When & How to use Your Social Media for Marketing

by Molly Jo Realy @RealMoJo68

You’ve heard me say it nine cajillion eight thousand okay, a lot of times: media is not the same as marketing. All the Pros will tell you the same thing: if the only thing you’re doing is pushing your product, just open an online store.

Media is where you connect with your Swarm. It’s the different hives you foster, the communities you help build.

It’s where all the feels come into play.

Marketing. Now that’s a different beast. It’s where you show what you have and what it’s worth. And how they can get it.

And the Pros (yup, including me) will tell ya: for every one market post you put up, you oughtta have about five or six more non-marketing posts. So, it would go something like this: Coffee, coffee, buy my book, here’s my cat, coffee, kitchen, craft, book. See? Somewhere in between knowing how I take my caffeine and what I like to do for fun (thereby building a connection between myself and my followers), I’m also saying, “Oh, by the way. Since you like me, you might like what I have to offer. Here’s a book.” Nifty, yah?

But you know what? Now and then it’s totally okay for you to take the Queen Bee crown and lead your Swarm.

It’s okay not be so subtle all the time.

Starting a new website? Have a book coming out? Need help pushing the visibility? Well, step up your game! People like honesty, and they like to be helpful. Give and get! I recently wrote a blog post that I needed help promoting. Instead of waiting for it to organically gather attention (that’s the equivalent of SEO- Search Engine Optimization, where you wait patiently for your visibility to grow on its own), I asked my Swarm for assistance. 

Now, in paid marketing terms that’s similar to SEM- Search Engine Marketing. That’s where you pay to get on Google’s top spots. So, I didn’t pay my Swarm, but I did ask for help, and boy, howdy! did they ever fly to the rescue! In one day, my numbers nearly double-tripled well, what’s the word for six times over? Yah. That’s what happened. And the next day, that momentum continued.

Jazz it up: A good mix of text and visual always play well together. A creatively crafted meme or a photo description can garner a lot of attention. Funky titles (I mean funky in a good, get-down way here, not the what-did-I-leave-in-the-back-of-fridge-for-so-long kind of funky) make eye-catching grabbers, too. Ah, just do what the Italians do. Take it out of the pot and see what sticks.

Once you have your plan, you need to let your peeps know. And they need to let their peeps know. The trick is to ask boldly and specifically. Give your audience a few choices to help out, let them pick what fits in their comfort zone, and offer a sweet reward for their efforts:

• Share a post
• Comment on a post
• Click on a link for traffic
• Download a PDF or other freebie

Don’t be afraid to be specific, but be realistic. “I want to gain twenty new followers in the next two weeks,” or “Help me reach 100 views by midnight tonight.” Your Swarm can’t create a good buzz if they don’t know where the honey is.

So now it’s your turn to speak: How do you ask your Swarm for help?

With a happy buzz and a honeycomb,

~Molly Jo

TWEETABLES
When & how to use your #socialmedia for #marketing - @RealMoJo68 on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Use your #socialmedia swarm to help build buzz when needed - @RealMoJo68 on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

A Southern Belle in Southern California, and known to her friends as the Bohemian Hurricane, Molly Jo is a writer, editor, social media ninja, and producer of Aaron Gansky’s Firsts in Fiction podcast. Her writings have been featured in children’s magazines, on national blogs and devotional websites, and have earned her awards and scholarships from nationally-acclaimed writing programs. She is the founder of New Inklings Press, author of The Unemployment Cookbook: Ideas for Feeding Families One Meal at a Time, and other books available through her website and on Amazon.

Her current work in progress, NOLA, is a location mystery set in New Orleans and is scheduled for publication in 2018.

You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and her blog, Frankly, My Dear . . .

For more information on her social media, marketing services and books, contact her through her website MollyJoRealy.com.