If I could turn back time…
… here’s what I would do different.
Ash here! I grew the foundation of my personal social media platform in the days where photos were IN, stories (film) was new and uncomfortable and community was the KEY.
Over the years it’s clear that we got far away from all of these things… but as I’m sitting here writing this blog article in December of 2024 — it seems as if we are inching our way BACK & I want to share that as social is changing (in a great way) here’s what I’d do if I had an opportunity to rebuild those first few thousand all over again!
1.For starters I’d create a signature series that is UNWAVERING. Nothing has EVER done better on my page than when I delivered a “Freezer meals before baby” weekly post — my followers could expect it and it was very niche down into the person I was attracting. In those weeks it was the highest engagement & community feel I’d ever created. But why?! Because it was a sense of predictability that my niche market knew was coming and had to look forward to, leading them to be more engaged and responsive to the rest of my content as well.
A signature series can be ANYTHING, no matter the niche. Other examples would be:
For the fit girl - “Walk & talk w. Me.” A daily on the go chat about how I’m staying healthy through body & mind.
For the home baker - “Bake once, eat all week.” Come into my kitchen and bake with me my one item that I’ll use as breakfast all week long.
For the fashion lover - “This week’s BASIC, styled.” Heres my basic of the week that I believe we all need in our closet & how I’m styling it.
For the homebody - “Corner coffee chat.” Here’s my corner of the week that I styled and a simple chat of what’s on my mind.
TO best find YOUR signature series, I’d recommend looking back on your content over the last 30 days and see what delivered best, pull 2-3 of those and then ASK your audience what THEY would like to have as an ongoing content pillar from you!
Take that answer and then make a list of the next 10 weeks of content to see if it is something that creatively flows right off your tongue.
Then start creating!
2. I’d get back into having fun with actual PHOTO taking - and storytelling through the photos. I remember when Instagram got very aesthetic, I loved snapping photos of just normal life BTS & throwing on a caption. Now that won’t deliver as well as it once did — you can still bring back a portion of it, snap BTS of your life and take them through a step by step with each photo.
What do I mean?! The carousel feature on instagram has been ELITE in recent weeks. You can choose a topic aligned to your business and brand and snap 3-5 photos that showcase a progression in this topic. You can do this through 3 pillars: educating, entertaining or inspiring.
A storytelling carousal can also be ANYTHING, no matter the niche. Other examples would be:
For the fit girl - Your leg day WOD (3-5 moves, explained)
For the home baker - a step by step on how to make the perfect focaccia (3-5 photos of you in action with explanation)
For the fashion lover - a layering technique you use in warm months to style (3-5 progressional photos of you styling that OOTD)
For the homebody - how to decorate a corner of your house (3-5 photos of your corner adding decor and tips on why)
3. & lastly, I’d lean into my community and focus on the relationships with who already exists vs. vanity metrics. Read your metrics, YES. But use them to tell you what your CURRENT community is already loving and give them MORE of that while being overwhelmingly grateful that they’re in your corner of the internet — and don’t let them go a day without feeling that from you. Answering messages, comments and questions. Without them there is no platform for YOU!
We’ve lost sight of WHY we show up on socials in the first place, but it’s no secret that businesses are actually leaning INTO smaller creators lately because their communities are more loyal than the bigger, louder creators sharing anything under the sun.
As someone just starting out, here’s an opportunity to really build strong and core relationships that become raving fans. You’d rather have 5-00 individuals that cannot get enough of your voice and energy than 40,000 people who listen to your audio with the sound off. Trust me on this.