laura figueroa-scott

When starting a business, one of the things that you find out along the way is how many different jobs you now need to do to promote and run your business.

Why doesn’t anyone tell you these things?

And why do some people make it look so easy? What’s up with that?

Full disclosure: learning what is going to work and not work for your business’ social media presence is not easy.

It’s like going to the gym: the exercises may be simple looking but it takes time and effort to build the muscles and learn the form to make those movements look easy.

Fear not: there are simple steps you can use to create posts that attract attention and get right to the point of what your business is there to do for people.

1. Keep your posts short.

This may sound obvious but it’s important. People have a tendency to scroll past posts that can look like it’s going to take too much time to read. This is a generalization when talking about the various platforms but when you are starting out, this is a good rule of thumb to begin with.

2. Be clear with what the post is about.

Your posts are always going to be about what matters to your audience. Talking about their pain and frustrations is not going to get boring for them; it’s a way to let them know you are ready with a strategy or product to relieve their pain.

And then, tell them you have the solution they are looking for and how they can get it.

3. Use images and emojis in your posts.

Two things that are always going to attract people’s attention are images that demand attention and color.

Take time and select images that actually relate to whatever your post is talking about. When your words and images don’t align, that does not help you.

For example, if you publish a post that talks about having to deal with a flat tire on a busy street and the image you choose to use is one of a lovely, calm lake, your audience is not going to get the emotion of what you are talking about. They just don’t go together.

This is an example of an effective social media post from Patagonia:

Here, Patagonia is telling you they care about what you care about and inviting you to interact with their bio where you can find the petition they reference. This is a great example of advertising that was used to take social action, something Patagonia’s customers are always concerned about.

Emojis are a way to communicate emotions and concepts without using many words or in this example, none at all:

This is an effective use of emojis to create the messaging and provide that “pop of color” that will attract attention.

4. Invite your audience to interact.

Don’t just talk to your audience, start a conversation with them! Ask them questions and invite them to comment or start a conversation with you and then follow up with them, even if it is a “thanks for commenting!” response.

When you take the time to engage with your audience, they are more willing to come back to you, subscribe, bookmark your posts, and comment again.

When you do this, you are helping to create a community around your business, which is powerful as people are always wanting to be included in strong and thriving communities.

A simple question like this can generate a whole lot of interaction that you can leverage:

All these examples are talking about what is important to their audience right now and what will continue to be important to them.

When you write your own posts, use these steps to establish your brand and build your community.

It will get easier. 😀

Have more thoughts about this you would like to share? Send me a note at laura@laurafigueroascott.me and we’ll discuss it!