. I wasted a lot of time in my 20s trying to be a perfect human. Now that I’m starting to feel confident and at home in my own skin the last thing I want to do is hide behind entrepreneurship.
That doesn’t mean that I’m oblivious to the fact that as a female business owner I must fight a little harder to prove my abilities and that being both authentic and female can hinder this. Thankfully, I have a solid team and family that stand behind me no matter what.
-Veronika Morgans-