WCW: Abigail White on Why One Social Media Platform is Enough
You guys, owning a business is hard. Why? Because decision-making is hard. On paper it may seem liberating to make every decision yourself, screaming I’M IN CONTROL, HELL YES! But at the end of the day, after you’ve read all the blogs, taken every course and literally memorized those e-booked, you realize there really is no entrepreneurial road map to tell you, “THIS THING is what you need to do, like RIGHT NOW.”
Instead, I choose take it all on like a crazy person with endless hours in the day and also no social life. Why do I always choose that?! Why?!
The reality is that taking it all on is actually NOT making any decision; it’s avoiding making a decision … which is literally the opposite of that “liberating business owner” feeling I was goin’ for.
That’s why I loved chatting with Abigail — she had nailed the same mentality that I recently adopted: I am only one woman and I can’t do it all. Instead, I need to focus and edit.
Not gonna lie, those are two tough words.
But take it from Abigail for why those two words are truth:
Don’t Stretch Yourself Too Thin:
Why One or Two Social Media Platforms is Enough
When I first started my business, I was told that I had to be everywhere all the time. I need to do the client work, keep my books in order, network with new clients, post on social media, eat, sleep, conquer the world, etc. My first thought was “Yikes, I’m only one woman!”
Starting and running your own business can be overwhelming. That’s why starting a business isn’t for everyone. However, not everything is as hard as it needs to be.
I think the hardest task and greatest lesson I learned as a business owner was the monster of social media. A mentor told me that I had to have ALL of the social media profiles I could to stay visible. I took the advice and began creating social media profiles for my business on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Linkedin.
So I jumped on Canva and started creating different content for every social media profile that I had made. All in the correct sizes for their respective sites. I would also change up the content depending on what profile I was using. It was chaos. It would take hours out of every week that I could have been using to create more valuable content for my clients.
Let me let you in on a little secret that changed my business’s marketing efforts: only post on one or two platforms.
Why One Social Media Platform is Enough
After trying to spread my content over 5 platforms, I realized that my ideal client was really hanging out on one or two of them. So I stopped posting on the other sites. I didn’t need to wear myself so thin. I can spend more time on the quality of my content rather than making sure I’m posting consistently across all platforms.
I know my ideal client really well. As a branding specialist, I know how important it is to really know your ideal clients, and to create content that specifically resonates with them. My ideal client is hanging out on Facebook and Instagram, so I directed my attention there. One social media platform at a time.
And something magical happened.
I saw 10x the return on my social media posts than I had when I was posting across all platforms. My ideal client appreciated the more targeted approach and the content I was putting out had more value to them.
If you’re having trouble figuring out where to post, then experiment with shifting your focus to different platforms, one at a time. Where are you getting the most result and engagement with your content? When can you reach the people who you want to be working with the most?
I then began to think, how can I make this even easier? So I decided to schedule my content in a way that maximized it. I stopped creating new content for every page, post, and audience.
Instead, I began to stagger my content between groups and audiences, so that every post was reaching as many people as possible.
You can take a look at my schedule below:
Like everything, it can take time, and trial and error, and mistakes. It took me a while too.
In this online era, we as business owners are spread too thin trying to “stay visible” and it can seem so out of reach when you’re trying to post on all platforms. So don’t. Ditch the social media monster and focus on continuing to deliver value every day on 1 or 2 social media outlets.
Talk soon!
-Abigail
—
Abigail White is a dog loving, graphic designing, work-in progress from Manchester, New Hampshire. She is the owner of Abigail White Co., a full service graphic design and branding company. Abigail prides herself on efficient service, and personal connections with clients to create designs they can be proud of. You can reach her at abigailwhite.co/contact