276: Common Social Media Mistakes
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Summary:
Chances are, you’re probably using social media for your business. How is it working for you? Social media can be overwhelming and feel like it’s actually not getting you any business. While social media has many upsides, we discuss some of the pitfalls and how to avoid them. We also break down six common mistakes to avoid when using social media for your business. Then, Natasha O’Banion, Automated CEO, answers, “How do I make the most out of in-person marketing events?”
Main topics:
Avoid pitfalls
Common mistakes
Stop comparing yourself!
Ask a Biz Coach
Main takeaway: Always ask yourself the purpose of the post before you post it.
Links:
Making Social Media Work for You: https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/188
The Power of Canva: https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/246
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
post, people, pet, social media, important, instagram, walks, client, reels, content, business, pet sitters, pet sitter, comparing, pitching, purpose, associates, audience, put, point
SPEAKERS
Meghan, Collin, Natasha
Meghan 00:10
Hello, I'm Meghan. I'm Collin, and this is Pet Sitter confessional and open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. Hi there. Welcome to Episode 276. Hello, thank you to our sponsor, pet sitters Associates, and our awesome Patreon members, we have a new one this week
Collin 00:29
Desiree. Thank you so much for deciding that this podcast was bringing you value and you want it to help continue to keep it going. It means an awful lot. And we're so happy to have you on board. We also have our Kansas City retreat coming up, the deadline for signup is May 31. Now why do we have the cut off here so that we can have a good head count for all the activities and things that we're doing. And we have enough rooms out the bed and breakfast where we're staying at. So if you're interested in signing up for this and joining other business owners from across the country here in the United States, you can go to pet sitter confessional.com/retreat to get signed up today.
Meghan 01:06
It has been a while since we've talked about social media, it was actually episode 188. The last time we really talked about it and went in depth about it. So it's time for another one. Because I don't know if you know this, but social media is a really big thing for your pet business. And you are probably on it. So you need to know about it
Collin 01:27
well. And not only are things constantly changing, but a big part of this is just being consistent and starting to build some of these muscles. And that's what this episode is really about. It can
Meghan 01:36
be used for so many things, client updates, client attraction, client education, and then fun, you cannot forget about the fun. But social media also has a dark side, it can feel really overwhelming with staying up to date with everything. They're constantly changing the algorithm, they're basically trying to make it harder for you to get organic reach, but at the same time trying to get more eyeballs on their platform and have more people stay longer. So there's literally an infinite amount of posts and information. And it's all purposeful, really social media companies tried to drive up their use time, so the more that they can hook you in the better. So they're always trying to update and figure out how can we reach the most people and get people to stay longer. So it can sometimes feel as the content creator that you are that we are social media can really sometimes feel like an emotional roller coaster. So if you've ever tried posting something and gotten the most likes ever, or the most comments or interaction ever, and then your next post gets basically nothing. It can start to feel a little manic, or at least I feel like there's some times where the likes and the comments and the interactions, we kind of place our worth and our value in those. And that's not really a healthy way to do it. So to avoid this, when we get on social media, we need to know the purpose of us using it. Why are you going into Instagram right now? Why are you using Facebook go in there with a purpose?
Collin 03:08
Well, yeah, because a lot of times we get lost scrolling, as soon as we open it, something may catch our eye. And we start losing focus from our original intent. And we end up scrolling. So when we're opening it with intent, we know the exact purpose, why we're going into that because this is really important. Because once you've met that purpose, it's time to end and be done with the social media so you can back out immediately. This is all part of grounding ourselves grounding our worth in real life, not in the screen and not in the internet life that people perceive us by. And it's really important here to know that Megan and I are not perfect in that aspect or in using social media at all. We are going to be sharing tips on an advice on how we've implemented but we haven't implemented all these or executed them all. Well, we just know that when we do they tend to work so well in
Meghan 04:02
social media is always a work in progress. Just like our website or our businesses or life in general. It's a work in progress. And so it is that way for us too. So let's go ahead and dive into some the biggest tips or the biggest mistakes that we see for social media. The first one is not showing what you do. So if you use Canva, templates, and memes all the time, people aren't really going to understand what you do and they won't understand how you can help them how you can solve their problem that they have with their pets. So think about it from a stranger's perspective. They are coming to your Instagram profile or your Facebook page for the very first time. Can they get a sense of what you do simply from your pictures? This is particularly important with Instagram because it is so visually focused sometimes people don't even read the captions. They just look at the pictures. So do you have pictures of you or your staff walking dogs? Do you have Have infographics about pet care tips or the difference between your services. So it was something that we do is we offer a drop in visits, and we offer dog walks. And a lot of people don't actually understand what the difference is. And so we try to educate them on Hey, a dog walk is obviously walking your dog, but a drop in visit, drop in visit, maybe for you if you have a cat, or a fish or a dog that isn't a good Walker. So we try to explain the difference there. Another example is, do you have reels explaining some of your policies or frequently asked questions. And I know this is something that we can get better on. Because, you know, people have the great reels that have the captions with them, and they're pointing to stuff, and they're really utilizing them really well. So you want you obviously don't want to be pitching yourself all of the time on your social media, there's that 8020 rule of 80% of the time, you want to be educating and adding value and then 20% of the time you want to be being salesy and pitching yourself. So figure out creative ways to really get people where you want them to go. So maybe instead of posting a picture, saying, hey, there's a new blog out, pair the blog with a picture of a pet cat that you take care of, and it goes along with the blog. So you can tell the story of the pets in the caption of the image as well. And I noticed this for us to the days that we post, hey, here's a new blog, it doesn't get as much of an interaction as the days where I am posing with a dog or Colin is walking a dog or a cat. And that goes into the next one of not showing your face enough.
Collin 06:39
Yeah, that algorithm really does encourage connections, and how does it making connections by showing and displaying people's faces, because they know that people like to see other people, which means your face and your eyeballs. And if you don't want to be in front of the camera, have your staff do it or have somebody else who's very interested in doing this. Now, if you are solo, you do have to put your face out there. And I understand it's very discomforting, and not what we really want to be doing. But remember, your clients are going to meet you face to face anyway. Right? They're going to see you eventually. So why not start making that connection as early on as possible?
Meghan 07:17
Well, and ideally, you want to do this through a video, I mean, it's not super comfortable being in shooting yourself and being in front of the camera. But it is something that is necessary in order for the you know, the know, like trust factor in order for people to get to know you and your business to like you. They want to see who's going to be caring for their pets, and then trusting you obviously this business is built on trust. And so the more that they can see you, the more that they can relate to you in whatever way that is, the more that they are likely going to use you. And not
Collin 07:52
just that, but things like Instagram and Facebook are now pushing more and more videos, so reels to people. And they're really favoring those a lot more. I know, we've talked about before how Instagram has basically said, we're no longer just a video of a photo sharing platform. We're a video sharing platform. So the more videos that you can get out there, the more your content is going to be favored on those platforms. And when it comes to using reels on Instagram, they are still the most favorite aspect of the platform. So using reels is really strongly encouraged, and there's no real trick to doing them. What is important, though, is that you use reels strategically and that you're using them appropriately for the content and not just overusing them, because that will dilute it. And you won't get as many views as you'd like. If you're looking to step up your video game, you may be looking at investing in something like a selfie stick, or a gimbal. A gimbal is a device that you put your phone into, and it keeps it stabilized and hold it steady while you walk so you don't get this big bounce in this jarring around. If you're feeling super fancy, you can get a drone to follow you on a walk and shoot video from above. And even something as simple as hiring a photographer once a quarter to take photos and videos of you to keep them fresh and updated will really go a long way to help you and your social media and your website stand out.
Meghan 09:08
We are not perfect at this next one. A mistake that we see is not using your highlights on Instagram to let people know about you and the services that you offer. So this is prime real estate, make sure that they look appealing that they are titled well and that they generally look clean also that you don't have too many. So highlights are when you go to a an Instagram bio. They're the little circle things that you can click on. And they're basically stories that live forever. So you don't want to have too many because people aren't going to scroll for days on them in my opinion. And then you want to make sure that they are clean so that they have a clearer image or a clear title on them that people know exactly what they're going to get. So if you want to have one for walks you would just title it walks or drop ins or meet and greet or whatever you have Have, or pet taxi or whatever services that you offer, but utilize them because they are a way for people to get to know you. So if you have one for walks, you're going to have somebody fill you while you explain, hey, I'm taking Rosie on a walk today. And our walks are for mental stimulation as well as physical stimulation, and kind of explain in, you know, 15 seconds or so what a walk is, and then kind of do the same thing with the meet and greet as well.
Collin 10:26
And like you said earlier that they live there forever, it can give some permanence to the content that you're creating. Because I know it is frustrating whenever you make this video, when you make this content, you put it out there and then just gets buried in your feed. Well, you can go back and look at ones that you really like maybe that you've already created, and put them in this real estate so that they can save there. And you can point people to those for more information. The highlights
Meghan 10:49
aren't on Facebook. But for Facebook, you can utilize that pin to post at the top of your page, you only get one, unfortunately. So it's not like a group where if you're an admin of a Facebook group, you can pin as many as you want. But for your Facebook page, you only get one. So make sure that you utilize it to the best of your ability, grab people's attention with an image and tell people how you can serve them. If you are doing a giveaway, save the giveaway, and pin it to the top. And then when the giveaway is done, you can just pin something else up there. But make sure that people automatically know who you are, what you do, and how you can help them. Yeah, so
Collin 11:26
if you have a services page on your website, this may be a good place to link that on top of your Facebook page, so that people can see that immediately, or any other information that you want to share right at the beginning.
Meghan 11:37
Another mistake that we see people making and sometimes we make as well is not being intentional with your time and your posting. So just slapping stuff up, there probably isn't going to get you the desired effect unless you genuinely don't want to convert people and into likes and followers. And you only want to use it to provide clients with a way to see pictures and videos of their pets. If that's what if that's what your goal is for social media. That's perfectly fine. But if you do want to convert strangers into followers, you need to be intentional with your content, make it eye catching, attention grabbing, and most importantly, value base and it it can feel daunting, sometimes, but But you have to provide value to your target audience, pet parents. And so what does that mean? What does it mean to provide value? Well give them ways to be better pet owners provide them with the tools and the resources that they need to give their pets the best lives possible. If that means infographics if that means a pet care tip of the week, make them the hero of the story. So too often, we are us focused how I can help you. And that's great. And we do need to be doing that. But a great way to help people get off the fence and to buy our pet care services is allowed them to be the hero to solve their problem. If you aren't sure what that means. It could mean something like, you know, new puppies are so much fun and a wonderful addition to anyone's life. But they are a lot of work, especially with potty training. Consistency is key to making it work, meaning letting them out every two hours or more. Hiring a pet professional a pet sitter for potty breaks throughout the day is the perfect way to keep potty training on track. So you don't have to stress about them while you're away.
Collin 13:31
content like that puts the solution directly in front of your potential client without forcing it on them. They can see themselves in that situation, they can see the solution. And then they know okay, if I want that I need to reach out and it's making them again, like you said making make putting them in that hero position to come and solve that for them.
Meghan 13:51
So a lot of times what we've done is we've crafted a post a caption that is basically solving a client's problem and us in it of like, Hey, we're awesome. We will come to your home and care for your pet and walk your dog and feed your fish and all this stuff. And we are you know, insured and bonded and blah, blah, blah. But we've crafted that and then basically we remove all of the language about us.
Collin 14:17
Yeah, this is a really key point that I learned while we were in graduate school I one of the people that was on one of my advisors. She did all of her research on algae. But algae isn't big and sexy and people don't really like it. So what she learned to do was to write her research paper write her proposals about algae without mentioning algae. And it really changes your perspective. So write the posts about you, without you point to the positives that you want somebody to look for, without pointing directly to you. And it's a great way again to just kind of strip back and see through the client's eyes what's important to them.
Meghan 14:53
Because obviously if you're saying hiring a professional pet sitter for a potty break throughout the day is the perfect way to keep potty training on track. Obviously, if you are Becky's pet care and you are posting that, obviously, they're going to know that you are a professional
Collin 15:06
pet sitter. Hey, right, yeah.
Meghan 15:11
So ask yourself these things before you post, ask yourself the purpose of the post before you post it. So we were crafting a post about dropping services, what they were, what we do during a visit. And Colin wanted it to educate and be crystal clear, but I also wanted it to be engaging. So the way that he had crafted the post, it was, in my opinion, it was a little bland and needed, needed a little bit of spice.
Collin 15:38
Yeah, I think your exact words were, that's it?
Meghan 15:42
Well, you know, it's all a work in progress. So we deleted a bunch of words, and we added a nice graphic to it added a dog and a cat. And so it's important to ask what is the purpose of this post, it obviously needs to attract eyeballs, because if not, then people aren't going to see it and the algorithm isn't going to push it up
Collin 16:02
well, and if you don't know the purpose of the post, neither will your audience and it's just gonna get lost in the shuffle.
Meghan 16:07
Something that has a very clear purpose is pet sitters associates. As pet care professionals, your clients trust you to care for their furry family members at pet sitters associates, they are here to help for over 20 years they have provided 1000s of members with quality pet care insurance. And since you work in the pet care industry, you can take your career to the next level with flexible coverage options, client connections and complete freedom in running your business. Learn why pet sitters Associates is the perfect fit for you and get a free quote today at Pet set llc.com. You can get a discount when joining by clicking membership Pet Sitter confessional and using the discount code confessional at checkout to get $10 off today. Check out the benefits of membership and insurance once again, at pets@llc.com. If you spend any length of time on social media scrolling through other pet sitters posts, they are varied really I mean design wise, especially if you use Canva social media posts are as varied as the day is long. So in general, though, posts that are too cluttered or too wordy can really overwhelm your audience. But also remember that it depends on the platform. So LinkedIn is the perfect place to be sharing the long form blogs. But Instagram really isn't. They are more visual than on LinkedIn. And I know that's why a lot of social media gurus and Gary Vee says you need to create a bespoke basically a bespoke post for each platform that you are on, which is incredibly time consuming. And I don't have time for that quite yet. But
Collin 17:38
well, as we've talked about, and there's an episode really good episode with Jane Harrell was talked about focus on where your clients where your audience actually is, and invest your time there. And then if you have time beyond that, to build and expand, but really focus down to just a couple that you really have time for is really also key in all of this.
Meghan 17:56
Yeah, because Facebook is where people go for family and friends. So they don't really want to be overwhelmed with a bunch of content there either in terms of being wordy or too cluttered or not visually appealing. That's also important on Instagram.
Collin 18:11
When it comes to not being cluttered, when I taught how to give presentations, I would tell my students, the smallest font on the slide that you're going to have should be the age of the oldest person in the audience. Now, is that always feasible? No. But why is this important? It's because it forced them to limit the number of words and make it approachable to the audience. So it wasn't over whelming
Meghan 18:34
I will say that when you give presentations, and when you have to give the presentation to the post or the emcee ahead of time. I feel like they kind of freak out. Because
Collin 18:44
when I give them yeah, there's no words on pictures. Yeah, so it is this balance of knowing what exactly you want, again, what the purpose of this but not being afraid of whitespace not being afraid of openness and not feeling like you have to cram everything into it. Instead, spread it out across several posts. We're always bemoaning and wanting more and more things to post. So instead of doing one post with nine point font crammed top to bottom, side to side, write that up to six different ones and put it put into a carousel even so that helps drive engagement. You can even do a video for extra content if you're really feeling like doing that.
Meghan 19:25
Yeah, a blog, a real podcast. Hey, great. Reach out if you'd like to start your pet business podcast.
Collin 19:34
But there's so many ways to share content. It's understanding what the best format for that would be. And knowing that we don't have to rush this and we don't have to cram it all into this, the posts that we're going to do, feel free to spread out across as many as you want.
Meghan 19:48
I mentioned this earlier, but another mistake that we see sometimes is just pitching yourself. So saying, I provide dog walks I provide pet sitting I provide pet taxi and not really giving value to people necessarily. So again, infographics, any pet care tips or tricks that you have, if you bought a new lick mat, and it's the best thing ever. Show that on there, do a video of what you exactly you put on it and how your dog likes it off.
Collin 20:19
And this is that 8020 rule 80% of your content should be helpful or informative, the other 20% should be selling yourself. And that part will actually be relatively simple and straightforward if you're actually putting out a solid 80%. And another reason that this is really important is buyer psychology and people who are looking at post, if they start to see your brand, your name, your logo, and every time it's pitching and selling yourself, they're gonna scroll right past it, you will become invisible to them
Meghan 20:50
well, and also, I will say that we are part of a very massive group in our larger market. And somebody had said, Hey, I see your post all the time. But be careful, he was a marketing expert. And he said, Be careful because people will actually mute you mute your entire page so that you won't be able to be in front of them anymore.
Collin 21:10
If they start to become annoyed by all the constant posting, that's just selling yourself exactly. So not only do they psychologically block you out and just scroll past you, but they can physically mute your posts and never see you. At that point. If they need help in the future, they will have no idea who you were or what that person was doing. Because you have been out of sight out of mind for way too long.
Meghan 21:31
So it's important to have those blogs about local pet stores about local groomers if you don't offer that, or veterinarians having these resources already on your website so that when somebody in a local Facebook group says hey, I need a recommendation for a veterinarian, you can say hey, I own Becky's pet care. And I put together a list of the top 10 Best vets in the area. And so that's a way for you to get your name out there and be linked to helping to support the broader pet community. Overall, though, it is important to remember that there is no one right way to do social media. Even some of the biggest pet care companies do it differently. Some give a discount on the first service, some don't post prices on their website, some delegate out their social media, and some don't. Some use social media as a live feed updating clients about their pets and using it as a public showcase of their day. So everyone has different goals for their business. Every company will showcase themselves uniquely to their mission and their values on social media. So our last and most probably most important tip for social media is stop comparing yourself. It does no good. release yourself from that pressure of having to compare and compete you do you in your business and on your social media. It's great to get ideas of what other Petcare businesses are posting. But don't post the same stuff as them. And stop comparing yours. Yeah, don't
Collin 23:04
go to their their feed and go oh, man, they just posted this. And they already had 100 likes, oh, now they've got 18 comments. Oh, my goodness, now it's been shared a couple of times. That's That's them. That's their market. That's their followers. That's not you, right. And that's really important to know is that you are going to put up the content that you want to to reach your audience in your market. Plain and simple. Nobody else can do that. So comparing is different. As we've talked about before, it's different than getting ideas or getting inspiration. It's the comparing part where we start to break ourselves down because of what somebody else is doing. And that's not helpful at all. Yeah, something
Meghan 23:41
that I like to do is even look at posts outside of the pet care industry altogether and say, How can I bring this in and relate this into pet care? Can I do that at all? Is there something in here for pets or pet parents and using other industries, other businesses to get inspiration from as well? We would love to know how you are using social media. What kind of things are working for you? Do you post a bunch of reels and get awesome interaction or our videos or pictures? We're still working for you. You can send us an email at feedback at petsitter confessional.com. or look us up on social media. Hey petsitter confessional
Collin 24:20
on today's Ask a business coach segment with Natasha obey and she answers the question. How do I make the most out of an in person marketing event?
Natasha 24:28
I love marketing events because you get so much insight to talk to different people. The main thing that I find after doing so many masterminds so many mentorships so many retreats is you want to get in the room. That's like our tagline to all of this put yourself in the room. Okay, put yourself in the digital room on a challenge or a membership or whatever you can get in the room somewhere close to people who are doing the things that you want to do. So when you come into a Facebook group for a challenge, introduce your yourself go live say, Hey, I'm here. And these are the things I'm doing. And these are the things I'm looking to get out of this group. Set your intentions and make it clear because so many people reach out. Hey, Asha. Yeah, I'd like to do that with you, too. Hey, I'm thinking about doing the same thing. Let's talk, let's collaborate. But if you just go to any event, you're secretly writing notes in the background, it's going to be hard to follow up something you may have not understood. How nice would it be to say, hey, you read the meeting that I was in you were at the conference, let's compare notes. Let's dissect let's get intentional together, it's always easier doing it with, with with a buddy versus by yourself. And that's really hard. The main thing about conferences to me is getting closer to people that are already where you want to go.
Collin 25:43
And putting yourself out there like that lets them know your intentions, Hey, I am out here. I'm approachable. I want to ask questions I want to interact. And you don't have to say that, you know, in as many words but just making yourself visible to others. And engaging with those really helps bring a lot to to you. And a lot of people in those relationships.
Natasha 26:03
Yeah, it's the easiest way to do it in the Facebook group. Because mostly all conferences and meetings, have a group, put yourself out there, even tell them where you live. Hey, everybody in Texas, shout out Texas and everybody comes and then we can meet up, we can do brunch and keep collaborating. It's harder to do in in person if you're not that type of personality. But still Don't make your old limiting beliefs good reasons why your business don't propel in the future. Go into a meeting and bring your QR code or bring your cards whatever it is that you do and say, Hey, I would love to chat. I love talking to you guys. Let's keep this conversation going. Like be regular friends. I love having a four year old because she reminds me of how human we need to be. She will go up to someone and say, Do you want to be my friend? And I'm like, I remember those days, we should just do that. And when I go to conferences, I remember her that I go up to people and I'm like, Hey, how are you? What's going on? I just wanted to chit chat and get to know you guys. What are you working on? What was the reason why you wanted to come to this conference? Like what have you learned so far? What were your takeaways? I would love to have this conversation continue what's exchanged numbers. Let's exchange social media handles and let's actually talk the same thing as my four year old saying Do you want to be friends and she takes her hand and she walks away. We can do it in this age in our adult life.
Collin 27:22
We are capable
Meghan 27:30
if you would like to join Natasha's monthly membership group, you can do so at automated ceo.com and use the code P SC 24 15% off. We appreciate your taking your most valuable asset your time and listening to this today. If you have found this helpful, thank you and please feel free to share it with another pet sitter that you know and we will we also want to thank pet sitters associates for sponsoring this episode.
Collin 27:55
Thank you so much. Bye
