Learn Social Media Marketing as a Beginner

Watch the video above or read the transcript below…

Have you ever felt like the online world is slowly closing in on you and there are too many choices of platforms and types of content and people to follow and you just get so overwhelmed that you end up not being on any platforms at all?

Well I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone… the world of social media can feel overwhelming especially when you’re first just starting out. So if you’re someone who has been looking for a way to break into the social media world but isn’t sure where to start then this post is for you.

I have put together my 5 tips to the beginner’s success on social media. You’ll learn how to pick the right social networks for your online presence, how to cater to your audience’s needs with your content and when to automate certain things to save time and when to do the manual labour. And at the end I have also included a bonus tip that’s all about how to cater content to the buyer’s journey by knowing when to sell and when to wait.

So let’s go ahead and get started with my first tip…

 

1) Less is more

 

Direct your focus on less social platforms instead of trying to be on all of them but not really focusing on any. You have the same hours as anyone else in your day and unless you have a team member or multiple team members who can help you… it’s unlikely you’ll be able to consistently produce great, quality content for 7 different platforms at once.

So my tip is for you to pick 2 platforms to focus on at first and then once you’re comfortable with these… maybe branch out and explore others. When deciding on which 2 are right for you think about:

1) Which platforms am I already comfortable using?
2) Where are my people hanging out?

The second is MUCH more important than the first but ideally you can align both of these so you can start off on a platform like Facebook or Instagram that you’re maybe already using for your personal accounts or you definitely know someone who is so you’re not jumping into the deep-end with platforms you’re not familiar with.

When looking at where your audience is most likely hanging out think about your business model first and foremost. Are you in the B2B space in which case LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube are likely going to be a part of your focus, or are you more B2C in which case Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest are most likely where your audience is hanging out.

Then also think about why they would be following you on social media. Do they want to be entertained through funny videos on TikTok or are they actively looking for solutions for their problems and are looking to be educated and informed through longer YouTube videos.

Age and other characteristics will, of course, also play a role in where your audience is most likely found but this actually isn’t as significant as it once was. So the more effective approach is to think about your industry, your competitors and your audience when deciding on which platforms to tackle first.

 

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2) Have a complete profile full of benefits

 

Within the first couple of seconds of someone coming across your social media profile – they should know: why you do what you do, how you can help them, and who you are… in that order. Because people are ALWAYS thinking ‘wiifm’ – what’s in it for me… as in, what do I have to gain by following you and engaging with you through social media.

Below is an example of an Instagram bio from Jenna Kutcher:

You’ll see she starts off with her mission – Imperfectly Empowering women…

How does she do it? By being a Virtual Biz Coach and podcaster…

And finally – who she is – a Small Town Minnesota Mama and Wife who is obsessed with marketing…

She then has her branding colours, fonts and vibes very clear throughout this whole feed and it’s incredibly clear how she serves her community from just the first couple of seconds on being on her profile.

 

3) Check out your competition

 

I see a lot of business owners following brands that they find inspiring or educational which is great. But then they forget to also do the one thing that’s crucial to their success online which is to study their competition.

Competition is how businesses grow. If you had no competitors in your space you would have no motivation to improve and evolve as a brand. Even the best of the best like the team at Facebook will have dedicated teams who will study competitors both small and large and see how they can learn from them and improve their own brand.

So make a list of your competitors and follow them, subscribe to their email list and dedicate some time each week to see what they’re doing well… see what they’re not doing well and learn from it and incorporate this into your own strategy.

 

 

4) Automate what you can by using scheduling tools

 

Yes some things in the social media world have to be hands-on… but that doesn’t mean you can’t make things easier on yourself by leveraging the power of easy-to-use free tools like Buffer or Later to schedule your social media posts in advance.

This will help you to save time by not having to manually post every day or every couple of days and having to always think about what to create, what to write and when to post.

Tools like this will help you create the kind of consistency that all social media platforms like and will reward you for by pushing your content out to more people.

 

5) Never automate human connection

 

The word ‘social’ is in social media for a reason. So be social… engage with your followers, ask them questions and reply to their answers. And encourage them to use your products or services and tag you in photos or testimonials that you can then repost on your own accounts.

Engagement is key above all else on social media. Because you’ll see accounts with 200k followers on Instagram and about 2 comments on each post. This is because it’s actually very easy and not even that expensive to buy fake followers or fake accounts and even fake engagement through bots.

But it’s not sustainable and platforms WILL pick up on it and the result is never good. You’re better off having 100 loyal fans ready to buy from you than 10,000 fake ones whose only purpose is to fill vanity metrics.

So be human, engage and be present for your followers.

 

Bonus tip – Cater to the buyer’s journey

Be very conscious of the buyer’s journey in anything you do online. People don’t want to hear about your $500 offer before they even know why you’re doing what you’re doing and how you can help them. So make sure to first provide so much value to people that it’s a no brainer for people to buy from you later on. This value can come in the form of social media posts, live videos blog posts, free trainings, helpful email newsletters etc. and then when they’ve had a chance to know, like and trust you – THEN you can present them with your paid offer.

And the higher the price tag the longer their journey needs to be.

If I’m selling one of my $15 courses for example – it might be enough for me to just give someone a bit of free content before presenting them with my offer. If, however, it was a $2000 coaching program… I’d likely need to give them a lot of free content over a longer period of time to create enough momentum for them to want to invest into my higher priced offer.

So make sure to always think about it from your audience’s point of mind and providing them with SO much value that they can’t wait to buy from you.

And now if you’d like more tips on how to grow your audience and build a loyal following on social media, check out your super simple social checklist.

This is my six page guide that has allowed me to grow my own and my client’s social media accounts on autopilot and build real, genuine connections with audiences around the world and I know it can help you too.

5 Comments

  1. Kathryn

    Loved this, I have looked at and listened to so many ‘beginners’ tips’ and been completely overwhelmed. This has made it so much easier to understand. I’m not confident at posting and this is my stumbling block. I think I’m afraid of putting the wrong thing and the possibility of being laughed at.

    Reply
    • Maggie

      Hi Kathryn, oh I’m so sorry to hear that. I can honestly say I’ve failed a lot in the marketing world… and am continuously failing and learning from my mistakes. But that’s just a part of the journey. The people who aren’t supportive of you putting yourself and your content out there aren’t your target audience anyways so I wouldn’t worry about them. And feel free to connect with me on social media and I’ll be there to be your #1 fan whenever you need the extra support 🙂

      Reply
  2. Rose Wainwright

    Hi Maggie,

    I just replied off of another post to see how to sign up – I think I figured it out. I’m so happy I have stumbled upon your site as it has been so informative and helpful. I am going to subscribe to your You-Tube channel and connect with you on social media. You mentioned to add your social media link here and you’ll take a look at it so I’ve done that below. I can use all the help I can get and thankfully there’s people out there like you who helps us stumble along the way..

    https://www.facebook.com/AcademyInsuranceAgents
    https://www.instagram.com/academyinsuranceagency/

    Reply
    • Maggie

      Hi Rose, I’ve just emailed you through so we can have a more detailed chat about your socials 🙂 Looking forward to connecting!

      Reply
  3. Margaery Boltan

    Thank you for sharing this post. It is very informative.

    Reply

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Hey there! I’m Maggie Stara.

I’m a caffeine-enthusiast whose guilty pleasure is happy-crying while watching highlights of America’s Got Talent golden buzzer moments.

And my mission is to continue to create affordable and accessible digital marketing education which changes lives.

Check out my best-selling online courses with over 90k happy marketing students here.

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