Strategic social media tips to keep you blooming

A strategic social media approach that’s always in-motion can really help your business bloom. In fact, when you follow the key tasks to establishing and caring for a garden, it’s clear the the two have a lot in common. And they’re all based on the things I learnt growing social media accounts when I worked in-house as a Marketing Manager.

So, how is your social media account just like a garden? I’ll just let my keen bean green thumbs to the typing.

1. Tend to it

A thriving garden is a cared-for garden. Whether you spend 5 mins a day or an hour a day, tend to it. Water it. Check on the health of your plants. Scour for caterpillars. It’s a simple everyday act to grow social media too.

2. Pull out weeds in their infancy

When it comes to gardening, weeds can go wild. Especially during periods of growth (like spring). Make it a routine task to review your new followers and verify them. Block and report fake, spam or bot accounts.

3. Place flowers where they’ll soak up the sun

Step back and take a wide view of your garden. Every plant has its place. Some are evergreen and like the shade. Some bloom when the sun hits them. Not every plant is the star of the show.

It’s the same with your social media post content. Each one should vary: to create interest and achieve different goals. Use your dashboard statistics to know when generally it’s the hottest time for you to post each week. When it’s hot, post an absolute pearler. When it’s not, feed the undergrowth.

During my Marketing Manager days, I knew the day to post an exquisite scenery shot that’d really rack up the likes. It was Thursday nights (just as our followers were ready to be inspired for their weekend). It worked because it was relevant for the community, and strategic for the brand (as the high engagement blossomed the reach to bubble along until early weekend). And it really helped grow our social media.

4. Keep to a theme (or at least a complimentary one)

When you’re designing a garden, you could just plant whatever you love. And you could just post whatever you love.

But when you see a garden that is designed for the landscape? It just makes sense, right? So don’t plant a rose next to a cactus. Keep to your theme. Have a content strategy in place with clear themes/pillars to guide you.

5. Don’t overcrowd your space

When you overcrowd a garden, there’s not enough sun, water or space for anything to flourish. And it’s the same for your social media. Unless your tweeting, follow the suggested post frequency of a platform. If you overcrowd the feed of your followers with three posts one day, and then nothing for four, it can feel jarring and unpredictable to your followers. If you get a burst of inspiration, write a week of posts but schedule them!

6. Fertilise as needed

Sometimes you garden needs an artificial boost. It needs a sprinkling of fertiliser during key months of growth. And you can grow your social media the same way. Whilst I believe organic is key to creating a social account that’s useful, effective for your brand — a strategic (paid) boost of important content can really help you bloom too.

7. Listen and observe your plants

Whether you plant something new (a.k.a. test a post format) or you have an established plant (a.k.a. you’re posting familiar content), listen and observe. Compare and contrast against the environment and your previous results. How did your followers respond? Did you get no comments but lots of DMs? Did the video post score lots of views but no likes? Always listen to your results and ask yourself: “What worked? What didn’t?”

8. Welcome visitors

Just as your garden welcomes bees, birds and butterflies, consider cross-pollination. Also known as collaborative marketing. Create an initiative with a complimentary brand or service, or approach a customer with a large following (a.k.a an influencer).

9. Stop pining for the next bud. Sit and enjoy the beauty of where your garden is at too.

When you’re invested in the beauty of your garden, your focus for new blooms can distract you from where you’re at. Whilst it’s essential to be aware of where you’re going, it’s also important to enjoy what you have. Yes, enjoy the thrill of a new bud that’s going to bloom and attract new eyes to your garden. But also enjoy your garden for what it is. And it’s the same for your social media account.

Here’s to growth!

Strategic content creation for businesses

Truth bomb: this blog is an Instagram post repurposed. Because a good idea that hits your strategic agenda doesn’t need to sit in isolation. It can be reworked. Cracking concepts can score multiple runs on the board for your business. Need help? I write websites, blogs and emails that can talk your language. Let’s get started.