Social Media: What I Learnt in 3 Months

I have my own Instagram and Facebook accounts for personal use.

Back in July of this year, I was a fledgling new member of the Social Fireworks team...I didn’t know:

1. How to create engaging content for businesses,

2. How to run a marketing campaign, or

3. How to host a social media webinar.

For me, social media meant cat videos, friends’ holiday snaps, and an ever-growing feeling of envy as I saw a bucket load of engagement pictures. Now, three months down the line, I can tell you there’s a whole lot more to it!

What is Social Media?

Social media is any application or website that allows interaction, and includes the big hitters Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Instagram is an entirely visual platform which allows you to share and find new photos. Picture editing is simplified with a range of forty filters to choose from, and showing off your human side has never been easier with their Stories feature. Facebook is more text-based, giving you the capacity to share pictures, music, videos, articles, and your own thoughts. Twitter is for packing a punch in 280 characters, and is for what’s happening right now. Head there for the news headlines.

The Three E’s

One of my biggest takeaways so far, as taught by Social Fireworks founder and lead marketing expert Kizzie Nicholson, is that social media posts should adhere to the three E’s; they should be Engaging, Exciting, and Educating.

Engaging your followers can mean asking for opinions, stories, and pictures. It can mean posting polls, and creating competitions and giveaways.

Being exciting is how you draw your audience in. Whether through puns, anecdotes, cartoons, or trivia, light-hearted posts tend to be shared frequently and engaged with, in the form of comments and tagging friends.

Educating your followers requires that you share valuable content that gives them pause for thought. It could be information about your brand or interesting related facts. Following the three E’s is a dazzling recipe for social media success.

Hashtags Are Important

Next, I came to the humble hashtag.

Hashtags, used on Instagram and Twitter, have many functions.

You can follow them to stay updated on a current topic or trend, discover new content, join a community, or keep up with an event.

Furthermore, using relevant, targeted hashtags is one of the best ways to get discovered by new audiences on Instagram. This can mean more followers and more customers for your business. To widen your reach on Instagram, you should be using hashtags every time you post. Use hashtags that are specific to your industry, brand, and post. See what hashtags your competitors are using, and find hashtags related to one you want to use with the Search function. Hashtags help you get your posts seen by more people. Hence, hashtags are important

Calls to Action

Another vital aspect of social media that I’ve learnt about is the Call to Action (CTA). A CTA is a statement or question that aims to get an immediate response from the reader. They are key for getting more business and enhancing your conversion rate. It gets your followers to do something, whether that’s commenting on your post, signing up for a free trial, downloading an e-book, or calling you. CTA’s motivate your audience to interact with your content, turning your passive viewers into active participants.

They should be kept brief, involve action-oriented verbs, and involve a sense of urgency.

Never assume that your followers know what you want them to do; spell it out for them with a CTA.

Key Takeaways

It’s safe to say I’ve learnt that social media is way more than feline footage and vacation spam. It’s a way to share and find pictures, post your opinions, and stay up to date with the news. Crucially, we should really consider what exactly we are saying. Remember the three E’s. Use relevant and targeted hashtags. Include a Call to Action.

What have you learnt about social media this year?

- Josie RB