In which we discuss what to say.

One thing that I hear often in conversation about social media is that users don’t feel like they have anything to say. “I don’t want to tweet about my cat, or my lunch,” they lament, “and I’m not an expert at anything.”

Following that logic–why bother saying anything, ever? All of the words have already been said. Why do great books and movies keep being produced? How is it that the most irritatingly mundane things still manage to go viral?

Part of the beauty (and yes, quite often, the pain) of social media is that every can be an expert in at least one thing: themselves. Your experiences, tone, approach, and philosophy, hasn’t been covered before in just the same way that you would. Your perspectives on life are different, so why should your contributions in the social sphere matter less? Not to go all special snowflake on you, but let’s get real. Your individual story is one of your biggest assets. Writing for a branded/institutional account? You can take a similar approach, but with a few tweaks.

What’s even better is the fact that there’s a pretty solid chance that, once you start to share it a little bit, there’s someone out there that it’ll resonate with. With a bit (read: a lot) of planning, it’ll probably resonate with a lot of someones. You’re not the only one out there with opinions or ideas for posts, but you’re the only one who has your unique life experiences to help shape the way you write about them. If nothing else, this makes your opinions completely valid and legitimate; even if you don’t quite feel it.

(Friend, meet the imposter syndrome. Yes; it’s a thing.)

So. With that– what should you write about, after all? I’ve included a few tips below that I’ve found helpful in the past:

• Write what you know. It’s a solid way to boost your repertoire, audience, and confidence. Not interested in that? Alternately, consider flipping the approach: research something you’re more interested in, and write about your learnings from the perspective of a complete beginner. Nothing says interesting quite like an Idaho potato farmer learning how to play the cello (also: a solid opportunity to integrate audio and video!).
• What topics do you find yourself drawn to? Have you recently been unavoidably sucked into a compelling conversation? Assess your consumption of books, movies,  magazines. Is there a common thread? Look through your browsing history, if need be. What trends do you find? Take a hint and write about it. If it’s too long, break it up into a series. (And blammo! Now you have a bunch of posts lined up.)
• Finally, I’ve found that the most interesting posts are written by people who actually do things. If you’re looking for great content, get yourself away from the computer screen. Put living your life first, and share about it second.

In short – the best advice that I can give is just to get started with it. Obsessing over how qualified you are to publish to the interwebs is a surefire way to clothesline your goals. Just get out there and publish something, already. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t have a plan (you totally should, and I’ll write about it next week), but stop nitpicking. The only way to improve at something is to actually start doing it.

So really – what are you waiting for?

4 considerations before starting a new social account

While there are a lot of factors to take into account when starting up a branded account online, here are a few steps for consideration before you get started. 

1. What do you need to share, anyways?
Before you get rolling, ask yourself what you really plan on sharing with the world. And I don’t mean that in a “get-down-on-yourself-because-everythings-been-said-already” kind of way … but quite literally, what do you want to talk about? Because the worst thing ever (or maybe just really, really high up there on the list) is having an account that just fizzles out due to lack of forethought and strategy.

If possible, brainstorm a few sample updates or posts. If you’re feeling really keen, stick them in a calendar to see how long it’ll take you to run out of ideas (which is okay, by the way). Got it? Good. Now set it aside. We’ll talk about that more in another post. There’s more work to be done!

2. Dip, don’t dive.
The second worst thing ever is when people try to jump head-first into using a platform with a branded account without trying out the waters first. There’s different etiquettes between each network, and barrelling past them can make you look like a complete noob. It’s generally not the best plan to slap that Facebook ‘f’ all over your website unless you’ve spent a little bit of quality time with the service on your own first, and then have become comfortable with posting regularly. It makes everything just a little bit less awkward. And we like less awkward.

3. Shop around for pet peeves and best practices.
Once you’re situated, poke around a bit to see if there’s anything cool going on with other users. You may want to scope out specific colleagues or competition who you know do it well, but I’d recommend to also have a look at users outside the industries you’re writing for. This can help to expand your horizons about designs, practices, and programs that are being used in other areas that you might be able to adopt with a little planning and creative thinking.

Shopping around is also a great way to figure out what you don’t like, too. As a publisher on whichever platform you’re going to use, you may unknowingly be doing things that are annoying from a reader or user standpoint. Take the opportunity to interact with others’ channels to see what’s done well, what you like, and what you absolutely can’t stand (I’m looking at you, #abysmal #overuse of #hashtags in #services that #don’t #use #them). Use this as a launching point for your own strategy, tone, and style.

4. Avoid Shiny New Object Syndrome.
New services pop up almost every day. A few of them make it; most of them don’t. Whether you’re an early adopter with your personal accounts or not, try to avoid the pitfall of becoming a bandwagon-jumper with your branded accounts. Experimentation is great, but take the time to make an informed decision before you join every platform in existence. Plus, the more accounts you’re on, the greater likelihood of point 1 [read: fizzling] happening. To help you decide where to focus your priorities, have a look at the network’s user demographics to decide which ones to use, how to use them, and what sort of potential they hold.

For example—Pinterest users are mostly white women under 50 with some post-secondary education; furthermore, a quick cruise through pins on the site will give you a pretty good indication of its user’s intentions. Are they using it to make high-involvement purchase decisions, or are they collecting recipe ideas? There are certainly some people who do a fantastic job at leveraging unique, compelling content in places that aren’t the usual haunts for their brands; but for most people, resources are limited and adding networks to your repertoire takes time and care. Get the hang of stellar networking where your users are first, and then you can add more tools to your toolbelt.

image:  Flickr Commons

On working with students

I’ve been working directly with students for the entirety of my career in Higher Ed. It’s one of my favourite—and most rewarding—aspects of my job. The way I see it, involving students in your planning- and decision-making process is a key way to generate buy-in, to get a fresh pair of eyes on things, and to get feedback from a representative of (quite possibly) your largest body of stakeholders.

While the scope of my student development experience has been in the services side of things (specifically, in orientation, transition, leadership development and, most recently, student recruitment & marketing), there are a few key pieces of advice that I’d give to anyone working with students. 

Tribes, students, and developing content

The concept of tribes, as explained by Seth Godin, absolutely fascinates me.

We are living through—and are right at the key moment of—a change of the way that ideas are created, spread, and implemented. [...] We’re in a new model of leadership, whereby the way we make change is not by using money or power to lever the system, but by leading.

You don’t need everyone; you just need a thousand true fans. A thousand people who care enough that they’ll help build momentum for your cause.

In higher ed, those of us who are passionate about creating compelling, exciting content are part of a cozy little niche. How though, do we leverage our resources to expand our tribe?

Grow our student teams. Find brand ambassadors – you don’t even need to find a thousand of them, as Godin suggests – but nevertheless, find a small, manageable group of students who are passionate about your institution’s brand. Invest in them. Train them effectively on all the things that you know, and then set them loose on your campus. Let them recruit their friends. Let them be your campus cheerleaders.

What’s the frequency, Kenneth?

One of the key challenges in maintaining any sort of regularity with your social channels is to figure out precisely how often to update it.

A general rule of thumb is that the more regular you are, the faster you’ll build a dedicated readership.

You’re a publisher now.
No matter how you slice it, anyone who’s putting up any sort of content on the web (yes – Facebook status updates are included!) needs to understand and embrace the fact that they’re a publisher. By posting online, you’re contributing content to the massive body of information that is the interwebs. Shifting your mindset from a casual, off-the-cuff approach to one where you take yourself—and, by extension, your content—more seriously is a great first step to seeing increased traffic.

Develop a schedule (and stick to it).
Depending on the topic, a lot of bloggers that I’ve come across aim for a weekly post; this frequency is what I’ve laid out as a ground feature for my own team. However, if you have more time on your hands (or have much more to say!), you can consider accommodating more frequent posts. If you’re relatively new to the blogosphere, though, it may be a better idea to wade slowly in rather than doing a giant cannonball. Trust me – enthusiasm can ebb and flow; a solid schedule takes dedication and planning.

In terms of Facebook and Twitter updates, there are many different schools of thought; my best recommendation to start off is to post regularly and switch up your content. Facebook uses an algorithm (called Edgerank) that essentially the be-all and end-all to getting your posts seen by more people. The fresher your content, the more times users interact with your Page and even the types of interaction that happen can all affect your Edgerank score. Keeping an eye on what type of content is the most popular and aiming to post more of that type is a good way to get yourself started.

On Twitter, your best bet is to (you guessed it!) be consistent and be present. Aim to tweet and check your account at least once a day, and respond to tweets directed at you as soon as you can. In short: keep the conversation moving!

Great. I have a schedule. Now what? 

Simple! Get posting. A fantastic post on generating your own content and a great example of a posting schedule is available here.

Remember – if you fall off the wagon and miss a post (and most of us do at some point or another), don’t be apologetic. Just dust yourself off, get back up, and keep on writing.