Things you can and can't control on social media

By Felicia Guthrie

Social media is a great tool to connect you with your target audience. It may seem fairly straightforward but there are certainly things you can and can’t control on social media.

Let’s take a look at the things you can and can’t control on social media and what that might mean for your strategy and for your brand.

WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL:

THE CONTENT YOU POST

One thing you can always control on social media is the content that you choose to post. The type of content you post will depend on which platform you use, for example, TikTok is a video only platform. However, the type of content you share as well as theme and design are almost entirely up to you... Of course, you can’t share content that goes against community guidelines.

Again, you can choose what you want your content to look like, the subject matter, and the format.

Since you can control the content that you create and publish, you can really zero in on what your audience wants to see from you and you can create your content with that and your social media strategy in mind.

With your strategy in mind, we also suggest creating an editorial calendar. An editorial calendar will outline which days and times you post, the type of content you post (I.e., quotes), the format (I.e., image, video, text only), any captions you’ve planned, important dates, and more.

TIMING

Timing is another thing that you can control on social media and there is so much information out there to help you decide the best times to post. Many social media platforms will allow businesses to access insights that share what days and times your followers are most active – and if you can’t access that right away, don’t worry, there are plenty of online posting guides, like this one from Sprout Social!

That brings us to the next point, we know how overwhelming and busy things can get for a small business owner, you don’t always have time to consistently post during the most active days or most active times BUT we’ve got the solution – social media managing websites. Websites like Sprout Social, Sendible, and countless others allow you to schedule posts. That means you can sit down when you have time, plan out relevant and strategic content for days, weeks, or even a month ahead, and schedule it for whenever you want it to be published. It is important to note that you may have some trouble scheduling something like an Instagram Reels video or Stories video, but you can set up reminder notifications so that you don’t forget to share those!

PAID ADS

As a business owner on social media, you can also control your paid ads – which really allows you to look at your budget and strategy to determine what the best plan is for you.

Facebook and Instagram, for example, allow you to choose how many days you want to advertise online, how much you want to spend per day, the types of ads, and more – and it will outline the types of results you can receive based on your selection.

WHAT YOU CAN’T CONTROL:

TIMING – ON A GREATER SCALE

Yes, you can absolutely choose the time you post on social media but sometimes... you can’t control timing on a greater scale. So, what does that mean? Well, we can’t control everything that happens in our industries and in our world at large, and that can throw a wrench into things. Here’s an example on a smaller scare: You may plan content that features a popular celebrity or influencer and before your content goes up, they’re in the news for something... not so great. Another example? The pandemic disrupted and changed a lot of our lives and we’re sure many social media strategies and even business strategies and launches had to be tweaked or scrapped altogether because the timing was no longer right.

ENGAGEMENT

Ultimately, even if you are connecting and your content is resonating with people, you can’t control how much engagement you get (or what people say for that matter). With that said, you can do things to help increase your engagement. For example, you can post at times when your followers are most active, you can ask your followers questions or prompt them to leave comments on your posts, and you can begin engaging with your audience to start a rapport (I.e., comment, like, and share their posts).

RESULTS

Some people get discouraged because they post on social media but don’t see specific results they are looking for. Maybe they don’t see any sales from social media, or they don’t have thousands of followers. While social media can certainly help you grow your following or your sales, being present on social media doesn’t guarantee that people are going to take that extra step to follow you or buy from you.

Of course, there are ways that you can help nudge people in that direction but again, nothing is guaranteed. Here are just a few tips to point people in that direction:

• Create a sponsored ad with the “Shop Now” prompt

• Use the Instagram shopping feature to tag your products in your posts for easy shopping

• Host a giveaway to boost your followers

Now that we’ve gone over some of the things you can and can’t control on social media, we hope you feel more confident moving forward. We understand that social media can be overwhelming, so if you need a little more guidance and help with your social media, book a FREE 20-minute consultation with us!