Social Media Matters — A 31-Point Outreach Checkup for Your Microbusiness

Evaluate your engagement periodically to keep your marketing on track

Photo by Gian Cescon on Unsplash.

This article was last updated 10/10/2023.

“Without engagement, social media is just media.”

— Mike Eckstein

As solopreneurs and freelancers, micro- and small business owners, we want to extract the maximum punch from every dollar, cover as many bases with as few steps as possible. We float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, until the next time we’re thick in the muck of details or wading out of the latest quagmire.

It’s why I’ve come to rely on the checklists I build for various aspects of my enterprises — tweaking and adding to as necessary — and refer to on a schedule. Every 2–3 months I do a quick, not laborious, not painful, review of the lists to see if anything jumps out. To see if I’ve neglected something or if I’ve forgotten the actual purpose a various tactics. Little reminders can be enough for important course corrections.

Here’s my social media matters list:

• Design matters, so get help in this area if you need it. If you’re a pro, consider a consistent design vibe you carry throughout all social media (imagine you’re a creative director for the magazine of you/your business). Use templates for efficiency and brand consistency.
• The non-verbal matters, so beyond design, think of images, music, and video…how to share them, how to incorporate, how to mix and match — with each other and with text and speech. Investigate the possibilities of Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Vimeo, and more.
• Regularity and frequency matter, so create a schedule you can live with. Vary in consideration of time zones and reaching the world. Consistently show up for your audience.
• Branding matters, so use your posts to establish the desired impression of who you are and what you stand for. Be consistent in your messaging. Repeat top messages.
• Numbers matter, so have a plan to continuously increase them. Think accumulation, momentum, ripple effect.
• Connection matters, so increase your link-ability and your network and forge new connections.
• Relationships matter, so let those connections develop as befits you, the platform, and the context.
• Group momentum matters, so explore the options of LinkedIn Groups, Facebook Groups and pages, Reddit, Clubhouse, webinars, and more.
• Interaction matters, so hold contests, do giveaways, encourage your followers to repost/share/tag a friend.
• Influence and social proof matter, so connect with influencers and be one yourself. Incentivize and reward your brand evangelists. Find ways to work together.
• Attention matters, so do what’s required to grab your share of it.
• Alignment with image matters, so know what image you want to project.
• Alignment with goals matters, so know your goals.
• Shareable content matters, so create blog/Twitter/Facebook posts, newsletters/emails, and website/Medium articles that are substantive, worth-reading, eye-catching, interesting, unusual.
• Storytelling matters, so hook your followers with compelling stories and narratives.
• Strategy matters, so make and continually tweak a plan to meet your objectives.
• A multi-pronged approach matters, so pick 6–8 areas you will consistently return to as pillars of your content (e.g., humor, photos, opinion, sales, questions, news, contests, etc.). Seek balance and this comprehensive approach will deliver.
• Authenticity matters, so relax, have fun, and be yourself. Bring your distinct personality and voice.
• Levity matters, so insert humor, quirkiness, playfulness, and behind-the-scenes fun when appropriate.
• Energy and enthusiasm matter, so bring what moves you. Share what’s exciting. Take note of what your crowd responds to.
• Targeting your audience matters, so know who you’re talking to and what’s important to them.
• Conversation matters, so employ a variety of good conversation habits and keep discussions going and evolving.
• Quality matters, so commit to excellence.
• Quality, targeted, aligned conversation matters, so pay attention to all of the above!
• Testing matters, so experiment evaluate everything. Are you getting the responses you want? Customers? Followers? Engagement? Which works better, A or B? Now, which one, A or C?
• Generosity, giving, and good relationship behavior matters, so share other’s content, participate in their conversations, think of their needs, help them out.
• Convenience matters, so make it easy for others to spread the word about you: Ask for the help, the referrals, the follows, etc., and include buttons, links, and other easy ways to share.
• Freshness matters, so stay current and original in thinking, attitude, approach, subject areas. Share tangential content at times to mix it up.
• Calls to action matter, so decide what you want people to do: like it, comment, follow you, subscribe, sign up for a newsletter, write a review, provide feedback, buy something, and make it easy to do so.
• Testimonials matters, so ask your clients for referrals and recommendations on their social media as well as content you can use on yours. Encourage the audience at your events to snap photos, post, tag, comment, etc.
• Making money matters, so set yourself with PayPal, Square, Venmo, Stripe, and/or on Patreon, Ko-fi, Substack, and others to make receiving easy, fast, micro-, and macro- payments possible!

What else matters? If you think this list is missing something, throw it in a reply and I’ll update the checklist for all of our benefits.

Sharon Woodhouse is the owner of Conspire Creative, which offers strategic collaboration services for post-publishing author rewards: coaching, publishing consulting, project management, author business development/management, and ongoing group coaching for authors in a private Facebook group, A Profitable Author Life You Love.

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